Annual CFB coaching carousel thread

[throatybeard]

Thank goodness we aren't on it this time.

Notre Dame -- Weis gets another year because he's not Willingham
Iowa State -- Chizik fires a bunch of his staff, but stays; then takes Auburn job. Job open.

Purdue -- Joe Tiller retires; Danny hope hired. DC Spack takes Illinois State HC job
Kansas State -- Program legend Bill Snyder returns to replace Ron Prince
Washington -- USC OC Steve Sarkisian replaces Tyrone Willingham
Tennessee -- Lane Kiffin replaces Phil Fulmer
Auburn -- incomprehensibly, fires Tommy Tuberville; hired Gene Chizik (5-19)
Mississippi State -- Sylvester Croom pressured to resign; UF OC Dan Mullen hired
Clemson -- Tommy Bowden out midseason; WVU-style, interim coach Dabo Swinney made HC
Syracuse -- Greg Robinson out; NOLA Saints' DC Doug Marrone hires
New Mexico State -- Hal Mumme out.
New Mexico -- Rocky Long retires; replaced by Mike Locksley, Illinois OC.
San Diego State -- Chick Long fired; hires Brady Hoke away from Ball State
Ball State -- OC Stan Parrish promoted to HC

Contract extensions of those not on hot seat: Gundy, Oklahoma State; Nutt, Mississippi; Leach, TTU.

Who am I missing?

[roywhite]

Surprised by the AU dismissal of Tuberville, who had beaten Alabama 6 straight times prior to this year. I've read some reports that there was some animosity between TT and at least one very powerful member of the Board of Trustees at Auburn. Go to a 3rd SEC school? That seems crazy, but the SEC overall seems crazy---salaries, facilities, pressure to win, attention, etc.

Seems to me like UWash is a plum job for a good incoming coach; they've got a great location, good tradition, good school, and can hardly drop any lower. A new guy would probably need to raid California for some talent, but there's a lot to go around.

[ugadevil]

Surprised by the AU dismissal of Tuberville, who had beaten Alabama 6 straight times prior to this year. I've read some reports that there was some animosity between TT and at least one very powerful member of the Board of Trustees at Auburn. Go to a 3rd SEC school? That seems crazy, but the SEC overall seems crazy---salaries, facilities, pressure to win, attention, etc.



Is that the board member who seems to control everything at Auburn? Isn't his name Lowder?

[roywhite]

Add UVa to the list of openings? Groh gone?

Message board chatter; anybody confirm?

[Duvall]

Man, if Auburn doesn't get Leach they'll look awfully dumb. How do you fire a guy that went undefeated less than five years ago?

I certainly hope Notre Dame found a way to get rid of the guy that gave Weis that ridiculous contract.

[RelativeWays]

Up through the Duke blasting, the rumor was strong that Groh was done at UVAm granted he had a pretty impressive rebound and they shouldn't have that USC loss count against them that much (no other ACC team could hang with them either). Still, they finished 5-7 and out of bowl contention, I wouldn't be surprised if they ditch him.

Absolutely surprised at Tuberville getting the boot, one bad year this year to an otherwise excellent tenure at Auburn (not to mention a legit complaint of being left out of the NC game in 2004). If I was the UVA AD, I'd boot Groh for Tuberville in a heartbeat. HE wouldn't have to change his wardrobe that much either.

[Duvall]

That seems crazy, but the SEC overall seems crazy---salaries, facilities, pressure to win, attention, etc.

Pretty much.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2008/12/KiffinHeds03.jpg

[ugadevil]

What a year for Auburn. Losing Muschamp and now the firing of Tuberville is probably not what they were expecting. I think the Tuberville family had recently moved into a new home and they were becoming very comfortable with living in Auburn...no more! I say it's karma for the way Tommy handled his assistants.

[wolfpackdevil]

Thank goodness we aren't on it this time.

Notre Dame -- Weis gets another year becuase he's not Willingham
Iowa State -- Chizik fies a bunch of his staff, but stays

Kansas State -- Program legend Bill Snyder returns to replace Ron Prince
Washington -- Willingham out; some reports say they're talking to TTU coach Mike Leach
Tennessee -- Lane Kiffin replaces Phil Fulmer
Auburn -- incomprehensibly, fires Tommy Tuberville today; some Leach buzz here too
Mississippi State -- Croom out, some talk about Tuberville
Clemson -- Tommy Bowden out midseason; WVU-style, interim coach Dabo Swinney made HC
Syracuse -- Greg Robinson out

Who am I missing?


I saw on espn that Tuberville resigned and was not fired, but he probaly would have been gone anyways.

And I hope Croom and Willingham go and make a name for themselves some where else

[throatybeard]

That stuff with the thermostats is pretty funny in an Onionish way, but it doesn't reflect reality. Given recent hoo-hah in the papers, even the faculty at Mizzou, where the UM system (UMC, UMSL, UMKC, MST nee UMR) is in a faculty/staff hiring freeze while the Gary Pinkel has gotten a huge multiyear X $M raise, seem to understand that the athletics money is a different pot.

The athletics boosters give money that wouldn't be given to academics otherwise. It's not zero-sum. I kill in the Baby Syntax class, but when 80K people pay to watch me do it and I'm making what I am now, THEN I'll start complaining about how I'm not compensated like the FB coach.

[PDDuke85]

For what it's worth.....
Hal Mumme out at New Mexico State.

Clemson hired Dabo Swinney, removing the interim tag. No previous head coaching experience but fully endorsed (at least reported so) by the players. I couldn't help but see similarity from the Duke/Ted Roof situation. Lord help Dabo next year in dealing with IPTAY if his boys don't come out of the gate 12-0.

But I digress. Let the changes continue while I sit smugly at home, knowing my program has David Cutcliffe and one hell of an assistant coaching staff leading the way back to prominence.
:)

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

For what it's worth.....
Hal Mumme out at New Mexico State.

Clemson hired Dabo Swinney, removing the interim tag. No previous head coaching experience but fully endorsed (at least reported so) by the players. I couldn't help but see similarity from the Duke/Ted Roof situation. Lord help Dabo next year in dealing with IPTAY if his boys don't come out of the gate 12-0.

But I digress. Let the changes continue while I sit smugly at home, knowing my program has David Cutcliffe and one hell of an assistant coaching staff leading the way back to prominence.
:)

Let's hope the associate and assistant coaches are so happy to stay with Coach Cutcliffe that recruiting by other programs doesn't take any of them elsewhere.

[throatybeard]

It's official: Tubby resigns. There's a quotation from him in the article that seems to indicate he wants to stay in Auburn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3742934

Ivan Maisel has a nice column about what a stupid thing it is to get rid of Tubby.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=3743358


You're Auburn, and you're too big, too sure of yourself to panic every time someone in Tuscaloosa raises a trophy. Once upon a time you panicked. Remember five years ago, when the university president led a secret delegation to interview Bobby Petrino at Louisville? That president and the genius boosters who egged him on forgot that Auburn still employed a football coach. They also proved to be about as clandestine as Inspector Clouseau.

Tommy Tuberville coached the Tigers to an 85-40 record during his Auburn tenure.
The media mocked you for months, and you looked even dumber when Tuberville took the team to a 13-0 record a year later.

Good thing that president is long gone. You've got a new athletic director, too. Surely they wouldn't be stupid enough to make the same mistake and run off Tuberville. During games, he barely has a pulse. They call him the Riverboat Gambler for his play-calling guts. And big games? Not only is he 7-3 against Alabama, he has won nine of his past 14 games against top-10 teams.

Off the field, his players don't get in trouble. They go to class, too. In 2007, 20 players had at least a 3.0 GPA.

[Diddy]

This is what has plagued Duke for so long, and why we got so far down. If you really want to win, and at Auburn and Tenn, and Clem to a lesser extent, they want to win Big on a national scale. If that is your goal, you do not wait until the team is all the way down. You wait until there are noticable signs that the team is trending down, and you make a change. Call it Knee jerk, whatever, it works. Saban replaced a good guy who was doing OK. But he wasn't keeping pace with the rest of the SEC. Meyer replaced a guy who recruited the major parts of a NC squad, but wasn't winning on the field.

