Just came across someone tweeting the end of the 2016 LSU game at JHS, and it got me thinking ...
You guys remember it ... Auburn was 1-2 coming off embarrassing home losses to #2 Clemson (the 4 QB debacle) and No. 17 A&M ...
LSU comes down to a Les Miles clock mismanagement classic, and LSU's winning TD is overturned by ruling on replay review that the ball wasn't snapped prior to the clock expiring ... Miles gets fired as a result. Auburn wins the game off 6 FGs and no TDs--Auburn started the season with only 2 TDs (one being in mop up time) in three P5 games.
I've always believed that had Gus started that season 1-3 coming off of finishing last in the West at 7-6 in 2015, that loss--considering how inept the offense was--would have made his firing inevitable (whether it happened that night or at the end of the season). Miles probably would have survived a good while longer at LSU (but who knows with all the extracurricular stuff that was later revealed).
My question for you guys is ...
Who would have been next?
Kevin Steele was only in his first season at Auburn. He probably would have been interim, but he certainly wouldn't have been a promotion consideration. Nor would Rhett Lashlee. Muschamp had just left Auburn for a one-year stint as DC after his Florida firing to be HC at USCe. There were still some who wanted him, but ultimately I don't think Auburn would have paid a big buyout for a guy who'd already failed at UF.
Tom Herman was probably the hottest name in the postseason coaching carousel, and he left Houston to take the Texas job. Other P5 hirings were Matt Rhule at Baylor (from Temple), Justin Wilcox at Cal (DC-Wisconsin), Tom Allen at Indiana (internal promotion), PJ Fleck at Minnesota (W. Mich), Willie Taggert at Oregon (USF) and Jeff Brohm at Purdue (WKU).
Out of those, I'd say Jeff Brohm and Taggert were the only ones who might have been AU candidates at the time. Brohm probably gets the inside track there because of the Petrino connection. Petrino himself was coming off his third and best season in his second Louisville stint at 9-4, ACC runner-up, and a Citrus Bowl loss. They'd started 9-1 (loss to Clemson in the Deshaun vs. Lamar bowl) and peaked at 9-3 twice that year, so he was pretty hot.
Would it have been Petrino, Brohm or Muschamp? Who else might have been considered at the time?
You guys remember it ... Auburn was 1-2 coming off embarrassing home losses to #2 Clemson (the 4 QB debacle) and No. 17 A&M ...
LSU comes down to a Les Miles clock mismanagement classic, and LSU's winning TD is overturned by ruling on replay review that the ball wasn't snapped prior to the clock expiring ... Miles gets fired as a result. Auburn wins the game off 6 FGs and no TDs--Auburn started the season with only 2 TDs (one being in mop up time) in three P5 games.
I've always believed that had Gus started that season 1-3 coming off of finishing last in the West at 7-6 in 2015, that loss--considering how inept the offense was--would have made his firing inevitable (whether it happened that night or at the end of the season). Miles probably would have survived a good while longer at LSU (but who knows with all the extracurricular stuff that was later revealed).
My question for you guys is ...
Who would have been next?
Kevin Steele was only in his first season at Auburn. He probably would have been interim, but he certainly wouldn't have been a promotion consideration. Nor would Rhett Lashlee. Muschamp had just left Auburn for a one-year stint as DC after his Florida firing to be HC at USCe. There were still some who wanted him, but ultimately I don't think Auburn would have paid a big buyout for a guy who'd already failed at UF.
Tom Herman was probably the hottest name in the postseason coaching carousel, and he left Houston to take the Texas job. Other P5 hirings were Matt Rhule at Baylor (from Temple), Justin Wilcox at Cal (DC-Wisconsin), Tom Allen at Indiana (internal promotion), PJ Fleck at Minnesota (W. Mich), Willie Taggert at Oregon (USF) and Jeff Brohm at Purdue (WKU).
Out of those, I'd say Jeff Brohm and Taggert were the only ones who might have been AU candidates at the time. Brohm probably gets the inside track there because of the Petrino connection. Petrino himself was coming off his third and best season in his second Louisville stint at 9-4, ACC runner-up, and a Citrus Bowl loss. They'd started 9-1 (loss to Clemson in the Deshaun vs. Lamar bowl) and peaked at 9-3 twice that year, so he was pretty hot.
Would it have been Petrino, Brohm or Muschamp? Who else might have been considered at the time?
