Gah! Egads! Ty Willingham was available! At least you could be granting an affirmative action position if you had to have a terrible coach. Charlie Weis was available next year and I could just coach in the meantime. Oh! Tommy Bowden and Phat Phil Fulmer were available (Phil still wants to coach!). What could the oh, my, what, lord, oh wow!
Zac
· 11 months ago
But, but, Ty Willingham had a 12 game losing streak. Chizik beat him by 2 whole games. That's better...isn't it...or something?
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
I think that I am going to throw up.
Can't you just see recruits saying now, no thanks Mr. Saban, Mr. Richt, Mr. Meyer - I'm going to go and play for Gene Chizik.
Please say it aint so.
"BC"
· 11 months ago
WEA, just wondering... after the 2008 season, are you now a subscriber to the zero-sum theory as it pertains to Alabama/Auburn football?
OU_Ron
· 11 months ago
I can't believe Auburn couldn't find......well just about anyone's OC or DC would be better than this guy.......I bet Iowa State is happy.......
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
Now watch Iowa State hire one of the coaches that we should have hired - Turner Gill or Todd Graham. Miss State even made a better hire than Auburn did. Of all of the candidates interviewed this was probably the worst of the bunch next to Nix or Garner.
Zac
· 11 months ago
Welp, it's easy to second guess any decision, especially this one. However, as I've said before, I'm all for giving a man a chance. Gene Chizik was given the chance to make his pitch, and apparently his was better than anyone else's. Besides, weak as this argument may seem, how often has a successful coach changed jobs, only to do lousy? It has happened. Look at "The Ole Ball Coach", for example. Yes, he has a winning record, but it ain't noth'n to write home about. Maybe Chizik was out of his element in Ames, IA, needed to find his niche, his place, and has found it in Auburn. I know it don't sound like much, but it's the best I could do on short notice. Sincerely, all the best, Auburn fans. This is one Mountaineer who would really like to have seen your guys at their best, when my boyz come a'call'n next year. It could happen. Couldn't it?
OU_Ron
· 11 months ago
Zac, it's good to have a positive attitude, but 10 straight losses ??
Porcine
· 11 months ago
I'm feeling positive too.
U.of S.C.1978
· 11 months ago
HEY HEY HEY! Don't be dragging the OBC into this! It's like comparing a corn dog to a rib eye. Besides that, BigWarEagle left a name off his earlier post. Mr. Spurrier's doing quite well thus far on Rival's current list.
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
I could have included Spurrier's and every other SEC coach's name on the list. I am unsure how we are going to win any head to head recruiting battles. I wonder how many decommits we will get this next week.
Porcine
· 11 months ago
Looks like the west is a little easier.
Tom_Blogical
· 11 months ago
It could've been worse, WEA. Glen Mason is still available.
Kevin @ Fanblogs
· 11 months ago
This is the most underwhelming hire I've seen at a "big time" football school in a long, long, LONG time.
Chizik is 5-19 as a head coach. He's 2-14 in the Big XII and managed to cling to an 0-8 conference record this year. In reality, Chizik was one more losing season away from being FIRED... and now he's the head coach at Auburn.
All I can say is... WTF is Auburn thinking?!
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
Mike Leach Paul Johnson Todd Graham Turner Gill Gary Patterson Jim Grobe
The Auburn Nation was expecting one of these guys and they get Chizik? I wonder if he knows how cold of a reception is waiting on him at Auburn?
FSU_Ben
· 11 months ago
I know you guys were trying to steal Jimbo don't try to deny it now that you have struck coaching gold!
TigerEducated
· 11 months ago
Well, let's be honest...
The Gene Chizik hiring at Iowa State was pretty uninspiring, as well...
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
This is what Mean Gene did this year at Iowa State. What in this body of work impressed the head guys at Auburn?
South Dakota State W 44-17 Kent State W 48-28 at Iowa L 5-17 at UNLV L 31-34 (16) Kansas L 33-35 at Baylor L 10-38 Nebraska L 7-35 Texas A&M L 35-49 at (9) Oklahoma State L 17-59 at Colorado L 24-28 (12) Missouri L 20-52 at Kansas State L 30-38
Merry Christmas Alabama! Santa came early this year.
1Tomcat
· 11 months ago
Ya but looking at that schedule @ Iowa Hawkeyes are purty good beat PSU KU here again good team @ BU best 8 loss team in the nation no doubt Nebraska good solid 8 win team Texas A&M had a bad year, but can still be a challenge @ OK St 9-3 winning program @ Colo Boulder tough place to play ask WV Missu ranked winning program @ KSU didnt see the game score indicates purty close So in retrospect which one were they suppose to win? I dont see any easy ones- except maybe the two they one AU probably has a better group of athelettees than ISU and being a defensive guy makes him a good fit in the SEC. ISU is a tough place for anybody to coach, much less recruit against the B10/11 and B 12 schools. In the SEC he might acutally pull some recruits away from Miss st and Tenn who are also having trouble.
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
He has not proven that he deserves to move up the coaching ladder at all. One more 0-8 record in the Big 12 would have gotten him fired. There were much better candidates out there. Who cares about pulling recruits away from Miss State? Auburn has to compete with Alabama and Georgia for the star recruits to have any success in the SEC. Are you really defending him in a 4 touchdown loss to an 8 loss team?
FSU_Ben
· 11 months ago
Is this guy your AD's brother or something?
OU_Ron
· 11 months ago
TC, no matter how it's churned, it's gonna come out spoiled, he couldn't improve Iowa State in two seasons.....hell look at Baylor, there's a coach....
1Tomcat
· 11 months ago
Your right Ron BU is a great team and Briles has it going on watch for their QB Griffin to make that NY trip with the boys. After accepting the job at BU Briles was interveiwed and asked why would anyone leave a successful team{ Houston} to coach a team thats been losing. Its a great place a great school and its big XII football a chance to play against the best in the country.When people hear about Baylor football they are going to take notice. Those guys were competeing his first year whuped A&M and had three real close losses one @ Texas Tech. ISU is so far down, it wil take alot more than a coach to bring them up- hate to say it but- Dan MaCarty-George Oleary- Dennis Francione Hey is this for real about Chizik ? nothing confirmed right?
Wardboy3
· 11 months ago
You've got to look at the bright side...he was about 17 points from being 6-6.
Bama_Babe
· 11 months ago
What amazes me more about this hire.....
Not only was Chizik 0-8 in Big XII play this year..
But that 0-8 record came WITHOUT playing Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech ... the three best teams in the conference this year....
Hmmmm....I'm beginning to like Bobby Lowder and Jay Jacobs even more..
;)
ROLLTIDE_73
· 11 months ago
Right they are becoming Bamas best friends
dawgfan
· 11 months ago
I guess I can somewhat see why they hired him in terms of the defenses he has put on the field.