In todays world, rebuilding a moribund team is really hard. If you wait until the talent level has bottomed out, it can take several years to really comeback. But if you pull the trigger before the team is desolate, the rebuilding project might only take a year or two.

You don't let a coach hang himself. As soon as he has enough rope to make a noose, his butt is fired.

That is the cost of winning. And I mean really winning.

[throatybeard]

This is what has plagued Duke for so long, and why we got so far down. If you really want to win, and at Auburn and Tenn, and Clem to a lesser extent, they want to win Big on a national scale. If that is your goal, you do not wait until the team is all the way down. You wait until there are noticable signs that the team is trending down, and you make a change. Call it Knee jerk, whatever, it works. Saban replaced a good guy who was doing OK. But he wasn't keeping pace with the rest of the SEC. Meyer replaced a guy who recruited the major parts of a NC squad, but wasn't winning on the field.

In todays world, rebuilding a moribund team is really hard. If you wait until the talent level has bottomed out, it can take several years to really comeback. But if you pull the trigger before the team is desolate, the rebuilding project might only take a year or two.

You don't let a coach hang himself. As soon as he has enough rope to make a noose, his butt is fired.

That is the cost of winning. And I mean really winning.

More often what happens when you fire a good coach is that you accelerate downward momentum. Transition of a coaching staff is a huge cost. It often messes up recruiting for a whole year.

Nebraska is still recovering from the self-inflicted wound they caused themselves when they fired Solich. Ole Miss fired Cut and then suffered through three awful seasons with Orgeron. (Nutt seems to be making hay with Orgeron's seniors). Duke wasn't great under Red Wilson but got worse after firing him.

In Tuberville, we're looking at a guy who was tremendously successful and had this one 5-7 season. Unless AU gets Leach, this was absurd. They're just as likely to have hamstringed themselves by doing this as they are to luck into someone who will take them to the next level. And Tuberville had taken them before, in 2004 at 13-0.

College FB also has has a lot of instances of patience being rewarded during rebuilding efforts. Pinkel, Beamer, Synder, Rodriguez at WVU, Papa Bowden.

[Scoring Point]

The decision to dump Tuberville is definitely puzzling. I have to believe the resurgence of the Tide under Saban is a big factor. Although I've always preferred Auburn's yang to Bama's yin, I do think the former suffers from a bit of an inferiority complex vis-a-vis the Tide, and it seems as though there may be an urgent sense - whether valid or not - that they may be slipping behind their once again formidable archrival.

Tuberville has always struck me as a bit of a tool, but there is no doubt the guy can coach. He will certainly land another quality HC job, assuming that is what he wants. I think the odds of Auburn landing a upgrade to him are 50/50 at best.

[rockymtn devil]

Contrast the last 24 hours of Notre Dame and Auburn. In the case of the Irish, they conceded that, in 2008, and 20 years since being relevant on the national stage, they are a 5-7/6-6/7-5 program who every few years will go 10-2 and get trounced in a BCS bowl. Auburn, on the other hand, made a decision that says, to me, that it believes it's up there with USC, Florida, Texas, Ohio State, etc., when in reality it isn't. Tubberville is about as good a coach as Auburn can expect to hire and he had amazing success there. Tiger fans may not like it--and based on recent results, it isn't fair--but Auburn is the second team in that state.

Who would've thought Notre Dame would come off as the humble program?

New question: Does Tubberville's "resignation" re-open the Charlie Weis question in South Bend? One of the driving forces behind ND's decision was that they likely wouldn't be able to find anyone better to take the job (Brian Kelly would be perfect, but he feels Cincy is a better job; I agree). Why pay Weis's buyout so that you can bring in a coach of the same caliber? But, Tubberville is an upgrade and he's available. In reality, Weis isn't getting another year. He's getting at least two more years because a monkey could coach that team to eight wins next year given how easy the schedule is. Weis will win 8 or 9 next year, tell us all he's a genius (again) and then go 6-6 the year after.

[A-Tex Devil]

Man, if Auburn doesn't get Leach they'll look awfully dumb. How do you fire a guy that went undefeated less than five years ago?

I certainly hope Notre Dame found a way to get rid of the guy that gave Weis that ridiculous contract.

You mean Duke's current Athletic Director?

I've been reading articles that the boosters/trustees basically paid for TT to resign from Auburn, but that Auburn's AD was shocked to learn TT resigned.

Leach pulled his name from the U Dub search. He ends up at Auburn or stays at Tech, methinks. Tech may have a hard time ponying up the money that Auburn can --- but, honestly, I'm not sure Auburn is that much better of a job.

[VAGentleman05]

Add UVa to the list of openings? Groh gone?

Message board chatter; anybody confirm?

It's looking like Groh may hold on for another year after all, but there will be major shakeups on the staff. Most notably, Mike Groh (Al's son) will be out as OC.

Nothing's been made official yet, though, so it's still possible that the AD makes a run at Tuberville, Leach, or someone else.

[davekay1971]

"Mr. Davis, we have Auburn University on the line, are you accepting phone calls?"

"Always...put them right through!"

[sagegrouse]

More often what happens when you fire a good coach is that you accelerate downward momentum. Transition of a coaching staff is a huge cost. It often messes up recruiting for a whole year.

.

The problem with readily dismissing coaches at the first sign of trouble is that, believe it or not, NO ONE ANY GOOD WILL ACCEPT A COACHING JOB THERE. I mean, if you beat Bama six years in a row and then lose once and are fired -- who would want this job and work under such threats? And how are you going to get a better coach than Tuberville?

sagegrouse

[A-Tex Devil]

Will the residents of Oxford, Mississippi burn Auburn, Alabama to the ground if Auburn steals Houston Nutt?

Pine Box for you, too, Houston? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tuberville#Ole_Miss)

[throatybeard]

I've updated the top post, with the news that Sarkisian is going to UW.

Ole Miss has rolled Nutt over, so he's not going anywhere.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3748072

[throatybeard]

New Mexico hires Mike Locksley, Illinois OC. So now there are 4 AfAm I-A coaches.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3754006

[Duvall]

New Mexico hires Mike Locksley, Illinois OC. So now there are 4 AfAm I-A coaches.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3754006

But still only one at a BCS school, which is just baffling.

[Duke84Blue]

Terry Bowden went 47-16-1 (73%) and 30-14-1 (66%) in SEC play over 5 and half years from 1993-1998. He resigned midway through the 1998 season after a very poor 1-5 start. He was 11-0 and COY in his first season (1993) while the team was ineligible for post season play. He made bowl games in all 3 seasons his team was eligible and his team was ranked all 5 years including several top 10 finishes. He too felt pressure heading into his final season even though he had won nearly 80% of his games in his first 4 seasons! Here is an interesting read from almost 3 years ago about Bobby Lowder and his influence on Auburn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2285976

[SoCalDukeFan]

You mean Duke's current Athletic Director?




I have some friends who follow Notre Dame very closely. Their input is that White wanted to keep Willingham and did not want to give Weis the big contract. Some of the reason why he left.

I can not confirm, just what I heard. I hope its true.

SoCal

[ugadevil]

Terry Bowden went 47-16-1 (73%) and 30-14-1 (66%) in SEC play over 5 and half years from 1993-1998. He resigned midway through the 1998 season after a very poor 1-5 start. He was 11-0 and COY in his first season (1993) while the team was ineligible for post season play. He made bowl games in all 3 seasons his team was eligible and his team was ranked all 5 years including several top 10 finishes. He too felt pressure heading into his final season even though he had won nearly 80% of his games in his first 4 seasons! Here is an interesting read from almost 3 years ago about Bobby Lowder and his influence on Auburn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2285976

I thought there were some off the field incidents with Bowden that had something to do with his resignation? I can't find anything concrete online but I've always heard there was more to it than the poor start to the season. Maybe those were just rumors to justify getting rid of him?

[AuburnDukeGirl]

I graduated from Auburn in 2002 and worked as a tutor for the Athletic Department so I might have a little perspective on the Auburn situation.

Bowden was an okay coach but his bad recruiting caught up with him. His players got into trouble with the law frequently and a lot dropped out due to poor grades. In 1997 and 1998 our running backs were tiny and were terrible. That's not good when you're known as "Running Back U". After his teams started to do poorly in 96,97,98 the fans had had enough and wanted him gone. The AD handled it badly and for some reason the administration never learns from it's mistakes.

