MAILBAG: Will Auburn make changes to its offensive coaching staff after the season?

Josh Vitale
Montgomery Advertiser
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey talk before the Arkansas game Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

AUBURN — The short introduction at the top of this week’s Mailbag was going to be about the University of Maryland.

It was going to be about how it was unconscionable that the Board of Regents strong-armed university president Wallace Loh into reinstating 10-15 football coach who built a culture that led to the completely preventable death of a 19-year-old student-athlete named Jordan McNair.

Fortunately, it’s not. It took 24 hours longer than it should have, but DJ Durkin is no longer Maryland’s head football coach. That’s the decision that needed to be made.

Anyway, let’s get back to Auburn and this week’s Mailbag. As always, you can tweet me your questions each week. I will answer the best ones on Friday.

MORE:Auburn hopes to start another November to remember against Texas A&M

Here we go:

Clemson Tigers quarterback Kelly Bryant (2) carries the ball as Auburn linebacker Darrell Williams (49) and defensive lineman Nick Coe (91) chase during a game on Sept. 9, 2017, in Clemson, S.C.

How much attention should we pay to the quiet trip to Auburn by Kelly Bryant?

— Bradley (@bradleyryanV)

In case you missed the news that surfaced Thursday afternoon, Bryant, the former Clemson quarterback who announced his decision to transfer earlier this season, took a recruiting visit to Auburn on Tuesday, per Matt Connolly of The State newspaper. It’s the fourth school he has visited — joining Arkansas, North Carolina and Missouri — and he reportedly will take a trip to Mississippi State, too.

By all accounts, the visit went well:

“It was a good trip just sitting down and talking with coach and getting a feel for what they were all about,” Bryant told Connolly. “Feel it would be a good situation to be able to step into with the guys they will have coming back on both sides of the ball.”

So, obviously, that is something that should be paid attention to. If the already-graduated Jarrett Stidham does declare for the NFL draft after this season — which is still a reasonable expectation given how close he came last season and how thin this class is at that position — Auburn’s potential quarterback room would be made up of backup Malik Willis, assumed-redshirt freshmen Joey Gatewood and Cord Sandberg, and 2019 signee Bo Nix, who has stated plans to enroll early. That’s a lot of three- and four-star talent, but little experience.

I’m not sold on Bryant being a program-changer at quarterback. He completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 2,802 yards (7 yards per attempt) and 13 touchdowns to eight interceptions and rushed for 665 yards and 11 more scores during the 2017, which aren’t really jump-off-the-page numbers for a Clemson team that made the College Football Playoff. I also don’t envision him joining a program where he’ll have to a compete for a job, given that he just left Clemson because he lost his job to freshman phenom Trevor Lawrence and has only one year of eligibility remaining. I don’t have any inside information on Bryant’s recruitment, but the school I keep coming back to is Arkansas because of his relationship with head coach Chad Morris (who used to be the Clemson offensive coordinator) and the fact that he’ll be the face of the program the second he walks through the door.

Personally, I would be more interested in the potential graduate transfer quarterback playing on the other side of the state right now. Still, Bryant appears to be at least a possibility for Auburn next season.

Are there any updates on Austin Wiley’s or Samir Doughty’s injuries/timetables?

— Connor (@connor_n_25) and Micah (@MicahGarner50)

Here’s what we know: Wiley has a left foot injury, and Doughty has a high ankle sprain. Neither has practiced since suffering their respective injuries, and though both are “getting closer,” neither will suit up to play in Auburn’s Friday-night exhibition against Lincoln Memorial (though Danjel Purifoy, who cannot make his regular-season debut until Dec. 15, will). Head coach Bruce Pearl said the usual barometer of whether an injured player is ready to return to action is whether or not he can get through a contact practice, and both will have their next chance to do that Sunday in advance of Tuesday’s season opener against South Alabama. At this point, Pearl said both are “doubtful,” though Doughty is a bit closer to being ready.

After the Tuesday game against South Alabama, Auburn plays Washington on Nov. 9 and Mississippi College on Nov. 14 before making the trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. Asked if he was confident both Wiley and Doughty would be back by then, Pearl said “I am. I am.”

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl reacts during the first half against Clemson in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arenaon March 18, 2018, in San Diego, Calif.

