Urban Meyer experiences “chest pains” following first meeting with Texas boosters

ESPN is starting to pick this up now too.. Looks like @Wild Turkey Auburn is wanting in as well

Keep an eye on: Texas and Auburn​


Any coaching carousel needs a big vacancy or two to really get things moving. There aren't many obvious hot spots, although both Texas and Auburn are being monitored after turbulent starts. Both teams recorded critical wins Saturday, momentarily taking heat off coaches Tom Herman and Gus Malzahn.

Texas finally looked dominant against Baylor and seemingly diffused the controversy around "The Eyes of Texas" afterward. Then again, Herman has no Big 12 titles and only one win over Oklahoma.

Herman and Malzahn both have contracts on their side. According to USA Today's coaching database, Texas would owe Herman about $15.4 million if it made a change this year, while Auburn would owe Malzahn a whopping $21.45 million. With Malzahn's guarantee, he would be owed $11 million of the $21-plus million within the first two months of termination. Those guarantees amid the pandemic -- not even counting what their assistants would be owed -- are steep. But Texas and Auburn both are places that can find the money when they really have to. The question is whether they reach a point where a change is inevitable, or whether they've targeted an obvious upgrade.

"Auburn always talks about it," an industry source told me Saturday. "They're never happy there."

Auburn is 3-2 but easily could be 1-4 after getting fortunate calls in victories over both Arkansas and Ole Miss. Since Malzahn agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract in December 2017, he's 20-12. His offense hasn't recaptured its pre-2015 form. The Tigers still must face Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU later this fall.

If Auburn gets antsy enough to make an expensive move, where would it turn? One name to track is Oregon's Mario Cristobal, who won the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl last season. Cristobal, who has a school-friendly contract after being promoted to replace Willie Taggart, is the second-lowest-paid coach in the league at $2.7 million. Despite some post-Rose Bowl buzz about a new contract, nothing was finalized before the pandemic.

Cristobal, signed through 2024, would owe $8 million if he leaves before 2021, increasing the financial toll for a suitor. But he's an elite national recruiter with SEC experience at Alabama and a Power 5 title under his belt.

"Mario would be a good fit at Auburn," a source said. "But you fire Gus and the staff and hire Mario, that's an ungodly amount of money during the COVID era."

The belief around Texas is that a move would be made only to go deep-sea hunting. The biggest fish available is Urban Meyer, Herman's former boss at Ohio State, who last coached in 2018 and works as a Fox analyst. Would athletic director Chris Del Conte, who didn't hire Herman, be open to Meyer and all that comes with him?

"I could see Urban making a play behind the scenes to get that one," a source said.

Added another person: "If [Del Conte] wants Urban, he may be inclined to move."

After Meyer, the candidate pool gets blurry. Penn State coach James Franklin could be an option for Del Conte. Iowa State's Matt Campbell is seemingly a better fit for a top Big Ten job or Notre Dame.

"Even if it's a crazy amount of money, they've got it," added another source. "I get the feeling that they feel like Herman's not the guy who can turn this thing around. But does that mean they make the change during the pandemic or wait a year?"
 
ESPN is starting to pick this up now too.. Looks like @Wild Turkey Auburn is wanting in as well

Keep an eye on: Texas and Auburn​


Any coaching carousel needs a big vacancy or two to really get things moving. There aren't many obvious hot spots, although both Texas and Auburn are being monitored after turbulent starts. Both teams recorded critical wins Saturday, momentarily taking heat off coaches Tom Herman and Gus Malzahn.

Texas finally looked dominant against Baylor and seemingly diffused the controversy around "The Eyes of Texas" afterward. Then again, Herman has no Big 12 titles and only one win over Oklahoma.

Herman and Malzahn both have contracts on their side. According to USA Today's coaching database, Texas would owe Herman about $15.4 million if it made a change this year, while Auburn would owe Malzahn a whopping $21.45 million. With Malzahn's guarantee, he would be owed $11 million of the $21-plus million within the first two months of termination. Those guarantees amid the pandemic -- not even counting what their assistants would be owed -- are steep. But Texas and Auburn both are places that can find the money when they really have to. The question is whether they reach a point where a change is inevitable, or whether they've targeted an obvious upgrade.

"Auburn always talks about it," an industry source told me Saturday. "They're never happy there."

Auburn is 3-2 but easily could be 1-4 after getting fortunate calls in victories over both Arkansas and Ole Miss. Since Malzahn agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract in December 2017, he's 20-12. His offense hasn't recaptured its pre-2015 form. The Tigers still must face Alabama, Texas A&M and LSU later this fall.

If Auburn gets antsy enough to make an expensive move, where would it turn? One name to track is Oregon's Mario Cristobal, who won the Pac-12 and the Rose Bowl last season. Cristobal, who has a school-friendly contract after being promoted to replace Willie Taggart, is the second-lowest-paid coach in the league at $2.7 million. Despite some post-Rose Bowl buzz about a new contract, nothing was finalized before the pandemic.

Cristobal, signed through 2024, would owe $8 million if he leaves before 2021, increasing the financial toll for a suitor. But he's an elite national recruiter with SEC experience at Alabama and a Power 5 title under his belt.

"Mario would be a good fit at Auburn," a source said. "But you fire Gus and the staff and hire Mario, that's an ungodly amount of money during the COVID era."

The belief around Texas is that a move would be made only to go deep-sea hunting. The biggest fish available is Urban Meyer, Herman's former boss at Ohio State, who last coached in 2018 and works as a Fox analyst. Would athletic director Chris Del Conte, who didn't hire Herman, be open to Meyer and all that comes with him?

"I could see Urban making a play behind the scenes to get that one," a source said.

Added another person: "If [Del Conte] wants Urban, he may be inclined to move."

After Meyer, the candidate pool gets blurry. Penn State coach James Franklin could be an option for Del Conte. Iowa State's Matt Campbell is seemingly a better fit for a top Big Ten job or Notre Dame.

"Even if it's a crazy amount of money, they've got it," added another source. "I get the feeling that they feel like Herman's not the guy who can turn this thing around. But does that mean they make the change during the pandemic or wait a year?"
I don't see us getting rid of Malzahn this year with a 20 million buyout in the middle of a pandemic and all universities are bleeding cash. In all honestly I would say pretty much everyone's job is safe this year unless some idiot does something that voids his contract from conduct or NCAA violation because no one is going to want to swallow a buyout and the optics would be terrible.
 
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