First post of the day, 10/5
Hey everyone. Hope your evening went well.I'm headed out of Nashville now and will be making a beeline for the Plains. Tuberville's weekly meeting with the media goes down at 3 o'clock. I expect something major to happen today at Auburn. Tuberville told players to expect major changes and he rarely overstates stuff like that.
STORIES FROM TODAY'S EDITIONS OF THE ADVERTISER:
9/5: Vandy knocks off Tigers
9/5: Tuberville promises to make changes
Photo credit: Mark Humphrey/Associated Press
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
7:50 AM
83 Comments:
major changes...it would be comical if he said, he would now wear a coat and tie on the sideline or he planned on wearing his lucky socks. Major changes, yes...i am waiting for 3:00 pm. I think all Auburn fans are, we need some glimmer of hope that things will change, and for the better, if not things could sway fast and it will not be pretty.
If NallsMinger ball is a glimmer of hope, we need a new glimmer. LOL
In the same light, if Tubs pulls the trigger on Franklin, I hope he doesn't hire another outside OC. Let the guys he trusts run this thing and be done with it. This team can't take another turnover.
Any takers that Paul Rhodes jettisons himself from this after the season is over and looks for greener pastures else?
I'm not excited about NallsMinger either. All that offense is about is stacking one side of the line and running behind it, and we got about the same, if not less results out of it before we had to make changes.
Paul Rhodes doesn't seem like that type of guy. He stayed a Pitt for a long time when better offers were coming. I doubt he'd leave here unless it's for a HC job somewhere.
We should be careful what we ask for.... If CTF is canned, Nallsminger ball is something we will probably have to get used to as I doubt there is any way a good and innovative OC would come to the Plains. Why should they, when being different than the status quo forces them to change everything they do when the chips are down? This is very similar to the situation at Arkansas when Mahlzan came to run their offense. He was alienated by the other offensive staff because he had no college experience and subsequently bolted. When given the chance by Tulsa, he has proven to be pretty good. That situation was the beginning of the end for Nutt at Arkansas. If Franklin becomes the 'goat here I for one will be ashamed to be an Auburn Tiger. The man should be given complete control over the offense (even if that means some longer-tenured assistants on that staff need to be replaced) before his performance is judged.
Yeah, I should have clarified that. I think PR may get some looks as a HC at some other schools.
I hope he stays; he seems like a great guy and is a very, very good coach.
Now I know why Muschamp bolted for Texas......
Tony Franklin was never going to be allowed to run that offense here. We should have known it.
That's a good comparison to Mahlzan, Kris. I figure TF will look for life out West and I wish him well.
Where Auburn goes from here remains to be seen.
I'm not saying the sky is falling, but I'd be an idiot not to recognize the problems on the Plains.
Franklin should be given complete control over the offense? You mean the same Franklin that refers to himself as a dumbass? I hope you are joking.
I hate that it took that game yesterday for some fans to finally realize that our problems are far deeper than their favorite QB not playing.
Franklin needs to go its that simple.The play calling has been so bad and I just dont think I can watch another game with Todd as the QB.Todd is as good as he is going to get there is no upside to him we need to play someone else and Im not sure Kodi is the answer.
RK I'm pretty sure the fans knew there were more problems than Chris Todd. There is a firetonyfranklin.com website, that should tell you something.
Barkley,
There were a lot fans after every game who said all we needed to do was play Burns and everything would be ok. They seriously thought Todd was the only problem.
Major Changes: Does this mean Tubs is going to resign because he has a problem finding a OC that is half way decent?
I was one of those fans that thought Kodi getting consistent playing time would make a difference. I can admit when I am wrong, I was wrong. To me the biggest problem last night was the o-line. The qbs spent much of the night running away from pressure and as usual stupid penalties killed drives. Of course running toss sweeps on 3rd and sjort didn't help either.
The OL spent the 2nd half yelling at each other because nobody knew what was going on in this hybrid mess of an offense.
We've score 7 2nd half points in SEC games this year. That's poor coaching adjustments. Add that to the 5 offensive TD's in 4 SEC games.
things have swayed, chief. this is morbid.
kris, so what is your reasoning for Muschamp "bolting" to Texas? This ought to be good since Gene C. did the same thing and landed a HC gig.
MAjor changes have to do with the coaches and the offensive plans they came up with that are not working. To those that say we abandoned what we were doing the 1st quarter are not totally correct.