I have always thought that except for certain cases (Saban to Bama, Spurrier to USC, i.e. knowing for a fact you are getting a guy who can and will win) it is better to try and hire a guy who will come in, build a rock solid program, and stay for 15 years or so. Problem w/ guys like Saban is that if that coach was that willing to jump ship and come to you, he will be that willing to leave you when something better comes along. I would think Chizik will try to come in and stay for a while so I do think it's a good hire from that standpoint. Honestly though, the best thing about this hire is the expectation level. No one will be expecting much (especailly w/ how they have tried to recruit spread offensive guys the last 1.5 signing classes) so he would have to be beyond terrible for people to be disappointed.
As much as I to say it, Tubberville had gotten AU to a respectable position nationally. He could have been better, but he could have been a lot worse. Between the spread offense debacle and Tubberville "resigning and still getting his buyout" AU has set themselves back several years.
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
Well for those AU fans that have been screaming to get rid of Tubbs for a few years, (Trust me there are many out there.) Lets just see how many HC's we can go through over the next 5 years. Ill bet we will come close to Bamas last few years.
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
Well ill go on the record and say this was a total blunder. AU had the chance to hire a good young up and coming coach in Turner Gill.
I believe they never had any intentions of hiring him. Not sure what Jacobs was thinking. I still think that when you fire your HC you should try to upgrade. At least in 04 they had a plan WTF.
That guy is only one of thousands that will be shouting at Jay Jacobs wherever he goes right now. It's like we asked the Bama Nation who we should hire and Gene was it.
MattRyan
· 11 months ago
What kind of Auburn fan could YOU POSSIBLY BE if you're not willing to even give the guy a chance??????????????????????????? Hate on Coach Gene all you want but you remember just as well as I do how much WE L-O-V-E-D Coach Gene 4 years ago when his defense had 5 interceptions against Tennessee in a 34-10 blowout... We loved him when his defense was always up to the task during that whole undefeated season... Oh yea, and just for fun, He was also the coach on the sideline of the 05 national champ. game yelling at his Texas defense to stack the box and NOT let Lendale White get that first down.... and on 4th and 1? THey stopped him. Vince Young followed it up with a touchdown to win the game. It doesn't matter what you think about his recruiting abilities or dismal record at Iowa State(a school that Bear Bryant himself couldn't have won at) SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY-------- WAR EAGLE
Porcine
· 11 months ago
I agree.
1Tomcat
· 11 months ago
Great post
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
Matt
Dont insult me like that. It was a horrible hire and you know it. We had a chance (money is no object) to hire a much better coach.
Jacobs has totally screwed up and should be held accountable. Has nothing to do with my loyalty to AU.
But then again your the type fan that enjoys latteral moves by DCs to Texas.
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
He may be a good guy and a good coach but nevertheless, you know as well as I do that were much better choices out there. If you have the money and the opportunity to do so, why not go after the best?
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
Matt
So you believe this was the best AU could do? Well ill still be on here next year taking my lumps then we can talk.
gosu27
· 11 months ago
I've been to Ames and it has got be be nearly impossible to get a high school kid to want to go there. Give him 2 years, then yell at the AD if it's not going well.
Ben Prather
· 11 months ago
So next year if you win, it will be great for your team and you will relish the success and admit you were wrong about the coaching change, if you lose it is the coaches fault?
Sounds like next year is a very low risk for you.
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
You got it partly right. If we win ill relish the success but i wont think it a good coaching move.
With 17 returning starters he should have some early success.
I dont like the move because Bobby Lowder orchestrated it. I didnt want Muschamp either. I was pulling for Turner Gill. A man of character that could continue the great work that Tubberville started. Now that its done im pulling for Chizak. I dont understand a darn thing hes doing but im pulling for him.
Zac
· 11 months ago
As already stated, I'm all about giving a guy a chance (and I'm no Auburn fan), but what's this "stuff" about defense? This year's Cyclones gave up 28 to Kent ST, 34 to UNLV, 35 to KS, 38 to Baylor, 35 to NE, 49 to A&M, 59 to OSU, 28 to CO, 52 to MO, 38 to KS St, and as Bama Babe has already said, absent from the list were OK, TX, & TX Tech. Imagine how IA St would have faired against the likes of them. What are ya gonna do, blame his DC? Chizik had to be at the same games.
I don't know. I only hope for Auburn fans that "Mean Gene" simply had a bad stint at IA St, and that the success he enjoyed before he went to Ames, will return to him at Auburn. Best of luck!
grover
· 11 months ago
On that 4th and 1 the player who made the stop went against his coaches advice to "stay in your area" and sneaked up to the line to make the stop. He knew what we all knew, that it was going to be White up the middle. Apparently Chizik could not figure that out. Don't give Chizik any credit for that one.
And my outrage is against the administration, not Chizik. If I am wrong and he turns out to be a great hire he will have my respect and support. Chizik has to earn his stripes. I am willing to give Chizik a chance, not a pass. He has not earned anything to this point.
TigerEducated
· 11 months ago
Matt, I'm sorry, but the decision to fire/induce resignation out of Tommy Tuberville was akin to something along the lines of a doctor telling two parents that their child has a small learning disability, and instead of enrolling him in tutoring or special needs help classes, they instead embark upon a journey to find a brain transplant surgeon...
Tuberville was someone who Lowder couldn't control...Chizik OBVIOUSLY is...
Garbage decision, and unfortunately, any hire after a garbage decision will carry the stain of the garbage decision...
edci
· 11 months ago
Bama '67. I have to admit all the emotion attached to this apparent hiring is understandable. Those of us from the Capstone point of view were in fear that you would hire Gary Patterson. He is a coaches coach. The guy can make champions out of any level of talent and your AD looked right past him at a candidate little more qualified than Pat Nix. God help the student athletics at Auburn and yes, you may expect a flood of "de-committs" in the coming weeks. Guys, I never liked your AU attitude, but I did respect your football program. That is going to be very difficult to do now. If you don't find a way to get Louder out of the Czar business, you are doomed to fail at everything from football to special olympics. Best wishes and good luck. God knows you will need them. Roll Tide.
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
I wonder if Iowa state will make a move for Gill. Im not sure what AU was thinking but someone needs to snatch this guy up.
grover
· 11 months ago
This is unacceptable. The AU president and AD simply do not get get it. They just wanted to hire someone cheap. I'm sure they will only have to pay Chizik $500k per year or so.
Auburn is a program that should / can afford to pay. I have no confidence in the Auburn front office. They are liars and cheapskates. Who wants to be a part of that?
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
They gave the guy 2 million a year plus I am sure that we paid is $750,000 buyout.
ROLLTIDE_73
· 11 months ago
Well guys on a earlier post we were all talking about what we would have to do over the off season......well it looks like we will be talking about Auburn's new head coach....WEA is this set in stone or is it still in negotiation
Tommy_Trojan
· 11 months ago
WEA:
Gene Chizik was the "hottest young commodity" in college football just two short years ago. He was the "up and comer". Now, why he chose to take the Iowa State position (when everybody knew that he would just lose), was very interesting in and of itself. Was it just to get some HC seasoning? Could this situation have been presented to him a couple of years back? Could Auburn have asked him to get that experience prior to landing this job? Funny, Auburn has not been the same since Chizik left. Yet, Texas won a National Championship with Chizik there in 2005. Texas hasn't been able to play much defense since.
