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Jarrett Stidham Means 2017 Expectations Rise, Excuses Vanish

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The blockbuster news — and it deserved every single bit of attention that it received Saturday — of Jarrett Stidham’s commitment is a major boon for the Auburn Football program.

With Stidham on the 2017 Auburn roster, Gus Malzahn has cemented his program a preseason top 10 national ranking.

The good news, of course, is that Malzahn has made sure Auburn will remain in the national spotlight long after the Sugar Bowl — win or lose — fades into the past.

The bad news, though, is that there will now be no excuses — none — to fall back on should next season be anything but an obvious success by nearly everyone’s standard.

Few teams will have a starting quarterback on the level of Malzahn’s.

Few teams will have a running back like Kamryn Pettway, who also made a Saturday announcement — that he would be returning to Auburn for his junior season.

Few teams will have a stable of wide receivers with the pure, overall talent of Kyle Davis, Darius Slayton, Nate Craig–Myers, Eli Stove, Ryan Davis, and company.

Even fewer have all of the above.

For the, once upon a time, offensive wizard of all offensive wizards, the cupboard could not be more full. The pieces could not be more in place.

Even with the definite losses of Montravius Adams, Josh Holsey, and Rudy Ford, as well as the all-but-official early exit of Carl Lawson, the defense should be more than good enough to complement the offense Malzahn should be able to cast onto the field.

After all, Marlon Davidson, Jake Holland, Byron Cowart, Derrick Brown, and the best linebacking corps the Tigers have had in quite some time — led by Tre’ Williams and Deshaun Davis — is more than a decent front force.

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Next season, even more than any other, is squarely on Malzahn.

There’s no excuse for taking until the third or fourth game of the season to figure out where your offensive pieces fit.

There’s no excuse for puzzling offensive game-plans, shuffling quarterbacks in and out, or having fullbacks throwing pivotal fourth down passes.

Quite frankly, there’s no excuses at all.

That’s how good Stidham is.

And that’s how good Malzahn can be — and has been in the past.

Malzahn failed to take advantage of the momentum that the 2013 season built for his program.

From winning the SEC Championship and beating both major rivals, to not sniffing a conference title and going 0–6 against those same rivals since.

Malzahn simply can’t afford to fail to capitalize again, to do anything less than seize this moment.

In the years since that magical first season as Auburn’s head coach, the momentum has waned, and, if Malzahn’s to truly rev it up once more, this is his best — and likely his last — chance.

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