Annual CFB coaching carousel thread

[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

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/bowls0...ory?id=3774102