USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg breaks down the latest Amway Coaches Poll. USA TODAY
On an unseasonably warm evening in October 2017, Gus Malzahn arrived at his postgame news conference wearing a striped Auburn polo and traces of a scowl.
The Tigers had just blown a 20-point lead on the road against LSU. They were 10-10 in their past 20 games in the Southeastern Conference. They hadn't beaten Alabama or Georgia in nearly four years. And their past three seasons had ended with records of 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5.