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Understanding a complicated (and lengthy) search
It's been 10 days since Rhett Lashlee announced plans to become the offensive coordinator at UConn. Gus Malzahn hasn't yet hired a successor.
The delay isn't necessarily shocking. It takes time to vet candidates, determine which guys fit best from a personal and professional standpoint, talk with them, assess things after the meeting. If you do this five or six times, things drag on.
With that said, Malzahn surely knew Lashlee was preparing to leave. It's not as if Lashlee sprung this on Malzahn at the last minute; the idea that Lashlee needed to leave had gained a whole lot of traction both from Malzahn and Lashlee during the past, say, calendar year. This is what everyone expected would happen.
So why wasn't Malzahn prepared?
That's a good question. My answer is this: Malzahn indeed was prepared for Lashlee to leave. He had his list ready, which included two former lieutenants in Arizona State's Chip Lindsey and N.C. State's Eliah Drinkwitz. The problem is that Auburn's recent struggles (7-6 in 2015, 1-3 finish in 2016) have increased the level of scrutiny associated with this hire. That's something Malzahn didn't expect.
Auburn has a complicated history when it comes to hiring (and firing) football coaches. Reviewing that history would require too much space considering the scope of this particular search, but suffice it to say that People Who Matter, a term I use loosely to describe men with vested interests in the football team's competitive posture, tend to get involved when the team isn't thriving. Some observers see this as an unnecessary intrusion by men who have no business sticking their nose in the head coach's business. At the same time, football coaches tend to struggle when it comes to making unbiased decisions about the future of a program they manage every single day. They tend to believe their current formula for success will work eventually.
Auburn Football, along with almost all SEC football programs, is very big business. It's reasonable for People Who Matter to take a serious interest in what's happening on the field. It's more that simple Jordan-Hare Stadium attendance figures. Enrollment surges when the football team is successful. Fundraising is more fruitful.
So back to Malzahn. He has his list, but that list was met with consternation 10 days ago. People Who Matter almost universally were against the idea of Malzahn hiring one of his former lieutenants to serve as Auburn's next offensive coordinator. The general consensus is that Auburn's offense has become increasingly stale during the past three seasons. Hiring someone from "outside" with new ideas about offensive strategy, the idea goes, will help Malzahn reverse this alleged trend*.
(*I say "alleged trend" because Auburn's offense remains reasonably successful from a statistical perspective.)
This disconnect has caused some problems. Malzahn still wants the guys he wanted initially. Yes, he met with Oklahoma State assistant Mike Yurcich. Yes, he's spoken either directly or indirectly with Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. He's also spoken with Doug Meacham, the former TCU co-coordinator who recently was hired at Kansas. He's also spoken with former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich and former Cal coordinator Jake Spavital, who recently was hired at West Virginia.
Some of those guys could have represented a happy medium between Malzahn's wishes and the wishes of the People Who Matter. Yet there were hang-ups in those situations. Coordinators almost always want at least one assistant to joint them at the new gig -- generally an offensive line coach, but sometimes another position. Malzahn made it clear to all that Herb Hand, Auburn's offensive line coach, wasn't going anywhere.
That was an obstacle.
National Signing Day is less than two weeks away. Time is of the essence if Auburn wants to make some late pushes for recruits on the offensive side of the ball. It's difficult to say if Auburn is any closer to a decision today than it was 10 days ago.
It's been 10 days since Rhett Lashlee announced plans to become the offensive coordinator at UConn. Gus Malzahn hasn't yet hired a successor.
The delay isn't necessarily shocking. It takes time to vet candidates, determine which guys fit best from a personal and professional standpoint, talk with them, assess things after the meeting. If you do this five or six times, things drag on.
With that said, Malzahn surely knew Lashlee was preparing to leave. It's not as if Lashlee sprung this on Malzahn at the last minute; the idea that Lashlee needed to leave had gained a whole lot of traction both from Malzahn and Lashlee during the past, say, calendar year. This is what everyone expected would happen.
So why wasn't Malzahn prepared?
That's a good question. My answer is this: Malzahn indeed was prepared for Lashlee to leave. He had his list ready, which included two former lieutenants in Arizona State's Chip Lindsey and N.C. State's Eliah Drinkwitz. The problem is that Auburn's recent struggles (7-6 in 2015, 1-3 finish in 2016) have increased the level of scrutiny associated with this hire. That's something Malzahn didn't expect.
Auburn has a complicated history when it comes to hiring (and firing) football coaches. Reviewing that history would require too much space considering the scope of this particular search, but suffice it to say that People Who Matter, a term I use loosely to describe men with vested interests in the football team's competitive posture, tend to get involved when the team isn't thriving. Some observers see this as an unnecessary intrusion by men who have no business sticking their nose in the head coach's business. At the same time, football coaches tend to struggle when it comes to making unbiased decisions about the future of a program they manage every single day. They tend to believe their current formula for success will work eventually.
Auburn Football, along with almost all SEC football programs, is very big business. It's reasonable for People Who Matter to take a serious interest in what's happening on the field. It's more that simple Jordan-Hare Stadium attendance figures. Enrollment surges when the football team is successful. Fundraising is more fruitful.
So back to Malzahn. He has his list, but that list was met with consternation 10 days ago. People Who Matter almost universally were against the idea of Malzahn hiring one of his former lieutenants to serve as Auburn's next offensive coordinator. The general consensus is that Auburn's offense has become increasingly stale during the past three seasons. Hiring someone from "outside" with new ideas about offensive strategy, the idea goes, will help Malzahn reverse this alleged trend*.
(*I say "alleged trend" because Auburn's offense remains reasonably successful from a statistical perspective.)
This disconnect has caused some problems. Malzahn still wants the guys he wanted initially. Yes, he met with Oklahoma State assistant Mike Yurcich. Yes, he's spoken either directly or indirectly with Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. He's also spoken with Doug Meacham, the former TCU co-coordinator who recently was hired at Kansas. He's also spoken with former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich and former Cal coordinator Jake Spavital, who recently was hired at West Virginia.
Some of those guys could have represented a happy medium between Malzahn's wishes and the wishes of the People Who Matter. Yet there were hang-ups in those situations. Coordinators almost always want at least one assistant to joint them at the new gig -- generally an offensive line coach, but sometimes another position. Malzahn made it clear to all that Herb Hand, Auburn's offensive line coach, wasn't going anywhere.
That was an obstacle.
National Signing Day is less than two weeks away. Time is of the essence if Auburn wants to make some late pushes for recruits on the offensive side of the ball. It's difficult to say if Auburn is any closer to a decision today than it was 10 days ago.