I watched the replays and AU did try to run the same offense that worked in the 1st Qtr but VZandy adjusted.
The problem after that was the QB and the OC could not come up with any adjustments and then panicked in the second half and went strictly with the spread. that was a disaster.
Having some experience leading men, I have noticed that they perform their absolute worst when they don't know what to do. It's a day and night difference. When they know exactly what to do? Bing, Bang, Boom ... it's done.
That is our problem. We have no idea what to do. The players don't know what to do because the coaches don't know what to do.
If Franklin is not being allowed to run "his" offense, that is "his" fault. He's not a GA, he is the OC. If his leadership ability is so weak that he is completely overrun by the rest of the coaching staff, then he has no business being in charge. If CTT can't get a handle on this thing, I'm not sure he does either.
I predicted this a few weeks ago. Here is what I said after the MSU game:
CTT - I feel for you sir. I am afraid you may have recently made a career changing decision.
CTF - You are a con man. Go home. Go somewhere. Just go away.
This little experiment has completely blown up. It may affect the football program beyond this year. It is that serious of a mistake.
The other thing I've been hearing is that the players and other coaches don't "believe in the system." Whose fault is that? Again, Franklin. He didn't close the sale at AU. Now everybody wants a refund. I wish it were that simple.
If CTT fires CTF, he will save face, but he will also become a laughing stock. This is going to be a hard thing to overcome. I'm not sure he can. Our program has been damaged in a real and dangerous way. We won't overcome it this year. I expect it to actually get worse. Will it carry over into next season? There's a dang good chance it will.
Did anyone actually feel after the 1st drive or two we had in the 2nd half that we'd ever see more than 14 points unless the D forced a turnover?
I know I didn't. It was obvious we went into a panic mode on offense and we weren't going to do anything other than 3 and out the rest of the way.
How do we listen to the 3 o'clock press conference. Is there an Internet radio station or is it on XM radio? Please post a link if you have one. Thanks!
I don't think it's aired live anywhere...I think they just do that for the Tuesday conferences.
I have full confidence that tuberville will get this thing turned around. Maybe not this year, but he will get things fixed eventually... if he sticks around. One thing he does is when makes a mistake (hiring nall as oc and gibbs as dc) he quickly fixes it within a year. We are going to have to take our lumps this year and just trust what tuberville does for us next year.
Ron, there are plenty of scenarios out there that could suggest Tubs may not be here next year. But that's why you put the 'if' in there.
I want to play Devil's advocate here for a minute. I don't personally believe this theory, rather, I just want to throw is out there for digestion by the masses. It follows along the lines of the undercurrent of discontent that seems to be apparent in AU football.
Let's go back to the end of last year when CTT went on his annual hunting trip to Arky and there was rumor an innuendo about him leaving for that job. There was a ton of speculation there for a week or so that he was gone, but all of the "experts" kept telling us that his buyout was too big and Arky couldn't afford it. In the end, CTT stays, hires TF, AU wins the bowl game, and everyone is happy, so it seems.
Maybe CTT DID want to go to Arky (or somewhere else)? Perhaps the seeds of resentment planted in 2003 almost bore fruit then? Maybe, just maybe, CTT hired TF because he saw an amateur, realized it, said to himself I'll have the last laugh here, and he is TRYING to get fired and/or negotiate a better deal should he leave?
As a famous man once said "...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".
I've heard that scenario before. It doesn't make sense to me. Nobody want's to go out a loser. Million dollar buyout or not.
Plus, the CTT I saw on the sidelines last night rubbing his temples and trying to keep from having a complete coming apart hissy fit on national TV, didn't seem like that was on his mind.
I agree, I just always try to think of another viewpoint when I have my own "idea" about a situation.
The image of CTT rubbing his forehead was a pretty powerful one actually and to me it told a story. A story of a head coach who realizes that he has made a HUGE mistake and there is gonna be a mess trying to rectify it.
James i think the that's is an idiotic scenario. If tuberville wanted to go to Arkansas i don't know, but he hired franklin thinking that was what was best for the program. And we all agreed with him.
Something else I think I noticed last night. I don't think Ben and Kodi like each other. After the late pitch late in the game, they showed a close-up of Ben and he looked like he was thinking, "if you do that again, I am going to kick your ..."