Nobody could win at Iowa State. Not Joe Paterno, Bear Bryant, Pete Carroll or Nick Saban. Nobody can, has, or ever will. Iowa State was a good experience for Chizik. My guess is that this is one of the finer football minds in America today. This guy certainly knows what defense is all about. And, if he's that smart about that, he might be able to figure out who might be pretty good on offense. Don't be too surprised if he doesn't find a guy who might be able to move the rock. He might even be able to offer a few suggestions on what you might want to do with a really good defense.
I'm not saying that this guy is Nick Saban or Pete Carroll, but everybody has to start out somewhere, and you might as well resign yourself to supporting this coach. He may very well surprise some people - when there is a little talent on campus. It'll be tough to recruit the SEC, but it always has been, and always will be. This guy has been known as a good recruiter and probably hasn't forgotten how to do that. But, it's real tough, no matter how good you are - to bring anybody to Ames, Iowa. I sure as heck wouldn't go. But, just between me and you, I've made some money on Iowa State since Chizik has been there, simply because they have not been the complete pushovers that they've been in many other years. Iowa State showed up to play on every Saturday - and that was not the case prior to Chizik. Maybe Auburn will show up to play next year. We'll certainly see.
TigerEducated
· 11 months ago
The angle of this post is completely out of left field, and it is a VERY INTERESTING TAKE...
"BC"
· 11 months ago
VERY INTERESTING take indeed.
especially the part about ISU playing better AFTER Chizik's arrival. i take it you didn't go to the trouble of looking up their records before, and after Chizik. Since Chizik's arrival, ISU has gotten steadily worse off. in fact, he ended his tenure there with a 10-game losing streak...
in 2005, they had 7 wins in 2006, they had 4 wins ENTER CHIZIK in 2007, they had 3 wins in 2008, 2 wins.... (last 10 games he coached, he lost)
in fact, in '01, '02, '04, and '05, Iowa State had 7-win seasons. so dont tell me it's impossible to win there. Gene Chizik took a program that had been accustomed to going to bowl games, into one where no parent would want their child to attend because of the losing attitude that radiates from the football field, to all over the campus.
I only hope when he creates that same aura of failure at Auburn, that it doesn't spread state-wide!
TigerEducated
· 11 months ago
ISU had come off of Dan McCarney getting two guys onto campus to play quarterback that have BOTH spent time in the NFL starting this year.
Seneca Wallace is one of the best players-on either side of the ball-to ever be an Iowa State Cyclone.
As is Sage Rosenfels.
Both of which have started at quarterback in the NFL, this year (Wallace for Hasselhoff & Holmgrinch in Seattle; Rosenfels for Kubiak in Houston for the Texans).
I'm actually applauding you here in your attempt to kick the Auburn fanbase when their down, as you are wont to do, but the context with which you provide the information doesn't hold up.
Tuberville didn't want to do battle with Saban. Not that he ever really would have. The only top flight recruits Tuberville would go after were a QB or RB type. Most of his skill position players at WR, TE, & on the OL were all guys who were developmental prospects.
Same thing on the defensive side of the ball.
I think Auburn wanted a few things out of this hire...Not the least of which was controllability on the part of Lowder's Machiavellian, dictatorial style of leadership he's once again grasped the University by its throat with.
They wanted a guy who had a track record of recruiting upper echelon players across the board, and winning. I'm not going to get into it with you, but he's typically been the best recruiter on every staff he was on. He was known as a good one at each stop.
They also wanted a coach who would go up against Saban and challenge him on the recruiting trail. I'm not sure Tuberville was ever a guy who was going to "win" a big recruiting battle, though he won some notable ones against Saban for the likes of players along the lines of Jason Campbell & LaMarcus Rowell, etc.
Tuberville was fine with 3 & 4 * kids, and that didn't sit well with the Auburn folks...at least the folks with the juice.
They need to be a strong presence in the state, and win for kids they want in-state. I don't think Tommy was going to be able to bring that to the table. Chizik has the polish and the prior history of being able to recruit with anyone.
He also can coach the hell out of a defense. He's done a good job, and he's done a good job for his current employers in the past, doing just that. Give him good athletes, and he'll field a competitive defense. Give him the kids he wants, and I'm sure he'll do the same. It may take some time after taking two straight sub-par classes, but I feel Auburn gets an immediate breath of fresh air on a side of the ball they were already playing well on.
The most important part for most Auburn Fans, and its one I think that most of them are not seeing right now for all of the red in their eyes leveled towards Jacobs & Lowder and the other buffoons and wannabe Japetto's over there holding the strings, is that this guy brings some credibility to a potential coach who wants to come to Auburn.
Tuberville allowed his assistants to stage a palace coup and get rid of Tony Franklin. Tuberville made the decision to go with him, then stood idly by and watched his long-time, tenured professor-esque assistant coaches NOT help their kids buy in to the Spread and-after Tuberville himself committed to it-then watched it wither and die on the vine.
He ultimately made Franklin out to be the scapegoat, and I think it was a bushleague move on the part of Tuberville. It gave off the appearance of the inmates running the asylum, even if said inmates had been with him long-term and had done a pretty decent job of developing the talent on hand for the system Tuberville had in place.
My point is this: After Tuberville hired Franklin, he sealed his own fate. No self-respecting, decent Offensive Coordinator was going to come into a situation in which the deck was stacked against him. If he did ANYTHING those assistants didn't like, or ruffled ONE of their feathers, then all of them would align up against him and pull the same thing.
It only took one guy getting Tony Franklin'd before the word got out. Tuberville was loyal to his staff, to a fault. He let his coordinators take the fall, while guys in the background shouldered no responsibility for the ultimate success and failures of the program.
Yet, if they didn't like things, he was content to let them undercut the only coaches Tuberville ever had on staff in a decade that were forced to live in a coaching environment that included words like accountability and responsibility.
Lowder & Company KNEW he wouldn't be able to bring in a decent OC after the crap Nall, Ensminger, and Co. pulled, so they pulled the trigger.
On the surface, I didn't like the firing, but its grown on me, though the leadership at Auburn make that growth more a wart than a beauty mole, so to speak...
The hire is becoming a 180 degree reversal of that, though...I think Chizik will do fine...He'll be an upgrade in recruiting, and he won't have the baggage that comes with a staff that acts more like entrenched middle management when it comes to hiring a coordinator.
Tommy_Trojan
· 11 months ago
TE:
Very educational. As I really don't pay alot of attention, to the exact political leanings of any particular scenario on this planet, I most certainly understand the diabolical nature of anybody who is trying to save their own butt. Since Tubby's butt was not saved - I can only assume that many others were. I never quite lean toward the slant that the powers that be could really be all that stupid. On the contrary, greater minds than ours, have made this once great country what it is today. I know that it must benefit somebody who is a whole helluva lot smarter than I am.
