A glance through the Auburn history book shows that a coach’s third season has little impact on future results. Outside of Pat Dye, who won 11 games and an SEC championship in his third season, other tenured coaches have had only average results.
Shug Jordan pieced together a seven win season in 1953. Terry Bowden picked up eight wins in his third season and Tommy Tuberville squeaked out a 7-5 record in 2001.
So what does Gus Malzahn have to accomplish in his third year to keep his program moving forward? The 2013 SEC championship season makes things difficult to measure today.