Tuberville had a lot of rebuilding to do after Bowden left the cupboard bare. He was given time and the fans were on board. He recruited great kids who were successful on and off the field and he was known for his discipline. However, in 2003 when it was assumed that Auburn would be competing for a National Championship and instead had several losses, people started to get frustrated. The fans were still with him for the most part but Bobby Lowder-from the Board of Trustees had enough and tried to get another coach without anyone knowing-that didn't work out so well and that led to the horrible embarassment of Auburn University and the future paranoia of Tuberville about his job safety and therefore always being the part of rumors of going to other schools to coach. 2004 was awesome but that led to insane expectations on the part of Auburn fans. 2005-2007 weren't bad years but we wanted to be competing for Championship. During this period Auburn went through several Offensive and Defensive Coordinators due to the AD not being able to hang on to good coaches and the perceived notion that Tuberville wouldn't give enough control over to his OC and DC.

Fastforward to this year where expectations weren't too high based on the new offensive coordinator and new QB. However, the spread just didn't work at Auburn and the fans hated it and wanted to see our usual offense. Tuberville fired the OC after 6 games and gave the reins over to his Barbecue boys (coaches who had been with him since his Ole Miss days who he kept on even though the fans hated them and their ineptness). This angered the fans and then add in Alabama likely headed for a National Championship and our fans and AD were screaming for change. Auburn hates Alabama-especially when they are successful-they are obnoxious and ignorant and the rivalry gets that much worse. Unfortunately, I do think the Alabama situation with Saban did lead to Tuberville leaving. I think by this time Tommy had had enough of everything and decided he was going to "resign". Now we are left looking for a new coach with a terrible AD who has no clue who he is going to hire. The Auburn fans are in an uproar about the whole situation and how it was handled and the fact that there is no coach in place. Just the usual terrible mishandling by the Administration. I think we are way too used to it by now. :rolleyes:

[pbc2]

I visited my brother-in-law, who is an Auburn alum and die-hard fan this past weekend. He said he was hoping that they would give both Cutcliffe and Davis a call to try and lure one of them out of NC. He thought they could offer more $$, but still wasn't optimistic, given the way Auburn has handled its coaches lately. He still thought it would be well worth the phone call, to get someone with current head coaching experience.

I feel pretty confident that Cutcliffe is committed to winning at Duke. Is Butch Davis being considered for any of these openings?

[AuburnDukeGirl]

I visited my brother-in-law, who is an Auburn alum and die-hard fan this past weekend. He said he was hoping that they would give both Cutcliffe and Davis a call to try and lure one of them out of NC. He thought they could offer more $$, but still wasn't optimistic, given the way Auburn has handled its coaches lately. He still thought it would be well worth the phone call, to get someone with current head coaching experience.

I feel pretty confident that Cutcliffe is committed to winning at Duke. Is Butch Davis being considered for any of these openings?

I've heard Butch Davis' name brought up quite a few times by people would like the AD to go after him but I haven't heard Cutcliffe. I just don't think Davis would come to Auburn. He has it made at Carolina. The main names I am hearing in contention are Mike Leach, Jimbo Fisher(OC during our 11-0 season in 1993), Steve Spurrier (I think that's crazy),Chris Peterson, Will Muschamp, and Turner Gill. Most fans want either Will Muschamp-Texas' DC or Turner Gill-Buffalo's coach-who has NFL and college experience. I actually think Turner Gill is the fan's choice and I would be excited for our program if they hired him. I want Auburn to make a statement with this hire and turn the school upside down. I think that might do it. We need things shaken up.

[A-Tex Devil]

I've heard Butch Davis' name brought up quite a few times by people would like the AD to go after him but I haven't heard Cutcliffe. I just don't think Davis would come to Auburn. He has it made at Carolina. The main names I am hearing in contention are Mike Leach, Jimbo Fisher(OC during our 11-0 season in 1993), Steve Spurrier (I think that's crazy),Chris Peterson, Will Muschamp, and Turner Gill. Most fans want either Will Muschamp-Texas' DC or Turner Gill-Buffalo's coach-who has NFL and college experience. I actually think Turner Gill is the fan's choice and I would be excited for our program if they hired him. I want Auburn to make a statement with this hire and turn the school upside down. I think that might do it. We need things shaken up.

Rumor has it that Leach threw himself at Auburn's door and Auburn turned him down. That's good or bad for Auburn depending on how you feel about Leach's offense working in the SEC. Will Muschamp is locked up at Texas, at least for a while. Jimbo Fisher is supposed to be at FSU as well. I know Muschamp ain't leaving UT this year. I guess there is a slim chance Jimbo Fisher breaks his promise to FSU.

Turner Gill would be a great hire, I think, and a true "CEO." Probably only an adequate X's and O's guy from a coordinator standpoint from what I've read. But his success at Buffalo tells me he is an excellent head coach.

The REALLY funny name being thrown out there is Patrick Nix, former Auburn QB and current OC at Miami which hasn't had much of an offense to speak of recently against top 25 competition. Ties to the school, but not sure he's earned it based on results.

[throatybeard]

Huge bit on Turner Gill on CFB Live just now. Skip Holtz is supposedly the frontrunner at SU, where Gill is also under consideration.

What Gill has done at Buffalo is insane.

[ugadevil]

Rumor has it that Leach threw himself at Auburn's door and Auburn turned him down. That's good or bad for Auburn depending on how you feel about Leach's offense working in the SEC. Will Muschamp is locked up at Texas, at least for a while. Jimbo Fisher is supposed to be at FSU as well. I know Muschamp ain't leaving UT this year. I guess there is a slim chance Jimbo Fisher breaks his promise to FSU.



You're right about Muschamp. Auburn gave him a call and he told them to take a walk. If they had increased his salary last year and kept him at Auburn through this season, I think they'd be looking at an entirely different situation.

[AuburnDukeGirl]

The REALLY funny name being thrown out there is Patrick Nix, former Auburn QB and current OC at Miami which hasn't had much of an offense to speak of recently against top 25 competition. Ties to the school, but not sure he's earned it based on results.

Patrick Nix is a great guy but he would be a terrible hire. He has no experience and his offenses have not been the greatest to say the least.

I don't think Fisher is so solid at FSU. We could buy them out. He really liked Auburn and his wife is an Auburn grad. However, he's way down on the list of people that I want as our coach with Turner Gill being #1. I think a lot of people are impressed with Leach's record but scared of how his offense would translate at Auburn.

[throatybeard]

AU is even crazier than I thought if they turned down Leach. This "that won't work in that league" business is silly. Ask Paul Johnson.

Mississippi State has hired Florida OC Dan Mullen. I have no idea how I feel about this yet. He's white, so at least the portion of the fanbase who likes to scream about how Croom was an affirmative action hire has to shut up now, at least until/unless Mullen wins 9 games.

[ugadevil]

Mississippi State has hired Florida OC Dan Mullen. I have no idea how I feel about this yet. He's white, so at least the portion of the fanbase who likes to scream about how Croom was an affirmative action hire has to shut up now, at least until/unless Mullen wins 9 games.


Hmmmm...I wonder what this means for the senior season of Saint Tebow?

[Acymetric]

Hmmmm...I wonder what this means for the senior season of Saint Tebow?

I thought the exact same thing. Has he said whether he's planning to come back, or did he just say that the championship wouldn't affect his decision, which isn't public knowledge?

[Stray Gator]

Hmmmm...I wonder what this means for the senior season of Saint Tebow?

I seriously doubt that Mullen's departure will influence Tebow's decision in the least, in part because it is expected that Gonzales will be promoted from within to OC, and in part because Tebow's ties to Meyer are considered stronger than his ties to Mullen. For that matter, I doubt that the outcome of the Heisman voting or even the BCSCG will affect Tebow's decision. Ironically, what may ultimately prove to be the deciding factor is that loss to Ole Miss back in September. As Tebow said after the game, the team's goal was to go through the entire season undefeated, which has never been done at UF (although they were undefeated in 1995 until getting clobbered by Nebraska in the national championship game). Given the fact that there are only three senior starters, he knows that the prospects for achieving that goal are much better for the Gators next year, even if Harvin and Spikes jump to the NFL. I won't be shocked if Tebow decides not to come back, but having observed and listened to him for three seasons now, I'll be very surprised. The kid grew up dreaming of being the Gator QB, and he gushes about how much he loves being a student at UF and enjoys the comraderie of his teammates.