Nevertheless, I never think that these coaching changes are really all that simplistic, or not thought out very well. Your angle of thought surely jibes with some of my ideas on how these things may really go down. Your perspectives make alot of sense in regards to why Tubby had to go. Gene Chizik was probably contacted sometime ago about this scenario possibly emerging. It seems that Tubberville really did cut his own throat. There really was no way to rectify the damage from the way that the Franklin firing went down. Your absolutely correct, at that point, the inmates had taken over the asylim.
Tommy_Trojan
· 11 months ago
BC:
Do you really attend some form of an institution for higher learning? This is what Dan McCarney was doing at Iowa State:
2002 (7-7) outscored his opponents by 404 to 396. 2003 (2-10) was outscored by 437 to 173 per game. Or, since you probably can't do the math, that's called losing by 22 points per game. What happened to Iowa State in this year? 2004 (7-5) and were only outscored by 259 to 246. Somewhat of a turnaround here? 2005 (7-5) outscored the opponents 339 to 230. Now, this one some kinda decent team - I suppose. 2006 (4-8) and were outscored by 369 to 226. Again, if you can't use the calculator (as it is a higher learning tool), then that would mean losing by 12 points per game. So, exactly how do you go from winning by +9 one year to losing by -12 the next year? Dan McCarney left Gene Chizik with this mess. My guess is that McCarney could coach but could not recruit. McCarney's 2003 and 2006 teams were a terrible dropoff from his other teams. This supports my hypothesis that he was able to "coach players up" some of the time. When he could not do that - disaster struck.
Gene Chizik would do this:
2007 (3-9) was outscored by 381 to 218. That's losing by 13.6 points per game. 2008 (2-10) was outscored by 430 to 304. Again, I'll do the math, and that's losing by 10.5 points per game.
Now, keep in mind that Chizik was coaching in a conference that just took off in the last two years. The emergence of Kansas and Missouri in 2007 was astonishing. Those two schools added together with both Oklahoma and Texas, gave the Big 12 Conference a minumum of four teams, with various forms (voting from polls) of Top Ten acheivments in the year 2007. Also, quarterbacks were emerging all over the conference with superstar potential. More of the same would follow in the year 2008, with Texas Tech and their fine young QB joining the fray, and eventually ending with Oklahoma and Texas being ranked in the Top 1 to 3 positions in the country. Not to mention that the Big 12 would land 2 of the Top 3 Heisman candidates (including the winner in Sam Bradshaw), and that's even excluding Graham Harrell, who was just as worthy as anyone else.
So, the bottom line on Gene Chizik is that he did inherit terrible recruits from Dan McCarney, got his butt handed to him in 2007 and actually improved the team in 2008. This happened despite the emergence of many monstrous teams out of the Big 12, of which I personally cannot remember ever being this many good teams, over the exact same two year period of time that Chizik was trying to coach Iowa State. The guy actually did improve his squad while all of this was happening - despite the fact that he didn't have anything at all to work with.
Bleed, someday your gonna have to just quit arguing with me. I'm never gonna be wrong at your expense. But, I am gonna be right. Too bad you got your butt's handed to you by Florida - just like I said. Now, try not to get too scared of this Gene Chizik guy, as I don't really think he's the next Nick Saban either. What I would be scared of is that you guys are not gonna have a QB for next year - and Chizik may even have a defense to make your guy look worse than he even is. This kinda thing happened to LSU, Tennessee and Auburn last year. Seems like it might have happened to Michigan also. That's what I would fear the most - yourselves!
"BC"
· 11 months ago
TT, the only problem with your post is that you fail to see the "bottom line."
you can throw all kinda stats around that help put lipstick on a pig, but here is the REAL bottom line: Gene Chizik's career winning percentage while head coach is: .208 lemme help you out. basically, unless you roll a 6, he is going to lose... if history is any indication of the what is to come, this guy could play 24 games in the '09 season and STILL not become bowl eligible
You think this guy will be able to recruit? I had never heard of him before he accepted the coaching position at Auburn. Im 18, I'm an all-state football player. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Houston Nutt, Dan Mullen, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Mark Richt, Bob Petrino, Steve Spurrier, or......Gene Chizik?? and you already said yourself, the guy can't take bad recruits and win over 20% of the time.
plus, another reason you provide for his uncanny ability to fail, is that the Big 12 is tough. first off the SEC is tougher. secondly, this guy didn't even play Texas, Oklahoma, or Texas Tech this past season! he still lost 10 games!
he is walking into a mess at Auburn, and he's already proven he can't improve a program. why don't you ask the Iowa State fans if they care that he kept games closer? he still loses. you think the Auburn fans will be happy if they only lose the Iron Bowl 20-0 next year?
get real man! this guy might be the worst coach in the SEC.
and about the Florida game: we kept it VERY close. closer than any other team in the country could keep it right now. about our QB situation next year: JPW threw 9 TDs and 5 INTs on the SEASON. i seriously doubt it could get much worse, or much less productive. what i AM concerned about is the O-Line.
we'll have a better defense next year, better receivers, better HBs, and a better passer. maybe even a dual-threat QB. i doubt our offense will see a significant drop-off, if any at all.
and if i were you, being a trojan fan, i would be worried about being upset by oregon state, ucla, or stanford again next year...
WeegleWeegleWarEagle
· 11 months ago
First off, let me send out a heartfelt "thank you" to Tommy Tuberville. Your class has shown through in thepast 10 years. You brought us to heights that we'll enjoy all our lives. Six straight years of beating our rivals ... thank you. Undefeated season 2004 ... thank you. I wish you only the best in whatever your future endeavors might be. I wish I knew the real story behind your departure, though. Truth is important. Second, congratulations to Gene Chizik. He's now our head coach and we, the Auburn FAMILY, must be squarely behind him. That's right, it's not the Auburn nation, but the Auburn Family. So, Coach Chizik, welcome back. We'll be rooting for you and your team to succeed.
It appears that there are forces at work (Bobby Lowder, Jay Jacobs) who don't care one whit about Auburn University. Are they egomaniacs drunk with power? Let those of us who truly love Auburn band together and figure out how to get rid of Lowder before we are the laughingstock of the SEC. And who does Jacobs work for? AU, or Lowder? Or Nick Saban? I thought Turner Gill was the perfect man for the job. After seeing the pride he had in his players and the thankfulness he showed to God, he had my vote. But now Nick Lowder / Bobby Saban has stuck a knife in our guts. Enough is enough. Oust Lowder. Fire Jacobs. Restore Auburn to Auburn people and kick these Bama loving preposters out on the street.
Kevin @ Fanblogs
· 11 months ago
The one thing that I cannot understand for the life of me... Auburn had the chance to hire (arguably) the best up & coming coach in the nation in Turner Gill... and wiffed.
Ramblin' Gator
· 11 months ago
I'm wondering if Gill saw how Tubs was treated in his down years and decided against taking a chance on a school with little patience.
Kevin @ Fanblogs
· 11 months ago
And that AU went behind Tubbs back... TWICE... to feel out coaches to replace him?
