If you hadn’t noticed already, silly season is in full swing.
Earlier this month, Auburn athletic director Allen Greene was very publicly adamant that Gus Malzahn would return next season as the Tigers’ head football coach. Monday, however, a report, in the form of a series of tweets from Josh Moon of the Alabama Reporter, surfaced that pointed to “a serious movement among high-powered officials at AU to fire” Malzahn.
Moon also reported that “at least two powerbrokers” met with a high-profile name a few weeks ago: former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops. FootballScoop.com also reported that they were “told that people representing Auburn met with Bob Stoops a few weeks back.”
Being connected to a job that’s not even open at the moment didn’t sit well with Stoops, at all, as the retired coach blistered the reports, telling George Schroeder of USA Today "[i]t’s just foolish speculation... that has no basis to it.”
But wait, there’s more.
“This is ridiculous. You people are listening to stuff that just isn’t there. That’s just a bunch of people (reporting rumors) that are totally clueless and just make up news. That isn’t true.”
Bob Stoops emphatically denies to @usatodaysports reports Auburn representatives have reached out (or will):
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) November 27, 2018
“I haven’t talked to anybody from Auburn. I haven’t met with anybody...nor am I set to talk to anybody. It’s just foolish speculation...that has no basis to it." pic.twitter.com/DkhHRZcGOg
The 58-year-old Stoops, who retired in June of 2017 and whose last game came against Malzahn’s Tigers in the Sugar Bowl, is very comfortable being away from the sidelines but would listen to coaching overtures if it were the right job. As the Cleveland Browns coaching search heats up, expect Stoops’ name to be prominently mentioned.
As for Malzahn? If he were fired without cause, Auburn would owe him in excess of $32 million as part of a new seven-year, $49 million contract agreed upon this past offseason.