[Wander]

AU is even crazier than I thought if they turned down Leach. This "that won't work in that league" business is silly. Ask Paul Johnson.


Or Urban Meyer.

[tommy]

But still only one at a BCS school, which is just baffling.

And his seat is going to warm up quite a bit if doesn't win, say, 8 games next year. Hell of a recruiter, but . . . it's time to show results on the field.

[rockymtn devil]

I don't see Fisher leaving for Auburn. FSU is a better, more prestigious job. Auburn takes coaches from Ole Miss and Louisville, not Florida State. But, crazier things have happened.

Good for Mullen for getting the MSU job, but he's the lesser of the Florida coordinators considered for HC jobs. Charlie Strong is the one that should be fielding job offers (what he's done this year is very impressive) and the fact that he hasn't leaves me scratching my head...until I remember we're talking about 1-A college football. Then it all makes sense.

I don't think the Mullen situation will influence Tebow. I think he'll come back to college because his skill set doesn't project well to the NFL. He's a decent thrower with a below average NFL arm whose primary asset in the passing game is that his run threat keeps defenses from over-playing the pass (Pennington probably has a better arm than Tebow). That won't cut it in the NFL. QBs are paid too much to be used as running backs and so he will be forced to throw the football against NFL defenses. That doesn't bode well. The only way I see him coming out is if the NFLPA and the owners make progress towards a rookie salary cap. In that case, I expect a lot of juniors to come out this year to avoid being impacted by it.

[AuburnDukeGirl]

Well it was announced that Auburn has hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik. He was 5-19 at Iowa State and should have been fired this year. We can now officially be called the laughing stock of the college football world.

The fanbase is lived and threatening to drop their season tickets. It's going to get nasty! :mad:

I know I'm not going to fly out to a game next year. We fired a great man and a great coach who had a bad year for a guy who left us high and dry in 2004 to be the DC at Texas and said it was "for a better situation" and then he left Texas for Iowa State and was 5-19?? I am truly embarrassed. :(

[ugadevil]

Well it was announced that Auburn has hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik. He was 5-19 at Iowa State and should have been fired this year. We can now officially be called the laughing stock of the college football world.

The fanbase is lived and threatening to drop their season tickets. It's going to get nasty! :mad:

I know I'm not going to fly out to a game next year. We fired a great man and a great coach who had a bad year for a guy who left us high and dry in 2004 to be the DC at Texas and said it was "for a better situation" and then he left Texas for Iowa State and was 5-19?? I am truly embarrassed. :(

I'm stunned that this is who Auburn chose to hire. Stunned.

[mgtr]

Is this official yet? I heard that the Auburn AD refused to comment on the subject. Odd. For Auburn's sake, I hope it is wrong.

[A-Tex Devil]

Chizik is capable. He'll have the shortest rope of any head coach in recent memory, though. The fanbase has already rejected him. If he's not 10-2 with a win over 'Bama next year, it's a failed hire.

It's just hilarious that Auburn rejected Leach and took Chizik.

[rockymtn devil]

Well it was announced that Auburn has hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik. He was 5-19 at Iowa State and should have been fired this year. We can now officially be called the laughing stock of the college football world.

The fanbase is lived and threatening to drop their season tickets. It's going to get nasty! :mad:

I know I'm not going to fly out to a game next year. We fired a great man and a great coach who had a bad year for a guy who left us high and dry in 2004 to be the DC at Texas and said it was "for a better situation" and then he left Texas for Iowa State and was 5-19?? I am truly embarrassed. :(

First of all, I think Auburn over-estimated itself in the grand scheme of things. Firing Tubberville and then rejecting Leach was done because they felt they could do better. In terms of landing a big name, they couldn't. It isn't as prestigious a job as the University thought it was, and, to be honest, no one wants to be going head-to-head with Nick Saban in that state right now.

Chizik, however, may end up being a great hire. After Bob Stoops, Walt Harris, John Gruden, and Mike Belloti turned Ohio State down it settled on a 1-AA coach from Youngstown. The fans were livid, but that hire turned out alright. Of course, Tressel had won 4 national titles at YSU and knew every high school coach in the state. Auburn could end up being fine...or it could do what Alabama did for the previous decade--bounce around from coach to coach because no one they hired could cut it against Tubberville and Auburn.

[AuburnDukeGirl]

First of all, I think Auburn over-estimated itself in the grand scheme of things. Firing Tubberville and then rejecting Leach was done because they felt they could do better. In terms of landing a big name, they couldn't. It isn't as prestigious a job as the University thought it was, and, to be honest, no one wants to be going head-to-head with Nick Saban in that state right now.

Chizik, however, may end up being a great hire. After Bob Stoops, Walt Harris, John Gruden, and Mike Belloti turned Ohio State down it settled on a 1-AA coach from Youngstown. The fans were livid, but that hire turned out alright. Of course, Tressel had won 4 national titles at YSU and knew every high school coach in the state. Auburn could end up being fine...or it could do what Alabama did for the previous decade--bounce around from coach to coach because no one they hired could cut it against Tubberville and Auburn.

I think you may be right about Auburn overestimating itself. You would think they would have a plan in place if they decided to fire Tuberville. We now know that was not the case. I sincerely believe there were others who were more capable than Chizik. I have know idea where his name even came from! From what I understand Turner Gill was very interested in the job as was Gary Patterson. Those two seem like much better coaches. How can Auburn not learn from Alabama's mistakes the last decade.? We made fun of them enough for it! I guess now it's our turn to be laughed at. Karma's not much fun.

I still support my team and my university but this sucks. Thank goodness it's basketball season and I can watch my Blue Devils!

[rockymtn devil]

I think you may be right about Auburn overestimating itself. You would think they would have a plan in place if they decided to fire Tuberville. We now know that was not the case. I sincerely believe there were others who were more capable than Chizik. I have know idea where his name even came from! From what I understand Turner Gill was very interested in the job as was Gary Patterson. Those two seem like much better coaches. How can Auburn not learn from Alabama's mistakes the last decade.? We made fun of them enough for it! I guess now it's our turn to be laughed at. Karma's not much fun.

I still support my team and my university but this sucks. Thank goodness it's basketball season and I can watch my Blue Devils!

I have family ties to Auburn and cheer for them as my third team (behind Duke and Ohio State) so I hope it works out. Turner Gill has proven to be a great HC in terms of building a program and would've been a good hire. Patterson is also an excellent coach. But, sometimes these types of hires work out. Iowa State is a tough place to win, so I wouldn't put too much stock into Chizik's W/L. He's familiar with the SE, so hopefully he'll be able to recruit down there. That's the key. He has the misfortune of coaching against Saban right now, but the NFL will come calling again soon enough and Nick will leave the Tide high and dry. That's his m.o.

And my Auburn cousin just texted me to say it isn't official yet with Chizik...but he's still livid.

[PDDuke85]

I've not been this miffed (the hiring of Coach Chizik) since my Devils went out and hired that guy from Army, a losing record in tow, with the name difficult to pronounce and impossible to spell. Geez, good luck Auburn. Your football program is apparently doomed.
:)

Now, all. Take a deep breath and enjoy the Sunday.

[throatybeard]

Charles thinks the hire is turrrible.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3770769

[Duvall]

Charles thinks the hire is turrrible.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3770769

I think we can all agree that Charles makes a good point here:


Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medal winner, said he served on Auburn's search committee for a new basketball coach after the 2003-04 season. Barkley said he told Auburn officials he would serve on the committee only if the school was ready to hire a black coach.

Barkley said he presented three African-American candidates for consideration: former Indiana coach Mike Davis, then-Virginia Commonwealth coach Jeff Capel and then-UAB coach Mike Anderson.

Barkley said all three candidates wanted to coach at Auburn. Instead, the Tigers hired then-Chattanooga coach Jeff Lebo, a white candidate. Lebo has a 61-68 record in his fifth season at Auburn.

Barkley said he was removed from Auburn's search committee before Lebo was hired.

"Out of all the basketball coaches they interviewed, they picked the only one who hadn't been to the NCAA tournament," Barkley said.