Ramblin' Gator
· 11 months ago
Exactly!
Ramblin' Gator
· 11 months ago
Paul Johnson is safe - Thank God!
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
$5.1 million buy out of Tubs. Over 1 million guaranteed to former assistants. $200,000 guaranteed to Tony Franklin $2 million a year for 5 years to Mean Gene $750,000 buyout of Genes contract.
I guess Auburn hasn't heard about the recession yet.
Tyler_Tech
· 11 months ago
Maybe they should try and sign CC Sabathia for their head coach!!
Jason
· 11 months ago
I think you guys underestimate the guy. Sure he didn't turn around the ISU program but as a DC he helped lead Auburn to their 13-0 season and he helped Texas get their first National Championship since 1970.
BigWarEagle
· 11 months ago
Al Borges helped us with an undefeated season too but I dont want him as our head coach. I am sure he is fine man, I am just saying that there seemed to be much better candidates out there to choose from. This hire is not exciting recruits or season ticket holders.
Cobia
· 11 months ago
Auburn could have done better picking a new head coach. Chizick really hasn't proven that he's ready to be head coach of a BCS team. Yeah he's a great deffensive coordinator but that doesn't mean he's a great head coach.
RN4AU
· 11 months ago
It doesn't mean he is'nt going to be a great head coach either! Has ANYONE turned the ISU program around?...maybe he realized he made a huge mistake going there and wanted to get back to where he could compete...don't count him out before he has even started...
rebelNutt24
· 11 months ago
hahaha.... nice to see Pete Boone isnt the worst AD in the SEC West after all..... Great Hire Auburn(for everyone else)
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
****UPDATE**** Despite attempts to drown myself in Absolut Mandarin and tonics this weekend, I have worked through my frustrations after taking a few days off from football and now will begin this week by getting on board, as they say.
While I will not tolerate any undermining of our new coach, a la 'fireronzook.com', I see nothing wrong with the continued attempt to undermine the Auburn AD, President, and BOT, as it is open season with no limit.
Thank you all for your generous cards and letters and wishes of support during this obviously difficult week for my Auburn family and I. May you be blessed with a bountiful recruiting season and keeping existing players out of the penal system.
1Tomcat
· 11 months ago
Well The only way to be successful is to have total support from the bottom up and the top down, any negativity could not be favorable and therefore must be discontinued. Discontented and disappointed fans need to focus upon the positive and try to support their head coach, its not his fault that the AU administration has let yall down. This has got to be one of the most difficult situations for a new head coach the AU fans like it or not should welcome coach Gene and support him for the good of the team. Do you really want a winning program? Do you want to beat Bama? want to win the SEC? Support your coach- He is gonna give 100%- booing him and calling names etc etc is not productive for the team or the program- try for one minute to put yourselves in his shoes. now fire away- War Damn Eagle
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
To my knowledge, no one is booing Chizik. They're booing the AD and the president. I don't think any rational fan will boo the new coach. They can however keep voiving their displeasure with the administration...
OU_Ron
· 11 months ago
I voiv once in a while, it feels good....
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
Only when your wife is away, right? Don't ever let her catch you...
OU_Ron
· 11 months ago
What they don't know, won't hurt em, right ??
Ramblin' Gator
· 11 months ago
My wife caught me voiving once and then all I could do for a while was voiv.
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
You told her you were just looking at CFB blogs on the internet...
GeauxTigers0107
· 11 months ago
Hey man, everybody voiv's from time to time. Some won't admit to it though. I hear it's supposed to be good for your eye sight...or something..
Zac
· 11 months ago
GT0107, R U ready for this. A german medical study performed over 5 years (Yes! This study took 5 YEARS!) has shown when men spend approximately 10 minutes a day looking at a beautiful woman & her breasts, they will live longer. This is a no-shitter; I kid you not.
Here's to Hooters, boyz!!!
Zac
· 11 months ago
I agree 100%. Do NOT boo the man. By all means, boo the decision and those who made it, but do NOT boo the man. If the "Auburn Family" rallies around this guy, and shows him how they treat their HC, one can only predict success...in time. If they're expecting miracles this year, Katie bar the door. Neither Chizik or the AD will get outta Auburn alive. ALL of the firings at Auburn made no sense to me. It takes time for a team to learn a new offensive system. It'll take time for a new HC to install, and have working, his system. If Auburn gives him a few years, likely things will pan out. If they give him only one year, without question, they shouldn't have bothered hiring him (or anyone, for that matter) to begin with.
WarEagleFan
· 11 months ago
WEA any news on the staff that Chizik might hire?
TampaGator
· 11 months ago
Well....he is a Gator alumnus...though I can think of about 5 UF alumni FB coaches off the top of my head who are coaching or have coached, who would be better qualified than this guy:
I'll be pull'n for him to succeed anyway...just b/c he's a Gator!
GO GATORS!!
Ramblin' Gator
· 11 months ago
There's a rumor floating that Kerwin Bell may be the Gators next OC.
TampaGator
· 11 months ago
I like that rumor--alot! Hope there's something to it...
Kerwin Bell is about as true a Gator as they come.
GO GATORS!!
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
I hope they pelt him with cups...
:-)
TampaGator
· 11 months ago
...for ol' times' sake, right?
I'm sure he'd just brush it off--it ain't nothin' like having bottles hurled at cha!
How's that hangover coming?
GO GATORS!!
War_Eagle_Atlanta
· 11 months ago
The hangover with our former Gator coach is over. Time to start drinking again!
Pass the cup! Or the bottle....
Ben Prather
· 11 months ago
OC at Florida is like DC at Utah. The HC runs the show.
NMLSooner
· 11 months ago
If he is the new OC, he should wear a florescent green shirt, about the shade of his old Orlando Thunder jersey. Ya know, so they could see him when he signals in plays.
MattRyan
· 11 months ago
The point that I was trying to make wasn't to dis your argument on "the terrible hire of Gene Chizik thereof" I was merely trying to state that GENE CHIZIK is OUR coach. There's nothing me or you can do about it. He's ours. It's our duty as so-called "die hard" Auburn fans to support him. If we don't, and somehow he gets the players to buy into his system and they win games next year, Everybody who hated the hire is gonna be jumping up and down talking about how happy they are that we have Coach Chiz...... Now I'll say it again, SUPPORT GENE CHIZIK and W-A-R E-A-G-L-E!!!!
AUtigerman
· 11 months ago
Matt
No need to worry that i wont support AU. Ive been a booster and season ticket holder for years.
I just felt like they had a real oppurtunity and blew it. Im not the only one that feels this way just look at all the decommits. He canned all our assistants and now the kids are decommiting, cant say i blame them. But id like to know how he fires James Willis and Eddie Gran. These are two of the best at what they do. And they were commited to trying to save this program. My guess is that Tubbs was told to fire all these guys or get the ax himself,he then countered with quitting. Im just not convenced the AU nation will have the patience its going to take to start over.
