In a career full of ups and downs, there has certainly been some unrest growing in the faithfull Auburn family about the future of the head football coach. Guse guided the Tigers to the National Title game in 2013. Gus also took the team to a 3-5 SEC record in 2018. Auburn has beaten Alabama and Georgia in some matches for the history books in Jordan-Hare Stadium. On the road however, Gus looks like he may still be coaching a high school team at times. Through it all though, now is not the time to move on to a new head coach. Here’s why:

1. A buyout? In this economy?

Gus’s current contract buyout is roughly $21 million dollars. After his 7 year $49 million dollar contract extension following the 2017 season, he is owed a lot of money. And that may be too much money considering the Tigers had to bus back from Columbia South Carolina because taking flights home was too expensive. What kind of contract could you offer a new head coach while still paying $7 million a year to the old Gus Bus.

2. Who would you hire?

There’s clearly no perfect match for a new coach in The Plains. Sure, you could take a gamble with a proven coach like Hugh Freeze, or an up and coming superstar like Luke Fickell in Cincinnati, or even a proven franchise builder like Matt Campbell in Aimes, Iowa. But why would you want any of those when you can have Gus Malzahn. He’s part of the family.

3. Bo Nix is the Future

Not because he’s a great option, but frankly because he’s the only option. He is the starting QB at Auburn and has no competition near him after he ran Joey Gatewood off to Kentucky and Malik Willis to Liberty. With Nix being the starter for the next two years, you won’t have to worry about signing many 5 star QBs because they won’t want to wait 3 years to get in the game. What a relief! There has to be comfort in knowing you have a proven winner of a quarterback at the helm for two more seasons and no other options.

4. It’s a weird season

Clearly this isn’t the year to get rid of disappointing coaches. It’s a COVID ridden season. All programs are going to be understanding that losses don’t mean as much this year and there will be very little coaching turnover. Unless you’re Vandy, South Carolina, Southern Miss, most likely Michigan, Texas, and then in the pros, Atlanta, Houston, or Detroit. Other than that everyone is holding on to coaches. It’s only fair.

5. The SEC Needs Gus

Most fan bases in the SEC love having Gus Malzahn around. He occasionally pops off some incredible wins. Like at least one every other year. And how crazy those are! But more importantly, he keeps Auburn just good enough to be a good resume builder for teams looking to get to the playoffs every year like Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Alabama. It’s nice having a winnable game most years against a team ranked in the 15-25 range.

Keep the Gus Bus around until the end of his contract in 2024. By then he’ll probably make it to another SEC West championship and will be deserving contract extension.