[ugadevil]

Charles thinks the hire is turrrible.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3770769

I don't know if Barkley is his correct in his assumption that Auburn didn't hire Gill because he was black, but it seems like Auburn chose Chizik over many other white candidates who also had better resumes.

[sagegrouse]

I don't know if Barkley is his correct in his assumption that Auburn didn't hire Gill because he was black, but it seems like Auburn chose Chizik over many other white candidates who also had better resumes.

I don't know a thing about Auburn, but isn't this the same university where a few years ago the President and the AD got on a private plane to Louisville to interview the Cardinals' head coach while Tuberville was still under contract? The net effect was that Tuberville stayed and the President and AD got canned. Refreshing result wasn't it?

Perhaps there is some lingering resentment over Tuberville inside Auburn. The Chizik choice -- nice alliteration, eh? -- is still a puzzle, but against this backdrop of incompetence, anything is believable.

sagegrouse

[RelativeWays]

I've not been this miffed (the hiring of Coach Chizik) since my Devils went out and hired that guy from Army, a losing record in tow, with the name difficult to pronounce and impossible to spell. Geez, good luck Auburn. Your football program is apparently doomed.
:)

Now, all. Take a deep breath and enjoy the Sunday.

I thought K had an overall winning record and had just taken the Knights to the NIT the season before he was hired at Duke.

[Cdog923]

Nebraska is still recovering from the self-inflicted wound they caused themselves when they fired Solich.




I will field this one. In my opinion, Solich needed to go when he went. By 2003, he had lost all of Dr. Tom's recruits, and his lack of head coaching ability (both gameday and on the recruiting trail) were showing. Sure, we were 9-3 when he was fired, but it was a smokescreen: we were blown out against the teams who had talent (Mizzou, Texas, K-State). He probably should have had another year with his new staff at the time, but eventually he needed to go. The biggest mistake was hiring the Snake-Oil salesman (Callahan).


And, I'm not too torn up about Gill not getting the Auburn job. That job is a death trap; he's hot now, but if he is continually successful at Buffalo, he'll be the hottest commodity in CFB in a year or two. He'll have better opportunities at much better schools.

[RelativeWays]

Can I ask why people here seem to think Auburn is a crap job? You're talking about one of the most historically powerful and consistent football programs in the SEC and NCAA. They've been more consistent in winning than LSU, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia over the past 30 years, only UF has been more consistent than the Tigers. Prestige-wise Auburn is a better job than any the ACC has to offer except maybe FSU or Miami, and they're a long, long long way from the national relevance Auburn currently has.

[sagegrouse]

Can I ask why people here seem to think Auburn is a crap job? You're talking about one of the most historically powerful and consistent football programs in the SEC and NCAA. They've been more consistent in winning than LSU, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia over the past 30 years, only UF has been more consistent than the Tigers. Prestige-wise Auburn is a better job than any the ACC has to offer except maybe FSU or Miami, and they're a long, long long way from the national relevance Auburn currently has.

1. Nick Saban at Alabama seems like a formidable foe, as long as he stays.

2. The Auburn powers-that-be (AD, alums, Administration -- who knows?) fired their most successful coach in decades when he lost once to Bama after six (or seven?) wins.

Under these circumstances, wouldn't most coaches be inclined to view the Auburn position in economic terms (ten million or more for four years) rather than a sure bet for an SEC or NCAA championship?

sagegrouse

[RelativeWays]

1. Nick Saban at Alabama seems like a formidable foe, as long as he stays.

Any different than Bob Stoops and Mack Brown? Or anyone who takes the UCLA job versus Pete Carroll? Heck, K will retire before Huckleberry Hound does, whoever succeeds him at Duke will have the same thing to deal with. Do you even want a coach who sees that as a deterrent?

2. The Auburn powers-that-be (AD, alums, Administration -- who knows?) fired their most successful coach in decades when he lost once to Bama after six (or seven?) wins.

Thats pretty much football in the SEC, ask Phil Fulmer, Terry Bowden, Mike Shula, or hop over to WW and ask Coach Cut. They are insane about football and the boosters have significant influence

Under these circumstances, wouldn't most coaches be inclined to view the Auburn position in economic terms (ten million or more for four years) rather than a sure bet for an SEC or NCAA championship?

If you're hired as the Auburn football coach, you're getting paid the 10 million for an NCAA football championship. You'd be foolish to separate the two, or probably soon out of a job.
sagegrouse

....

[throatybeard]

Original post edited to account for developments at SU, AU, MSU, ISU, PU, SDSU/Ball State.

Iowa State -- open
Purdue -- Joe Tiller retires; Danny hope hired. DC Spack takes Illinois State HC job
Kansas State -- Program legend Bill Snyder returns to replace Ron Prince
Washington -- USC OC Steve Sarkisian replaces Tyrone Willingham
Tennessee -- Lane Kiffin replaces Phil Fulmer
Auburn -- incomprehensibly, fires Tommy Tuberville; hires Gene Chizik (5-19)
Mississippi State -- Sylvester Croom pressured to resign; UF OC Dan Mullen hired
Clemson -- Tommy Bowden out midseason; WVU-style, interim coach Dabo Swinney made HC
Syracuse -- Greg Robinson out; NOLA Saints' DC Doug Marrone hired
New Mexico State -- Hal Mumme out.
New Mexico -- Rocky Long retires; replaced by Mike Locksley, Illinois OC.
San Diego State -- Chuck Long fired; hires Brady Hoke away from Ball State
Ball State -- OC Stan Parrish promoted to HC

[sagegrouse]

....

RelativeWays:

Your reponse to my three points were:

a. No good coach cares how good and well established the coaches (e.g., Saban) are in rival schools in the same area.

b. The fact that the alumni and administration at Auburn play politics with the football program is irrelevant because it happens everywhere in the SEC.

c. No coach would accept a high salary without believing be could win a national championship, because the two are linked.

I guess I disagree with you on all three points.

sagegrouse

[A-Tex Devil]

I think some are missing the point on Auburn (a bit)...

It's not that a bunch of coaches turned Auburn down. The only ones I am aware of are Muschamp (for obvious reasons ;) ), Patterson (arguably not an SEC guy) and perhaps Spurrier.

The fact is, Auburn chose Chizik over Gill, Hoke, Paul Johnson (who had not pulled himself out of the running) and several others. That's the million dollar question -- why the AD and Super-Booster Booby Lowder (the Jerry Jones of college football -- althought that's insulting Jerry Jones) believe that Chizik was a better fit than those others? They must have their reasons.

[calltheobvious]

I think some are missing the point on Auburn (a bit)...

It's not that a bunch of coaches turned Auburn down. The only ones I am aware of are Muschamp (for obvious reasons ;) ), Patterson (arguably not an SEC guy) and perhaps Spurrier.

The fact is, Auburn chose Chizik over Gill, Hoke, Paul Johnson (who had not pulled himself out of the running) and several others. That's the million dollar question -- why the AD and Super-Booster Booby Lowder (the Jerry Jones of college football -- althought that's insulting Jerry Jones) believe that Chizik was a better fit than those others? They must have their reasons.

The period from 1973-1992 is a very important one in Auburn University history. Its endpoints are the first year in a nine-year losing streak to Bear Bryant's Alabama teams, and the ignominious retirement of Coach Pat Dye, who wilted under the pressure of NCAA investigations for paying players, investigations that would lead to two years of probation for the Tigers.

In 1981 Dye arrived at Auburn, and in 1982 he ended the streak against Alabama. He went on to win four SEC titles in the 80's, and was a stubborn conservative-streak away from winning a national championship in 1983 (Auburn was the only team in the top four to win on New Year's Day, but Dye played it extremely close to the vest in the Sugar Bowl leaving Auburn with an uninspiring 9-7 victory over Michigan and, and Miami with the leapfrog title). For many Auburn fans who came of age feeling like Alabama's whipping boy, Pat Dye is a saint, the inveterate cheating notwithstanding.

This is especially true for Auburn's two most prominent trustees. Robert Lowder is the chairman of Colonial Bank Group and an ardent Dye supporter; and Jimmy Raine is the chairman of Southern Wood, and has described Dye as "the father I never had." For these two men, the sun rises and sets with Patrick Fain Dye.