All Comments
Can't you just see recruits saying now, no thanks Mr. Saban, Mr. Richt, Mr. Meyer - I'm going to go and play for Gene Chizik.
Please say it aint so.
after the 2008 season, are you now a subscriber to the zero-sum theory as it pertains to Alabama/Auburn football?
I am unsure how we are going to win any head to head recruiting battles.
I wonder how many decommits we will get this next week.
Chizik is 5-19 as a head coach. He's 2-14 in the Big XII and managed to cling to an 0-8 conference record this year. In reality, Chizik was one more losing season away from being FIRED... and now he's the head coach at Auburn.
All I can say is... WTF is Auburn thinking?!
Paul Johnson
Todd Graham
Turner Gill
Gary Patterson
Jim Grobe
The Auburn Nation was expecting one of these guys and they get Chizik?
I wonder if he knows how cold of a reception is waiting on him at Auburn?
The Gene Chizik hiring at Iowa State was pretty uninspiring, as well...
State. What in this body of work impressed the
head guys at Auburn?
South Dakota State W 44-17
Kent State W 48-28
at Iowa L 5-17
at UNLV L 31-34
(16) Kansas L 33-35
at Baylor L 10-38
Nebraska L 7-35
Texas A&M L 35-49
at (9) Oklahoma State L 17-59
at Colorado L 24-28
(12) Missouri L 20-52
at Kansas State L 30-38
Merry Christmas Alabama! Santa came early this year.
@ Iowa Hawkeyes are purty good beat PSU
KU here again good team
@ BU best 8 loss team in the nation no doubt
Nebraska good solid 8 win team
Texas A&M had a bad year, but can still be a challenge
@ OK St 9-3 winning program
@ Colo Boulder tough place to play ask WV
Missu ranked winning program
@ KSU didnt see the game score indicates purty close
So in retrospect which one were they suppose to win? I dont see any easy ones- except maybe the two they one
AU probably has a better group of athelettees than ISU and being a defensive guy makes him a good fit in the SEC. ISU is a tough place for anybody to coach, much less recruit against the B10/11 and B 12 schools. In the SEC he might acutally pull some recruits away from Miss st and Tenn who are also having trouble.
After accepting the job at BU Briles was interveiwed and asked why would anyone leave a successful team{ Houston} to coach a team thats been losing. Its a great place a great school and its big XII football a chance to play against the best in the country.When people hear about Baylor football they are going to take notice.
Those guys were competeing his first year whuped A&M and had three real close losses one @ Texas Tech.
ISU is so far down, it wil take alot more than a coach to bring them up- hate to say it but- Dan MaCarty-George Oleary- Dennis Francione
Hey is this for real about Chizik ? nothing confirmed right?
Not only was Chizik 0-8 in Big XII play this year..
But that 0-8 record came WITHOUT playing Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech ... the three best teams in the conference this year....
Hmmmm....I'm beginning to like Bobby Lowder and Jay Jacobs even more..
;)
I have always thought that except for certain cases (Saban to Bama, Spurrier to USC, i.e. knowing for a fact you are getting a guy who can and will win) it is better to try and hire a guy who will come in, build a rock solid program, and stay for 15 years or so. Problem w/ guys like Saban is that if that coach was that willing to jump ship and come to you, he will be that willing to leave you when something better comes along. I would think Chizik will try to come in and stay for a while so I do think it's a good hire from that standpoint. Honestly though, the best thing about this hire is the expectation level. No one will be expecting much (especailly w/ how they have tried to recruit spread offensive guys the last 1.5 signing classes) so he would have to be beyond terrible for people to be disappointed.
As much as I to say it, Tubberville had gotten AU to a respectable position nationally. He could have been better, but he could have been a lot worse. Between the spread offense debacle and Tubberville "resigning and still getting his buyout" AU has set themselves back several years.
I believe they never had any intentions of hiring him. Not sure what Jacobs was thinking. I still think that when you fire your HC you should try to upgrade. At least in 04 they had a plan WTF.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7TxIMAwc1k
Dont insult me like that. It was a horrible hire and you know it. We had a chance (money is no object) to hire a much better coach.
Jacobs has totally screwed up and should be held accountable. Has nothing to do with my loyalty to AU.
But then again your the type fan that enjoys latteral moves by DCs to Texas.
So you believe this was the best AU could do? Well ill still be on here next year taking my lumps then we can talk.
Sounds like next year is a very low risk for you.
With 17 returning starters he should have some early success.
I dont like the move because Bobby Lowder orchestrated it. I didnt want Muschamp either. I was pulling for Turner Gill.
A man of character that could continue the great work that Tubberville started.
Now that its done im pulling for Chizak.
I dont understand a darn thing hes doing but im pulling for him.
I don't know. I only hope for Auburn fans that "Mean Gene" simply had a bad stint at IA St, and that the success he enjoyed before he went to Ames, will return to him at Auburn. Best of luck!
And my outrage is against the administration, not Chizik. If I am wrong and he turns out to be a great hire he will have my respect and support. Chizik has to earn his stripes. I am willing to give Chizik a chance, not a pass. He has not earned anything to this point.
Tuberville was someone who Lowder couldn't control...Chizik OBVIOUSLY is...
Garbage decision, and unfortunately, any hire after a garbage decision will carry the stain of the garbage decision...
God help the student athletics at Auburn and yes, you may expect a flood of "de-committs" in the coming weeks.
Guys, I never liked your AU attitude, but I did respect your football program. That is going to be very difficult to do now. If you don't find a way to get Louder out of the Czar business, you are doomed to fail at everything from football to special olympics.
Best wishes and good luck. God knows you will need them.
Roll Tide.
Auburn is a program that should / can afford to pay. I have no confidence in the Auburn front office. They are liars and cheapskates. Who wants to be a part of that?
Gene Chizik was the "hottest young commodity" in college football just two short years ago. He was the "up and comer". Now, why he chose to take the Iowa State position (when everybody knew that he would just lose), was very interesting in and of itself. Was it just to get some HC seasoning? Could this situation have been presented to him a couple of years back? Could Auburn have asked him to get that experience prior to landing this job? Funny, Auburn has not been the same since Chizik left. Yet, Texas won a National Championship with Chizik there in 2005. Texas hasn't been able to play much defense since.
Nobody could win at Iowa State. Not Joe Paterno, Bear Bryant, Pete Carroll or Nick Saban. Nobody can, has, or ever will. Iowa State was a good experience for Chizik. My guess is that this is one of the finer football minds in America today. This guy certainly knows what defense is all about. And, if he's that smart about that, he might be able to figure out who might be pretty good on offense. Don't be too surprised if he doesn't find a guy who might be able to move the rock. He might even be able to offer a few suggestions on what you might want to do with a really good defense.