Auburn basketball recruiting question: With three scholarships unfilled and three seniors, plus a minimum of Wiley gone next year, there are seven-plus slots for the 2019 class. Does Auburn actively want more than five current verbal commitments? Seems like they could do a seven- or eight- or nine-person class, but history tells us otherwise.

— Stephen (@downey_town)

Just to correct some math here: Auburn currently has 11 of its 13 scholarships filled. Ten will be part of the rotation this season — Jared Harper, J’Von McCormick, Bryce Brown, Doughty, Danjel Purifoy, Malik Dunbar, Chuma Okeke, Horace Spencer, Wiley and Anfernee McLemore — and the 11th, guard Jamal Johnson, will sit out this season after transferring from Memphis. That leaves the Tigers with two open scholarships, and three more will open when seniors Brown, Dunbar and Spencer graduate after this season.

So that’s only five guaranteed open scholarships next season. Auburn already has five commitments in a loaded 2019 recruiting class that ranks ninth nationally and third in the SEC — four-star Powder Springs, Georgia, small forward Isaac Okoro; four-star Orlando, Florida, combo guard Tyrell Jones; four-star Nahunta, Ga., power forward Jaylin Williams; three-star Little Rock, Arkansas, small forward Allen Flanigan; and three-star Powder Springs center Babatunde Akingbola. More spots could open if players such as Wiley decide to leave early for the NBA, but Pearl really can’t know for sure if that will happen until it does. He can’t offer scholarships that aren’t technically open yet.

So while it is possible that Auburn could still add to its 2019 class with another high school senior or transfer, I really can’t see it growing by more than one unless there is truly a player exodus after the season, for whatever reason. There were only 11 Division I teams in the country that signed more than five players in the 2018 class, and none signed more than seven.

Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey watches on as his team warms up at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2018. Auburn defeated Arkansas 34-3.

Will Chip Lindsey be back next season, or is he on the hot seat? If he is let go, who could Auburn replace him with? Personally, I think we still haven’t seen Lindsey’s offense because Gus keeps putting his hands all over it.

— Randy (@renzohenson1)

At this point, I think I would be surprised if Lindsey returns as Auburn’s offensive coordinator next season. I don’t think he’ll be fired, because that’s not really how Gus Malzahn has operated as head coach, but I could see Lindsey leaving for another job the same way Rhett Lashlee did for UConn following the 2016 season. Lindsey was reportedly in the running for a few lower-level FBS head coach jobs after last season, and while that might not be the case after this season given the struggles Auburn has experienced on offense, he’s still an up-and-coming young coach who will have opportunities.

And you are right, Randy: Auburn’s offense isn’t purely Lindsey’s. It’s a combination of Malzahn’s run-heavy, up-tempo, spread system and the Air Raid principles Lindsey used when he coached at Southern Miss and Arizona State. And while that offense has received a ton of flak this season (for good reason), it’s not as if it never worked: The Tigers averaged more than 450 yards and 33 points per game during a 10-4 campaign that resulted in wins over Georgia and Alabama, a trip to the SEC Championship Game and a rise to as high as No. 2 in the CFP rankings last year. That offense made running back Kerryon Johnson the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Stidham just the second 3,000-yard passer in program history. Auburn’s biggest issues this season have been personnel and execution, not scheme.

If Lindsey does not end up returning as offensive coordinator next season, the biggest question in my opinion won’t be who replaces him, but rather whether that person calls the plays at all. The vocal majority of Auburn fans complain about Malzahn “putting his hands all over” the offense, but his ability to run an offense is what sparked his rise from the Arkansas high school ranks to the highest levels of Division I. Malzahn is an offensive-minded head coach — he lets Kevin Steele run the show on defense, because that’s not his area of expertise, but you really can’t reasonably expect him to just not be a part of the offensive game plan, no matter who is calling the plays. Tosh Lupoi is Alabama’s defensive coordinator, but do you really think Nick Saban is completely hands-off on that side of the ball?

Lashlee and Lindsey have called the plays for Auburn (most of the time) the last three seasons, but it doesn’t seem Malzahn has ever truly given up control. I think he should stop fighting his instincts. He’s in the first-year of a seven-year, $49 million contract, and he’s already facing questions about his job security despite a hefty buyout of more than $32 million. If Malzahn returns next season and Lindsey doesn’t, Auburn will have to hire a new offensive coordinator. But I think Malzahn should go back to calling plays. That’s what got him here in the first place.