HOOVER, Ala. -- From the Flora-Bama Lounge, across The Plains, through Alabama newspapers and to the SEC Football Media Days there has been a common thread this summer: Some fans are unhappy with Gus Malzahn as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers.
Has the Gus Bus parked?
Auburn football under Malzahn started with a frantic sprint to the BCS Championship game, but has dragged home with a 6-10 conference record the past two seasons.
Is that becoming a trend?
Has the man who prefers postgame meals at the Waffle House, whose first team went 12-2 thanks in part to a Kick Six as time ran out against Alabama, found being an introvert in an extroverted world as much of a hurdle as beating the Crimson Tide?
Administrators all over the country talk about graduation rates, but no coach has ever been fired just for not graduating players. And if that were true it usually comes out afterward that the coach was fired for losing too many games.
Malzahn, a mad scientist when it comes to calling plays, might be his own worst enemy in a sport where winning doesn't just count, but is almost everything.
He is not a bubbling personality who loves to socialize with boosters. For him that's time that can be spent looking at film, preparing for future games or even finding answers for past losses.
That doesn't necessarily help him with a fan base that has a history of worshipping a tree by toilet-papering it.
Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs has publicly supported Malzahn as his head coach, continuously pointing out Malzahn has led the Tigers to two national championship games, although he was the offensive coordinator for the one Auburn won and had a quarterback named Cam Newton.
Newton was college football's best player that season. He would have made any team better as their starting quarterback.
Jacobs gave Malzahn a raise last month. He will make $4.7 million this season, but his buyout is not the much ballyhooed $14 million either. It is $8.95 million.
Malzahn was named Coach of the Year by five different organizations after his first season as head coach, when the Tigers lost to Florida State in the BCS title game.
He was the toast of college football after taking Nick Marshall, a wide receiver, and making him a winning quarterback. But he's struggled to find a signal-caller and leader since. And when you are an offensive guy, and your offense isn't clicking, then you have problems.
No doubt Malzahn has heard the grumblings and rumblings. He is a guy who either keeps his finger on the pulse or has someone who will.
Yet, when he opened the SEC Media Days on Monday, he was the same Gus. He talked about players and where Auburn was as a team, about how he had evaluated things and made tweaks to improve.
He's obviously grown more comfortable in dealing with the media, and earlier this summer invited the beat writers to his house for a dinner.
"At the end of the day, being a football coach on the field is my strength," he said.
Malzahn is certainly not the only coach who will be here this week who is rumored to be a little under the gun. LSU's Les Miles and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin could be on that same list.
For all coaches it is about producing, but all of them know they can't do anything else that is going to be as financially lucrative. So, winning games and keeping their jobs is extremely important to them.
Malzahn got out of the gate with amazing speed and beat Alabama four seasons ago. And there may be some grumbles about him -- pretty common with fans in the SEC -- but whether or not he's on a hot seat might not be decided until Nov. 26 when he travels to Tuscaloosa.
Sports on 07/12/2016