I'm not saying that this guy is Nick Saban or Pete Carroll, but everybody has to start out somewhere, and you might as well resign yourself to supporting this coach. He may very well surprise some people - when there is a little talent on campus. It'll be tough to recruit the SEC, but it always has been, and always will be. This guy has been known as a good recruiter and probably hasn't forgotten how to do that. But, it's real tough, no matter how good you are - to bring anybody to Ames, Iowa. I sure as heck wouldn't go. But, just between me and you, I've made some money on Iowa State since Chizik has been there, simply because they have not been the complete pushovers that they've been in many other years. Iowa State showed up to play on every Saturday - and that was not the case prior to Chizik. Maybe Auburn will show up to play next year. We'll certainly see.
especially the part about ISU playing better AFTER Chizik's arrival. i take it you didn't go to the trouble of looking up their records before, and after Chizik.
Since Chizik's arrival, ISU has gotten steadily worse off. in fact, he ended his tenure there with a 10-game losing streak...
in 2005, they had 7 wins
in 2006, they had 4 wins
ENTER CHIZIK
in 2007, they had 3 wins
in 2008, 2 wins.... (last 10 games he coached, he lost)
in fact, in '01, '02, '04, and '05, Iowa State had 7-win seasons.
so dont tell me it's impossible to win there.
Gene Chizik took a program that had been accustomed to going to bowl games, into one where no parent would want their child to attend because of the losing attitude that radiates from the football field, to all over the campus.
I only hope when he creates that same aura of failure at Auburn, that it doesn't spread state-wide!
Seneca Wallace is one of the best players-on either side of the ball-to ever be an Iowa State Cyclone.
As is Sage Rosenfels.
Both of which have started at quarterback in the NFL, this year (Wallace for Hasselhoff & Holmgrinch in Seattle; Rosenfels for Kubiak in Houston for the Texans).
I'm actually applauding you here in your attempt to kick the Auburn fanbase when their down, as you are wont to do, but the context with which you provide the information doesn't hold up.
Tuberville didn't want to do battle with Saban. Not that he ever really would have. The only top flight recruits Tuberville would go after were a QB or RB type. Most of his skill position players at WR, TE, & on the OL were all guys who were developmental prospects.
Same thing on the defensive side of the ball.
I think Auburn wanted a few things out of this hire...Not the least of which was controllability on the part of Lowder's Machiavellian, dictatorial style of leadership he's once again grasped the University by its throat with.
They wanted a guy who had a track record of recruiting upper echelon players across the board, and winning. I'm not going to get into it with you, but he's typically been the best recruiter on every staff he was on. He was known as a good one at each stop.
They also wanted a coach who would go up against Saban and challenge him on the recruiting trail. I'm not sure Tuberville was ever a guy who was going to "win" a big recruiting battle, though he won some notable ones against Saban for the likes of players along the lines of Jason Campbell & LaMarcus Rowell, etc.
Tuberville was fine with 3 & 4 * kids, and that didn't sit well with the Auburn folks...at least the folks with the juice.
They need to be a strong presence in the state, and win for kids they want in-state. I don't think Tommy was going to be able to bring that to the table. Chizik has the polish and the prior history of being able to recruit with anyone.
He also can coach the hell out of a defense. He's done a good job, and he's done a good job for his current employers in the past, doing just that. Give him good athletes, and he'll field a competitive defense. Give him the kids he wants, and I'm sure he'll do the same. It may take some time after taking two straight sub-par classes, but I feel Auburn gets an immediate breath of fresh air on a side of the ball they were already playing well on.
The most important part for most Auburn Fans, and its one I think that most of them are not seeing right now for all of the red in their eyes leveled towards Jacobs & Lowder and the other buffoons and wannabe Japetto's over there holding the strings, is that this guy brings some credibility to a potential coach who wants to come to Auburn.
Tuberville allowed his assistants to stage a palace coup and get rid of Tony Franklin. Tuberville made the decision to go with him, then stood idly by and watched his long-time, tenured professor-esque assistant coaches NOT help their kids buy in to the Spread and-after Tuberville himself committed to it-then watched it wither and die on the vine.
He ultimately made Franklin out to be the scapegoat, and I think it was a bushleague move on the part of Tuberville. It gave off the appearance of the inmates running the asylum, even if said inmates had been with him long-term and had done a pretty decent job of developing the talent on hand for the system Tuberville had in place.
My point is this: After Tuberville hired Franklin, he sealed his own fate. No self-respecting, decent Offensive Coordinator was going to come into a situation in which the deck was stacked against him. If he did ANYTHING those assistants didn't like, or ruffled ONE of their feathers, then all of them would align up against him and pull the same thing.
It only took one guy getting Tony Franklin'd before the word got out. Tuberville was loyal to his staff, to a fault. He let his coordinators take the fall, while guys in the background shouldered no responsibility for the ultimate success and failures of the program.
Yet, if they didn't like things, he was content to let them undercut the only coaches Tuberville ever had on staff in a decade that were forced to live in a coaching environment that included words like accountability and responsibility.
Lowder & Company KNEW he wouldn't be able to bring in a decent OC after the crap Nall, Ensminger, and Co. pulled, so they pulled the trigger.
On the surface, I didn't like the firing, but its grown on me, though the leadership at Auburn make that growth more a wart than a beauty mole, so to speak...
The hire is becoming a 180 degree reversal of that, though...I think Chizik will do fine...He'll be an upgrade in recruiting, and he won't have the baggage that comes with a staff that acts more like entrenched middle management when it comes to hiring a coordinator.
Very educational. As I really don't pay alot of attention, to the exact political leanings of any particular scenario on this planet, I most certainly understand the diabolical nature of anybody who is trying to save their own butt. Since Tubby's butt was not saved - I can only assume that many others were. I never quite lean toward the slant that the powers that be could really be all that stupid. On the contrary, greater minds than ours, have made this once great country what it is today. I know that it must benefit somebody who is a whole helluva lot smarter than I am.
Nevertheless, I never think that these coaching changes are really all that simplistic, or not thought out very well. Your angle of thought surely jibes with some of my ideas on how these things may really go down. Your perspectives make alot of sense in regards to why Tubby had to go. Gene Chizik was probably contacted sometime ago about this scenario possibly emerging. It seems that Tubberville really did cut his own throat. There really was no way to rectify the damage from the way that the Franklin firing went down. Your absolutely correct, at that point, the inmates had taken over the asylim.
Do you really attend some form of an institution for higher learning? This is what Dan McCarney was doing at Iowa State:
2002 (7-7) outscored his opponents by 404 to 396.
2003 (2-10) was outscored by 437 to 173 per game. Or, since you probably can't do the math, that's called losing by 22 points per game. What happened to Iowa State in this year?
2004 (7-5) and were only outscored by 259 to 246. Somewhat of a turnaround here?
2005 (7-5) outscored the opponents 339 to 230. Now, this one some kinda decent team - I suppose.
2006 (4-8) and were outscored by 369 to 226. Again, if you can't use the calculator (as it is a higher learning tool), then that would mean losing by 12 points per game. So, exactly how do you go from winning by +9 one year to losing by -12 the next year? Dan McCarney left Gene Chizik with this mess. My guess is that McCarney could coach but could not recruit. McCarney's 2003 and 2006 teams were a terrible dropoff from his other teams. This supports my hypothesis that he was able to "coach players up" some of the time. When he could not do that - disaster struck.
