Gus Malzahn got off to a roaring start as the head of the Auburn Tigers. The 2013 season, which doubled as his inaugural campaign, ended with a 12-2 record that included the "Kick Six" victory over Alabama and a close-fought title game loss to Florida State. Since then, though, there are folks that have soured on Malzahn and his team's performance, as the Tigers have scuffled to records of 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5 in the ensuing three years.
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That combination of events brings us to what could be a pivotal 2017 campaign for Malzahn. In fact, one college football expert believes that Malzahn's job could be on the line as a result of one 60-minute contest during the season.
The notion that Malzahn's job security could come down to the Alabama game might seem crazy, if only because Auburn could conceivably enter the game with an 11-0 record. If that were the case and the Tigers came up short in a tight game, there is almost no scenario in which it would make sense to part ways with Malzahn.
With that said, there have been instances of coaches that were run out of high-profile jobs simply for an inability to beat chief rivals and this would not be unprecedented. In Alabama, the Iron Bowl is the biggest sporting event of the year and, even with Alabama looming as the best program in the country there might not be any room for error in this case.