Enter Terry Bowden, who was hired in 1993 under the presumption that a guy from Samford couldn't really be successful long-term, but would serve as a willing puppet for a couple of years until probation was over and a real candidate could be hired. The fly in the ointment was that Bowden won his first 20 games at Auburn and became untouchable until the 1998 season when several years of lazy recruiting finally caught up with him and he was forced out.

It's not widely known that Bowden was almost out a year earlier. Lowder had a replacement ready to take Bowden's job after the 1997 Alabama game. Even after losing a battle of undefeateds against Florida that year, Auburn was highly ranked and looked like it would make it to Atlanta with a 10-1 record. But when heavy underdog Mississippi State came to Auburn and whipped the Tigers 20-0, the wheels were set in motion for a replacement. And with a minute left and Alabama up two with the football, it looked like Terry was cooked for sure. But an Alabama fumble and a 43-yard Auburn field goal later, Bowden had saved himself, and an entire coaching staff in Oxford, Mississippi let out a sigh of disappointment and unpacked their bags. Yep, that coaching staff.

More background. Part of Bowden's hiring was contingent upon retaining a sizeable chunk of Dye's staff. But when Bowden went 20-1-1 his first two years, he had the leverage he needed to start cleaning house, literally and figuratively. By 1996 he had gotten rid of Dye's fiercest and dirtiest henchman. Problem was, after Bowden lost a heart-breaker to Peyton Manning in the SECC game in 1997, a game Auburn led 20-7 in the first half, his political capital was gone, and when things started 1-5 in 1998, he was toast.

Things were a little different with Tuberville. He told Auburn he wasn't coming without his entire staff from Ole Miss, and after a 3-8 season and a bare cupboard, Lowder and the puppet president and AD were in no position to say no. So Tuberville came in, almost got Auburn to a bowl in '99 (no mean feat with a 5-8, 170-pound tailback), then surprised everyone by winning the division in 2000. In 2001 Auburn beat #1 Florida at home, and then upset #9 Alabama on the road at the end of 2002. Despite a drubbing by Alabama at the end of 2001, TT was 2-2 against an Alabama program that was by then in shambles, and Auburn was a pre-season top five in 2003. Things were looking good.

Then after five disappoing losses Jetgate happened, a PR nightmare ensued for Auburn, Tuberville held on to his job, and the president and AD were fired. New puppets were hired, but Auburn went undefeated in 2004, and Tuberville became ten times more untouchable than even Bowden was after 1994. Lowder was frustrated that he had no influence whatsoever on the football program. It was killing him. Tuberville was winning, graduating players who were staying out of trouble, no hint of NCAA violations; exactly what a rational person would want out of the coach of their favorite team. But Lowder can't be happy unless he's in control. So he just lay in wait, knowing that he had an ace in the hole with Jay Jacobs, the no-talent-zero yokel of an athletics director, and not coincidentally a former player for Pat Dye. So 2008 was it, the opportunity Lowder and Co. had been waiting for to force out the guy who wouldn't play ball.

If Alabama hadn't had a great year, maybe Tuberville hangs on, but with the Tide rolling again and Saban being Saban, the knives were out. None of TT's on-field or off-field success mattered. All that mattered was the deep pathology of Lowder, Raine, and Dye; specifically their deep inferiority complex regarding everything University-of-Alabama. They see Dye as Moses, and think they again need his stewardship in order to find their way out of their perceived desert.

An obvious problem is that most any coach worth his salt is not going to agree to have his staff managed by two jock-sniffers and a nincompoop. That's why Gary Patterson turned down Auburn down during his interview, and why Turner Gill was never a serious candidate.

But Gene Chizik? Ooh, now we got something. Here's a guy who's one year away from getting fired at Iowa State. If that had happened, he'd never have gotten another D1 offer as HC. He was in no position to say no to anything, and Dye knew it. He was Dye's choice from the beginning, which is to say he was Jacobs's, too. Gill and Rodney Garner were indeed token minority interviews. But Patterson, Hoke, et all were token majority interviews. There was no search. Chizik was the guy from the beginning, because he was the only guy willing to do the bidding of the Auburn power brokers.

Now Chizik is going to fill his staff with a lot of Dye retreads, which means the gloves are off. He's already hired the old recruiting coordinator. Auburn will be cheating again by dusk, Alabama probably already is, and they'll start paying PI's to get the goods on each other the same way they did in the 90s. That's when Alabama probation followed Auburn probation. It's going to get really, really nasty again, and the image of the entire state is going to suffer as a result. Heartbreaking, really.

So, everyone can ask, "What was Auburn thinking?" But without the relevant context no one can understand. The assumption would be that it was a rational decision. The important thing for everyone to know, though, is that the decision wasn't rational. It was completely pathological.

Auburn will win again, but they will not win with dignity, and I won't spend another dime in Jordan-Hare Stadium until the house has been cleaned. I can only hope enough others feel the same way for it to make a difference.

[rockymtn devil]

I think some are missing the point on Auburn (a bit)...

It's not that a bunch of coaches turned Auburn down. The only ones I am aware of are Muschamp (for obvious reasons ;) ), Patterson (arguably not an SEC guy) and perhaps Spurrier.

The fact is, Auburn chose Chizik over Gill, Hoke, Paul Johnson (who had not pulled himself out of the running) and several others. That's the million dollar question -- why the AD and Super-Booster Booby Lowder (the Jerry Jones of college football -- althought that's insulting Jerry Jones) believe that Chizik was a better fit than those others? They must have their reasons.

You may be right, but this doesn't sit well with me. What Chizik seems to have over the other names you listed is Auburn ties. That's it. He has five wins in two seasons, and two of them are against 1-AA teams, so he didn't win a resume contest (he has an additional advantage over Gill) If he was truly viewed as the best fit, it wouldn't have taken 10 days for it to happen. My belief is that names like Fisher, Johnson and Petrino weren't interested. IMO, this hire doesn't happen as long as there is a chance of one of those taking the job. That left Turner Gill and Gene Chizik. I think the million dollar question than is if Auburn ties are really enough to get past a 20% winning percentage?

[jv001]

The period from 1973-1992 is a very important one in Auburn University history. Its endpoints are the first year in a nine-year losing streak to Bear Bryant's Alabama teams, and the ignominious retirement of Coach Pat Dye, who wilted under the pressure of NCAA investigations for paying players, investigations that would lead to two years of probation for the Tigers.

In 1981 Dye arrived at Auburn, and in 1982 he ended the streak against Alabama. He went on to win four SEC titles in the 80's, and was a stubborn conservative-streak away from winning a national championship in 1983 (Auburn was the only team in the top four to win on New Year's Day, but Dye played it extremely close to the vest in the Sugar Bowl leaving Auburn with an uninspiring 9-7 victory over Michigan and, and Miami with the leapfrog title). For many Auburn fans who came of age feeling like Alabama's whipping boy, Pat Dye is a saint, the inveterate cheating notwithstanding.

This is especially true for Auburn's two most prominent trustees. Robert Lowder is the chairman of Colonial Bank Group and an ardent Dye supporter; and Jimmy Raine is the chairman of Southern Wood, and has described Dye as "the father I never had." For these two men, the sun rises and sets with Patrick Fain Dye.

Enter Terry Bowden, who was hired in 1993 under the presumption that a guy from Samford couldn't really be successful long-term, but would serve as a willing puppet for a couple of years until probation was over and a real candidate could be hired. The fly in the ointment was that Bowden won his first 20 games at Auburn and became untouchable until the 1998 season when several years of lazy recruiting finally caught up with him and he was forced out.

It's not widely known that Bowden was almost out a year earlier. Lowder had a replacement ready to take Bowden's job after the 1997 Alabama game. Even after losing a battle of undefeateds against Florida that year, Auburn was highly ranked and looked like it would make it to Atlanta with a 10-1 record. But when heavy underdog Mississippi State came to Auburn and whipped the Tigers 20-0, the wheels were set in motion for a replacement. And with a minute left and Alabama up two with the football, it looked like Terry was cooked for sure. But an Alabama fumble and a 43-yard Auburn field goal later, Bowden had saved himself, and an entire coaching staff in Oxford, Mississippi let out a sigh of disappointment and unpacked their bags. Yep, that coaching staff.