The thing is, we still don't know that TF System would have worked. We never ran all of it or worked to run all of it.
We may never know...
My last thought, and then I am over it. I'm done with it.
If there is dissension among the offense, and it appears that there is, the coaches have only themselves to blame. They created it during the summer. And now look. SOMEBODY has to answer for that. I'm just not sure who.
CTT hired CTF because he's successful at what he does. I said here two weeks ago CTT and Nall were interfering with CTF's system. It was sort of laughed at. And now it's completely obvious. CTF wasn't even allowed to bring his own WR coach in.
Not saying I'm in favor of CTF. But CTT has a history of screwing up offenses. Borges wasn't happy his last year and a half as Auburn OC.
The University of Arkansas if funded by Wal-Mart and the Tyson Chicken company, I promise you, if they wanted to pay for the buyout, nothing would have stopped them.
They've got money.
Crudup, you hit the nail on the head I think. CTT can't seem to get away from his roots so to speak, of playing conservatively and relying on defense and special teams to win ball games (ala Frank Beamer).
There was a time when that theory worked and worked well, but that time has passed the game and CTT by. I don't think it would matter if Norm Chow were up in the booth calling the plays, CTT would get a lead and try to sit on it.
"is" funded, not "if" funded.
I said I was done but I lied.
This is an example of the "good ol' boy" system at it's finest. The offensive underlings don't like what their new boss is trying to get them to do, so they go tell the big boss who says "Don't worry boys. I'll get this handled."
We need an OC with enough balls to say, "Uh huh, chief. You run your show and I'll run mine. Or, you can run the whole thing right after I walk out that door."
If CTF accepted this position with the parameters as they appear, then he is stupid for taking the job. Not only was he set up for failure, he set HIMSELF up for failure.
The BIG question is, shouldn't CTT suffer some consequences for putting the program he is in charge of IN A POSITION TO FAIL?
James:
And that theory cost us a MNC by not running up the scoreboard.
Crudup,
I've never really believed that.
We got up to that tie with Oklahoma after the UGA game, but with USC & OK starting #1 and # 2 and never losing, I just don't think we would have gotten into the BCS game that year no matter how much we blew opponents out.
We won big in almost every game that year anyway except LSU, Alabama and the 2nd UT game.
You know, this sort of feels like 1998 all over again.
Well we already have one more win than we did in 1998.
98, we started 1-5 and we had very little talent because Bowden couldn't recruit.
What sucks this year, is we have talent but no clue what to do with it.
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tubbs is not going anywhere, lets not go all grassy knoll out there, we all know we have talent, the card house we were living under finally came down, we need a new direction, In the SEC it doesnt take long to fall behind. I will cite Arkansas as an example, they are terrible this year, but its going to take some time to rebuild. They lose but at least they can move the ball...we need to get back to our offense...I agree Nall ball and Ensminger were terrible Offensive coordinators.
we need to run the ball with some 25% passing no more than that, its not necessary...not with the talent we live.
You never notice how many rats are on a ship until it starts sinking.
This ship is sinking fast and there are rats running around everywhere.
I really don't care what fans of other teams do.
We've got to fix what's wrong with our team before we even care what others are doing.
Yeah the bammers at work are going to be unbearable this week. The only thing that may temper them slightly is the fact that they didn't look like the world beaters they thought they were against KY.
Who you calling a Rat, Phred?
In case anybody didn't understand that analogy, the "rats" are all the unseen problems inside the AU "ship".
... putting a complete thought together ...
The "rats" are internal problems and the "ship" is the AU football program.
You never notice how many rats are on a ship until it starts sinking.
This ship is sinking fast and there are rats running around everywhere.
Our "problem" is identity or a lack thereof.
I don't blame the players anymore for all the inconsistency. It's a miracle they can do anything at all.
It's impossible to expect progress when the offensive style changes week to week. I understand adjustments to the opposition, but we've run a different offense every single week.
It's time for Tuberville to go. He brought in Franklin and is making him use the same crew Tuberville brought with him from Ole Miss. Happens with every OC we get. Who does it hurt but us Auburn fans who work hard to buy the exorbitantly priced tickets? Sure doesn't hurt Tubs or his buds.
I've never been a big Tuberville fan and think it's time for him to take his snake oil somewhere else.