Gene Chizik would do this:
2007 (3-9) was outscored by 381 to 218. That's losing by 13.6 points per game.
2008 (2-10) was outscored by 430 to 304. Again, I'll do the math, and that's losing by 10.5 points per game.
Now, keep in mind that Chizik was coaching in a conference that just took off in the last two years. The emergence of Kansas and Missouri in 2007 was astonishing. Those two schools added together with both Oklahoma and Texas, gave the Big 12 Conference a minumum of four teams, with various forms (voting from polls) of Top Ten acheivments in the year 2007. Also, quarterbacks were emerging all over the conference with superstar potential. More of the same would follow in the year 2008, with Texas Tech and their fine young QB joining the fray, and eventually ending with Oklahoma and Texas being ranked in the Top 1 to 3 positions in the country. Not to mention that the Big 12 would land 2 of the Top 3 Heisman candidates (including the winner in Sam Bradshaw), and that's even excluding Graham Harrell, who was just as worthy as anyone else.
So, the bottom line on Gene Chizik is that he did inherit terrible recruits from Dan McCarney, got his butt handed to him in 2007 and actually improved the team in 2008. This happened despite the emergence of many monstrous teams out of the Big 12, of which I personally cannot remember ever being this many good teams, over the exact same two year period of time that Chizik was trying to coach Iowa State. The guy actually did improve his squad while all of this was happening - despite the fact that he didn't have anything at all to work with.
Bleed, someday your gonna have to just quit arguing with me. I'm never gonna be wrong at your expense. But, I am gonna be right. Too bad you got your butt's handed to you by Florida - just like I said. Now, try not to get too scared of this Gene Chizik guy, as I don't really think he's the next Nick Saban either. What I would be scared of is that you guys are not gonna have a QB for next year - and Chizik may even have a defense to make your guy look worse than he even is. This kinda thing happened to LSU, Tennessee and Auburn last year. Seems like it might have happened to Michigan also. That's what I would fear the most - yourselves!
you can throw all kinda stats around that help put lipstick on a pig, but here is the REAL bottom line:
Gene Chizik's career winning percentage while head coach is: .208
lemme help you out. basically, unless you roll a 6, he is going to lose...
if history is any indication of the what is to come, this guy could play 24 games in the '09 season and STILL not become bowl eligible
You think this guy will be able to recruit?
I had never heard of him before he accepted the coaching position at Auburn. Im 18, I'm an all-state football player. Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Houston Nutt, Dan Mullen, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Mark Richt, Bob Petrino, Steve Spurrier, or......Gene Chizik??
and you already said yourself, the guy can't take bad recruits and win over 20% of the time.
plus, another reason you provide for his uncanny ability to fail, is that the Big 12 is tough.
first off the SEC is tougher.
secondly, this guy didn't even play Texas, Oklahoma, or Texas Tech this past season! he still lost 10 games!
he is walking into a mess at Auburn, and he's already proven he can't improve a program.
why don't you ask the Iowa State fans if they care that he kept games closer?
he still loses.
you think the Auburn fans will be happy if they only lose the Iron Bowl 20-0 next year?
get real man!
this guy might be the worst coach in the SEC.
and about the Florida game:
we kept it VERY close. closer than any other team in the country could keep it right now.
about our QB situation next year:
JPW threw 9 TDs and 5 INTs on the SEASON.
i seriously doubt it could get much worse, or much less productive.
what i AM concerned about is the O-Line.
we'll have a better defense next year, better receivers, better HBs, and a better passer. maybe even a dual-threat QB.
i doubt our offense will see a significant drop-off, if any at all.
and if i were you, being a trojan fan, i would be worried about being upset by oregon state, ucla, or stanford again next year...
Second, congratulations to Gene Chizik. He's now our head coach and we, the Auburn FAMILY, must be squarely behind him. That's right, it's not the Auburn nation, but the Auburn Family. So, Coach Chizik, welcome back. We'll be rooting for you and your team to succeed.
It appears that there are forces at work (Bobby Lowder, Jay Jacobs) who don't care one whit about Auburn University. Are they egomaniacs drunk with power? Let those of us who truly love Auburn band together and figure out how to get rid of Lowder before we are the laughingstock of the SEC. And who does Jacobs work for? AU, or Lowder? Or Nick Saban? I thought Turner Gill was the perfect man for the job. After seeing the pride he had in his players and the thankfulness he showed to God, he had my vote. But now Nick Lowder / Bobby Saban has stuck a knife in our guts. Enough is enough. Oust Lowder. Fire Jacobs. Restore Auburn to Auburn people and kick these Bama loving preposters out on the street.
Over 1 million guaranteed to former assistants.
$200,000 guaranteed to Tony Franklin
$2 million a year for 5 years to Mean Gene
$750,000 buyout of Genes contract.
I guess Auburn hasn't heard about the recession yet.
Has ANYONE turned the ISU program around?...maybe he realized he made a huge mistake going there and wanted to get back to where he could compete...don't count him out before he has even started...
While I will not tolerate any undermining of our new coach, a la 'fireronzook.com', I see nothing wrong with the continued attempt to undermine the Auburn AD, President, and BOT, as it is open season with no limit.
Thank you all for your generous cards and letters and wishes of support during this obviously difficult week for my Auburn family and I. May you be blessed with a bountiful recruiting season and keeping existing players out of the penal system.
Discontented and disappointed fans need to focus upon the positive and try to support their head coach, its not his fault that the AU administration has let yall down.
This has got to be one of the most difficult situations for a new head coach the AU fans like it or not should welcome coach Gene and support him for the good of the team.
Do you really want a winning program? Do you want to beat Bama? want to win the SEC?
Support your coach- He is gonna give 100%- booing him and calling names etc etc is not productive for the team or the program- try for one minute to put yourselves in his shoes.
now fire away- War Damn Eagle
Here's to Hooters, boyz!!!
1. Shane Matthews;
2. Scot Brantley;
3. Kerwin Bell;
4. Noah Brindise;
5. Wayne Peace;
6 (bonus)--G.A. Mangus (--Mid St Tenn OC).
I'll be pull'n for him to succeed anyway...just b/c he's a Gator!
GO GATORS!!
Kerwin Bell is about as true a Gator as they come.
GO GATORS!!
:-)
I'm sure he'd just brush it off--it ain't nothin' like having bottles hurled at cha!
How's that hangover coming?
GO GATORS!!
Pass the cup! Or the bottle....
No need to worry that i wont support AU. Ive been a booster and season ticket holder for years.
I just felt like they had a real oppurtunity and blew it.
Im not the only one that feels this way just look at all the decommits. He canned all our assistants and now the kids are decommiting, cant say i blame them. But id like to know how he fires James Willis and Eddie Gran.
These are two of the best at what they do. And they were commited to trying to save this program.
My guess is that Tubbs was told to fire all these guys or get the ax himself,he then countered with quitting.
Im just not convenced the AU nation will have the patience its going to take to start over.