Here is my concern, if we dont have the funding to be a top tier program. And im concerned we dont have it either. Then i dont think running off a coach and buying out his contract in year 3 is the best financial move. If there is a better coach than CKD, and Im not sure who that is at the moment, then he will come in expecting an even greater investment in NIL than what we do now. And if we are already maxed out how do we do more?
I think there is a lot of downside to moving away from CKD too soon. I think we need to give him 5-7 years before we make another change. CKD absent an NFL opportunity is probably at the best program he can command. It appears that OSU, Texas, OU, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon are probably the programs that have the deepest wells to draw from in the NIL era.
If we were still in the traditional era, Freeze would have already been fired at Auburn. Not so sure they can afford to part with him now.
I agree with B1G's above comments. Had we lost to UGA and possibly LSU or USCe rather than OU and Vanderbilt I believe the concern level would not have been as great. BTW we were fortunate to hang on and beat Georgia and South Carolina. I do not know if we have the funding needed right now to be a top tier program, and as fans we need to adjust our expectations. Next year maybe similar to this year in Ws and Ls, but year 3 will likely be the make or break year for CKD.