More background. Part of Bowden's hiring was contingent upon retaining a sizeable chunk of Dye's staff. But when Bowden went 20-1-1 his first two years, he had the leverage he needed to start cleaning house, literally and figuratively. By 1996 he had gotten rid of Dye's fiercest and dirtiest henchman. Problem was, after Bowden lost a heart-breaker to Peyton Manning in the SECC game in 1997, a game Auburn led 20-7 in the first half, his political capital was gone, and when things started 1-5 in 1998, he was toast.

Things were a little different with Tuberville. He told Auburn he wasn't coming without his entire staff from Ole Miss, and after a 3-8 season and a bare cupboard, Lowder and the puppet president and AD were in no position to say no. So Tuberville came in, almost got Auburn to a bowl in '99 (no mean feat with a 5-8, 170-pound tailback), then surprised everyone by winning the division in 2000. In 2001 Auburn beat #1 Florida at home, and then upset #9 Alabama on the road at the end of 2002. Despite a drubbing by Alabama at the end of 2001, TT was 2-2 against an Alabama program that was by then in shambles, and Auburn was a pre-season top five in 2003. Things were looking good.

Then after five disappoing losses Jetgate happened, a PR nightmare ensued for Auburn, Tuberville held on to his job, and the president and AD were fired. New puppets were hired, but Auburn went undefeated in 2004, and Tuberville became ten times more untouchable than even Bowden was after 1994. Lowder was frustrated that he had no influence whatsoever on the football program. It was killing him. Tuberville was winning, graduating players who were staying out of trouble, no hint of NCAA violations; exactly what a rational person would want out of the coach of their favorite team. But Lowder can't be happy unless he's in control. So he just lay in wait, knowing that he had an ace in the hole with Jay Jacobs, the no-talent-zero yokel of an athletics director, and not coincidentally a former player for Pat Dye. So 2008 was it, the opportunity Lowder and Co. had been waiting for to force out the guy who wouldn't play ball.

If Alabama hadn't had a great year, maybe Tuberville hangs on, but with the Tide rolling again and Saban being Saban, the knives were out. None of TT's on-field or off-field success mattered. All that mattered was the deep pathology of Lowder, Raine, and Dye; specifically their deep inferiority complex regarding everything University-of-Alabama. They see Dye as Moses, and think they again need his stewardship in order to find their way out of their perceived desert.

An obvious problem is that most any coach worth his salt is not going to agree to have his staff managed by two jock-sniffers and a nincompoop. That's why Gary Patterson turned down Auburn down during his interview, and why Turner Gill was never a serious candidate.

But Gene Chizik? Ooh, now we got something. Here's a guy who's one year away from getting fired at Iowa State. If that had happened, he'd never have gotten another D1 offer as HC. He was in no position to say no to anything, and Dye knew it. He was Dye's choice from the beginning, which is to say he was Jacobs's, too. Gill and Rodney Garner were indeed token minority interviews. But Patterson, Hoke, et all were token majority interviews. There was no search. Chizik was the guy from the beginning, because he was the only guy willing to do the bidding of the Auburn power brokers.

Now Chizik is going to fill his staff with a lot of Dye retreads, which means the gloves are off. He's already hired the old recruiting coordinator. Auburn will be cheating again by dusk, Alabama probably already is, and they'll start paying PI's to get the goods on each other the same way they did in the 90s. That's when Alabama probation followed Auburn probation. It's going to get really, really nasty again, and the image of the entire state is going to suffer as a result. Heartbreaking, really.

So, everyone can ask, "What was Auburn thinking?" But without the relevant context no one can understand. The assumption would be that it was a rational decision. The important thing for everyone to know, though, is that the decision wasn't rational. It was completely pathological.

Auburn will win again, but they will not win with dignity, and I won't spend another dime in Jordan-Hare Stadium until the house has been cleaned. I can only hope enough others feel the same way for it to make a difference.

Who in their right mind would want this job after what you have just told us?

[calltheobvious]

Who in their right mind would want this job after what you have just told us?

It's a mystery.

[shadowfax336]

Who in their right mind would want this job after what you have just told us?

A coach who's desperate, and thats what they got. Weird though... Wonder what happens if he loses 6 or 7 games next year?

[calltheobvious]

A coach who's desperate, and thats what they got. Weird though... Wonder what happens if he loses 6 or 7 games next year?

Nada. Chizik's their boy. He'll be given five years minimum, barring a major and unforseen shake-up in the upper levels of university administration.

This recruiting class is gone g'bye. And down the road, the power brokers will use that as the ace of spades. He'll be given a complete pass for the next two years under the pretext of "getting the house back in order." The following year Auburn will have a new quarterback, so another pass there. The year after that we'll be hearing about how the team is extremely young because of the washout recruiting class of 2009. It'll be 2013 before Chizik needs to sweat anything.

[throatybeard]

Great post, CTO.

If he thinks he's so smart, why doesn't this megalomaniac Lowder try to coach the team? And why does one booster have so much influence? (That isn't normal even in SEC fiefdoms). And how old is he? Maybe AU can operate normally after he's dead.



(Glad that MSU could fix Terry's wagon)

[AtlBluRew]

Very good post, calltheobvious. Informative and entertaining ("two jock sniffers and a nincompoop").

I'm puzzled by the Hoke move from Ball State to San Diego State. Aside from the fact that I'd think living in San Diego is preferable to living in Muncie too, I don't see why he made this move. It's not even lateral, given the current state of the programs. IMO, he should have stayed at Ball State another year in hopes of moving up next year.

[calltheobvious]

Great post, CTO.

If he thinks he's so smart, why doesn't this megalomaniac Lowder try to coach the team? And why does one booster have so much influence? (That isn't normal even in SEC fiefdoms). And how old is he? Maybe AU can operate normally after he's dead.



(Glad that MSU could fix Terry's wagon)

In order.

1) Yeah.
2) Being the richest guy at the right place at the right time. The history is long and complex, but the short version is that he filled a power vacuum and accumulated enough political capital over the years to hold on to his crown. He should have been rotated off the BOT long ago, but because of jacked-up Alabama law, he was able to use his pull in the capitol to make sure it didn't happen.
3) He's about 54.
4) Yeah, I hope. The problem is that another generation of Auburn alumni have grown up seeing Auburn operate as a fiefdom, and believe this is the way things are supposed to work. So whenever Lowder comes off the board (I think he has three more years), someone else will probably make a successful power play. I hope that if that happened, such a person would wield a more benevolent stick. Unfortunately, I can't get Lord Acton out of my mind long enough to really believe it.

Auburn is the very definition of the dysfunctional family, and my fear is that the die has been cast for generations to come.

[calltheobvious]

Very good post, calltheobvious. Informative and entertaining ("two jock sniffers and a nincompoop").

I'm puzzled by the Hoke move from Ball State to San Diego State. Aside from the fact that I'd think living in San Diego is preferable to living in Muncie too, I don't see why he made this move. It's not even lateral, given the current state of the programs. IMO, he should have stayed at Ball State another year in hopes of moving up next year.

I don't have much respect for Jason Whitlock as a race, er, sports commentator, but he did go to Ball State, and I trust his read on the situation there. He wrote a great column a few weeks back (I believe for foxsports.com) in which he gave readers the lay of the land at BSU. If he is to be believed, Hoke and the president there don't at all get along...at all. I think Whitlock even said that Hoke's staff are working out of closet-sized offices. It would make sense that Hoke was so miserable in Muncie that he jumped on the first train out of town.

I actually think it was a good career move. SDSU, their recent record notwithstanding, has some resources, and I suspect that he got assurances from them that they'd actually open up their wallets. He knows he can build a program, and San Diego will be a much easier place to recruit to than Muncie. If he can get them to a bowl in two years--something I think a great coach could do--he'll be seen as the perfect fit for a BCS rebuilding job.

Heh. I can think of one particular SEC school that will certainly be in need of a program-builder in two years.

[RelativeWays]

RelativeWays:

Your reponse to my three points were:

a. No good coach cares how good and well established the coaches (e.g., Saban) are in rival schools in the same area.

b. The fact that the alumni and administration at Auburn play politics with the football program is irrelevant because it happens everywhere in the SEC.

c. No coach would accept a high salary without believing be could win a national championship, because the two are linked.