Not that it matters, but we fall to # 23 in the coaches poll.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm
Crudup: Although a minority opinion more than likely, I was suprised by Muschamp's departure. He had a great defense returning, was paid well, already had national name recognition and was someone I thought could replace Tubbs one day. He also cut his teeth as a player and coordinator in the SEC. He simply didn't need Texas to get a head coaching gig. After watching the offensive train wreck that is this season unfold, I now believe that he knew that Franklin and the spread would not be embraced by the other offensive assistants and the wheels would come off. It makes sense to me and now I am afraid that I was naive to think Auburn football could completely change it's offensive philosophy without missing a beat.
I'm thinking that we don't see a huge effort out of the defense for the rest of the year. Marks especially. I mean, why? Would you risk major injury and derailing an NFL career over this mess?
Lack of effort is a big deal to NFL scouts.
Just ask any of Alabama's seniors last year.
The defense will win us 2 maybe 3 more games this year.
I hope...
What if you're "injured"?
3 hours and counting...
wow were still ranked..23rd
Injury prone...
This isn't the NBA draft, Phred.
No reason to tank games.
So, if you are an NFL prospect playing on a team that is rapidly imploding, you're saying that it is not on your mind to figure out a way just to get the hell out of there in one piece?
It's on his mind. Has to be.
William the Crudup ... what's circulating on the rumor mill?
Ok, we are getting into way too black helicopter theories here.
See you guys after 3.
As bad as things are, I have a feeling that it will get worse. Our 2 SEC wins are against the 2 last place teams in each division. Even better is that our 2 OOC wins came against teams that last in their conference division.
I know its early, but our 4 wins have come against really bad football teams.
Dude, you are spot on. If we don't run the Ace next week for the entire game, we lose.
It will be on like a chicken bone after that.
c barkley I hope you didn't drop a dime on the Tigers last night.
Tubs hired CTF and Tubs allowed Todd to be the starter and play. Tubs is responsible in the end.
So undisciplined. That delay of game on the proposed field goal attempt may have cost a chance at the game.
That's some pretty wishful thinking there. He misses the XP but is going to make it from 51?
I think I have to follow Mr. Sensible's lead. I'm starting to get all wound up and crazy. It just ticks me off that I've wasted any energy giving a crap about any of this. I'm an idiot. It's my fault. I shouldn't have done it. Next year, I'm going to do it different. Expect some major changes.
20 in the AP poll...highest ranked 2 loss team in both.
A female to add to the Hottie Blog Roll.
Diora Baird.
Very nice.
i've got nothing on the mill. total silence in auburn. weird. nobody knows what's coming at 3. tad bit of mention of the fired raiders coach, who is an offensive minded guy. but i don't think there's any substance there.
What we have now, is a full and comprehensive knowledge of what it feels like to be ... Miss. St.
...or Vandy
My prediction on the press conference...
Jay: Rod smith told me to expect big changes, what's up?
Tubbs: Well we obviously need to change things we weren't very good
Jay: Is tony franklin still running the offense?
Tubbs: Yes tony franklin is a good coach, this offense will work... blah, blah, blah
I'm hoping for a different scenario, but this is what i fear
Hey guys. Tuberville laughed about making big changes today when asked about that around 2:15.
I don't expect a big announcement at 3. It won't be like Atlanta being awarded the Olympics or anything.
It's more about what he'll say about Franklin and the "confusion" and where this team goes from here.
phred...ouch! that's the way i felt like walking out of the stadium last nite being taunted by Vandy students. Vanderbilt? r u freakin' kidding me? i never thought i would have to experience that. it was miserable.
you didn't have to confirm my fear within the minute jay
The presser isn't on XM or anything.
Campfire?
laughing? why is he in a good mood? i'm not in a good mood.....at all.
let it roll on the campfire.
fire it up
Jay, I don't doubt it. And that's so disappointing because these coaches can not mesh. Franklin obviously knows nothing but spread and admittedly can not tussle and win against his rival DCs. And Tubs and crew just will not allow this guy to fully do his thing. Furhermore, Frankin and his Chris Todd thing is a nightmare.
As sloppy as Kodi looks out there I can not accept anything other than him being the guy or taking a RS off of Trotter...which won't happen. Win or lose these are my wishes or I'm tuning out the rest of the year and saving my cash for Christmas. I've already been through too many seasons like this with Tubs.
Look. If you want to call anybody a con man don't look any further than the head coach.
Got a match?
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