Joel Klatt’s comparison of Auburn to Texas A&M landed like a cheap shot, and it didn’t take long for the pushback to arrive. On The Next Round, Klatt lumped the Tigers in with the Aggies as what he called a “popcorn program,” a label meant for a team that flashes every now and then but doesn’t bring much consistency.
“Auburn reminds me a lot of Texas A&M in that there's not a ton of consistency, but the expectations are always that they're going to be great... They're a popcorn program just like A&M. They're an average program that pops up every once in a while,” Klatt said.
The problem with that line is simple: Auburn’s history doesn’t fit neatly into the Texas A&M box. The Tigers have won championships since the end of World War II, with nationally recognized titles in 1957 and 2010, plus four self-claimed championships in 1958, 1983, 1993 and 2004. Texas A&M, by contrast, hasn’t won a title in that span.
Auburn’s recent past also looks a lot different from the picture Klatt painted. The program had three double-digit win seasons during the 2010s, and the Gus Malzahn era wasn’t some long stretch of irrelevance. After Gene Chizik’s 2010 national title team, Malzahn took over and guided Auburn to a national championship game appearance three years later, then got the Tigers into the 2017 SEC Championship Game.
That’s not the profile of a team that merely shows up once in a while.
Tommy Tuberville’s run was steady too. His teams usually sat around nine wins, and Auburn even went undefeated in 2004.
That’s a different kind of history than the one Texas A&M has built since 2000, when each Aggies coach has had only one nine-win regular season apiece. Jimbo Fisher technically didn’t get one, though the source notes A&M likely would have reached that mark in 2020 if the season had been full.
That’s the bigger point: Auburn has had multiple stretches where it hit real program heights under the right coach, while Texas A&M has been stuck in a pattern of occasional bursts surrounded by mediocrity. Klatt’s comparison may have sounded sharp, but it flattened two programs with very different track records.
And Auburn’s place in the national conversation may be changing again. The source points out that the Tigers became a punchline under Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze, coaches who didn’t have a feel for what it takes to win in Lee County, Alabama. Alex Golesh, though, is described as different, with attention to detail that makes him “fit like a glove.”
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Arkansas Finally Gets Relief In The Secondary But The Fight Isn't Over
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Their motion for a preliminary injunction has now been pushed to Sept. 10, keeping the case alive while their long-term status remains uncertain. The dispute ties back to the NCAAs new 5-for-5 eligibility rule, which gives Division I athletes five years to complete five seasons, and players from the 2022 class like Wooden and Williams are among those still navigating how that change applies to them. [Read more 🡒]