I guess I disagree with you on all three points.

sagegrouse

You seem to be implying that these three points seem to make Auburn a less than ideal job, yet they exist in jobs that you would probably consider more prestigeous. Lets look

a. Name me one football head coaching position outside of USC that doesn't have to deal with this...Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, all of them have strong competition from prestigeous programs in their area. USC is the only one I know thats exempt, because the other Pac-10 schools kinda suck in comparision.

b. My point was that the influence of boosters on the FB program is in no way unique to Auburn. They have one of the most infamous to be sure, but you're not going to find many top football jobs exempt from this.

c. I believe that any coach that accepts a high paying job at a place like Auburn should understand that national championship aspirations come with the territory and that coach is going to be expected to deliver or at least compete for it. No other top football job is removed from this. How long would Pete Carroll keep his job if he can't keep USC at least in the NC discussion on a regular basis? There's rumblings about him now since he lost to Stanford and this year Ore St. Does that make USC a bad job too? I guess so.

[SoCalDukeFan]

The period from 1973-1992 is a very important one in Auburn University history. Its endpoints are the first year in a nine-year losing streak to Bear Bryant's Alabama teams, and the ignominious retirement of Coach Pat Dye, who wilted under the pressure of NCAA investigations for paying players, investigations that would lead to two years of probation for the Tigers.

In 1981 Dye arrived at Auburn, and in 1982 he ended the streak against Alabama. He went on to win four SEC titles in the 80's, and was a stubborn conservative-streak away from winning a national championship in 1983 (Auburn was the only team in the top four to win on New Year's Day, but Dye played it extremely close to the vest in the Sugar Bowl leaving Auburn with an uninspiring 9-7 victory over Michigan and, and Miami with the leapfrog title). For many Auburn fans who came of age feeling like Alabama's whipping boy, Pat Dye is a saint, the inveterate cheating notwithstanding.

This is especially true for Auburn's two most prominent trustees. Robert Lowder is the chairman of Colonial Bank Group and an ardent Dye supporter; and Jimmy Raine is the chairman of Southern Wood, and has described Dye as "the father I never had." For these two men, the sun rises and sets with Patrick Fain Dye.

Enter Terry Bowden, who was hired in 1993 under the presumption that a guy from Samford couldn't really be successful long-term, but would serve as a willing puppet for a couple of years until probation was over and a real candidate could be hired. The fly in the ointment was that Bowden won his first 20 games at Auburn and became untouchable until the 1998 season when several years of lazy recruiting finally caught up with him and he was forced out.

It's not widely known that Bowden was almost out a year earlier. Lowder had a replacement ready to take Bowden's job after the 1997 Alabama game. Even after losing a battle of undefeateds against Florida that year, Auburn was highly ranked and looked like it would make it to Atlanta with a 10-1 record. But when heavy underdog Mississippi State came to Auburn and whipped the Tigers 20-0, the wheels were set in motion for a replacement. And with a minute left and Alabama up two with the football, it looked like Terry was cooked for sure. But an Alabama fumble and a 43-yard Auburn field goal later, Bowden had saved himself, and an entire coaching staff in Oxford, Mississippi let out a sigh of disappointment and unpacked their bags. Yep, that coaching staff.

More background. Part of Bowden's hiring was contingent upon retaining a sizeable chunk of Dye's staff. But when Bowden went 20-1-1 his first two years, he had the leverage he needed to start cleaning house, literally and figuratively. By 1996 he had gotten rid of Dye's fiercest and dirtiest henchman. Problem was, after Bowden lost a heart-breaker to Peyton Manning in the SECC game in 1997, a game Auburn led 20-7 in the first half, his political capital was gone, and when things started 1-5 in 1998, he was toast.

Things were a little different with Tuberville. He told Auburn he wasn't coming without his entire staff from Ole Miss, and after a 3-8 season and a bare cupboard, Lowder and the puppet president and AD were in no position to say no. So Tuberville came in, almost got Auburn to a bowl in '99 (no mean feat with a 5-8, 170-pound tailback), then surprised everyone by winning the division in 2000. In 2001 Auburn beat #1 Florida at home, and then upset #9 Alabama on the road at the end of 2002. Despite a drubbing by Alabama at the end of 2001, TT was 2-2 against an Alabama program that was by then in shambles, and Auburn was a pre-season top five in 2003. Things were looking good.

Then after five disappoing losses Jetgate happened, a PR nightmare ensued for Auburn, Tuberville held on to his job, and the president and AD were fired. New puppets were hired, but Auburn went undefeated in 2004, and Tuberville became ten times more untouchable than even Bowden was after 1994. Lowder was frustrated that he had no influence whatsoever on the football program. It was killing him. Tuberville was winning, graduating players who were staying out of trouble, no hint of NCAA violations; exactly what a rational person would want out of the coach of their favorite team. But Lowder can't be happy unless he's in control. So he just lay in wait, knowing that he had an ace in the hole with Jay Jacobs, the no-talent-zero yokel of an athletics director, and not coincidentally a former player for Pat Dye. So 2008 was it, the opportunity Lowder and Co. had been waiting for to force out the guy who wouldn't play ball.

If Alabama hadn't had a great year, maybe Tuberville hangs on, but with the Tide rolling again and Saban being Saban, the knives were out. None of TT's on-field or off-field success mattered. All that mattered was the deep pathology of Lowder, Raine, and Dye; specifically their deep inferiority complex regarding everything University-of-Alabama. They see Dye as Moses, and think they again need his stewardship in order to find their way out of their perceived desert.

An obvious problem is that most any coach worth his salt is not going to agree to have his staff managed by two jock-sniffers and a nincompoop. That's why Gary Patterson turned down Auburn down during his interview, and why Turner Gill was never a serious candidate.

But Gene Chizik? Ooh, now we got something. Here's a guy who's one year away from getting fired at Iowa State. If that had happened, he'd never have gotten another D1 offer as HC. He was in no position to say no to anything, and Dye knew it. He was Dye's choice from the beginning, which is to say he was Jacobs's, too. Gill and Rodney Garner were indeed token minority interviews. But Patterson, Hoke, et all were token majority interviews. There was no search. Chizik was the guy from the beginning, because he was the only guy willing to do the bidding of the Auburn power brokers.

Now Chizik is going to fill his staff with a lot of Dye retreads, which means the gloves are off. He's already hired the old recruiting coordinator. Auburn will be cheating again by dusk, Alabama probably already is, and they'll start paying PI's to get the goods on each other the same way they did in the 90s. That's when Alabama probation followed Auburn probation. It's going to get really, really nasty again, and the image of the entire state is going to suffer as a result. Heartbreaking, really.

So, everyone can ask, "What was Auburn thinking?" But without the relevant context no one can understand. The assumption would be that it was a rational decision. The important thing for everyone to know, though, is that the decision wasn't rational. It was completely pathological.

Auburn will win again, but they will not win with dignity, and I won't spend another dime in Jordan-Hare Stadium until the house has been cleaned. I can only hope enough others feel the same way for it to make a difference.

All I can say is wow. Living in SoCal I do not follow Auburn football closely but what a saga. I do remember how pumped up their fans were a few years ago before losing to USC.

As an outsider I was floored when they hired the coach from Iowa State.
I am starting to get an understanding.

It is interesting that many were surprised and unhappy when Duke hired Coach K. Obviously he worked out ok. However he was recommended by Bobby Knight (basketball genius) and his Army teams showed to many that he could coach. USC hired Pete Carroll because everyone else had turned them down and he was available. He also has worked out ok.

I don't see any parallels between these two cases and Auburn. My money is that the Auburn hire will be a bust.

SoCal

[A-Tex Devil]

A blog post (from the best college FB blogger on the planet, mind you) adding some additional color to CTO's already great commentary on the situation.

Yella Fella Pulling the Strings (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Rumor-Why-Gene-Chizik-owes-his-new-job-to-Yella?urn=ncaaf,129836#remaining-content)

According to the sources quoted in the article, Tuberville's ouster and Chizik's hiring were pushed more by Jimmy "Yella Fella" Raine than by Lowder this time around.

Also -- that agent Sexton has some conflicts of interest, no?

[throatybeard]

Mississippi State head ball coach Dan Mullen will continue to serve as Florida OC in the BCSCG.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls08/news/story?id=3774102