ESPN.com expert impressed with Auburn
Hey everyone. So I was telling you the other day about my story on Gene Chizik and how I was talking with people on the periphery about him.
The first person I called was Chris Low, who does an outstanding job blogging about the SEC for The Worldwide Leader. I have him bookmarked. You should, too.
Here's what he had to say about Chizik and the entire Auburn operation:
Q: Do you think Gene Chizik has sparked a 180-degree change in the Auburn program>
A: I wouldn't say 180. I didn't think the program was totally in the tank. It came down to a bad decision by Tommy Tuberville in hiring Tony Franklin. That didn't work out very well. It wasn't like Auburn was down like Mississippi State was. Or even Tennessee. It was a big gamble, taking a guy with a profile like it was at the time, but I have to say: Auburn is looking pretty smart right now.
Q: How big of a gamble was it?
A:He was the ultimate huh? hire at the time. I had no idea what Auburn was thinking.
Q: What has impressed you most about the job he's done?
A:The best thing he has done is that he's gotten people to buy in pretty quickly. They have a horrible numbers crunch, especially on defense, but the body of work is more impressive than I expected. They're a play or two away from winning in Athens. They probably should have beaten Kentucky. If you had told me during the summer that Auburn would have a chance to win 8, 9, 10 games, I wouldn't have believed it.
Q: What do you think of Gus Malzahn?
A: I know this -- athletic directors love him. They like him for the same reasons they love Dan Mullen. He's young, he's bright and he does things that create excitement. You can sell that. A good offense gets the fan base more geeked than anything else. It's like a new toy. I'm not saying he's ready to be a head coach, but I know he is and will be on some short lists.
Q: What is your opinion of Chizik as a coach?
A: I know he comes off as pretty dry in interviews. He's a lot better with the players. He doesn't let the media see much. One of the things I remember about going down there during the summer was how well he related to the players.
Q: What about his approach toward recruiting?
A: I think this staff will recruit better than Tommy. He was great in big games, but I think this staff has some guys who will be great in big games, too. I look at it this way: If this staff is going to recruit much better than Tommy and they're already winning 7 or 8 games, they're going to improve on that win total very quickly.
Q: What is their ceiling?
A: I think they're going to be a Top 4 team in the SEC. Right now, you have Alabama, Florida, LSU and there's room for one more. (Auburn) can get back there. In two years, they'll have a chance to be that fourth team or even higher. They have to get the right quarterback to run Malzahn's system. Is that going to be Tyrik Rollison? We'll have to see.
Q: Final thought?
A: Auburn is better than I thought. Had they beaten UK, I'd seriously consider Gene for Coach of the Year. He's accomplishing a lot.
The first person I called was Chris Low, who does an outstanding job blogging about the SEC for The Worldwide Leader. I have him bookmarked. You should, too.Here's what he had to say about Chizik and the entire Auburn operation:
Q: Do you think Gene Chizik has sparked a 180-degree change in the Auburn program>
A: I wouldn't say 180. I didn't think the program was totally in the tank. It came down to a bad decision by Tommy Tuberville in hiring Tony Franklin. That didn't work out very well. It wasn't like Auburn was down like Mississippi State was. Or even Tennessee. It was a big gamble, taking a guy with a profile like it was at the time, but I have to say: Auburn is looking pretty smart right now.
Q: How big of a gamble was it?
A:He was the ultimate huh? hire at the time. I had no idea what Auburn was thinking.
Q: What has impressed you most about the job he's done?
A:The best thing he has done is that he's gotten people to buy in pretty quickly. They have a horrible numbers crunch, especially on defense, but the body of work is more impressive than I expected. They're a play or two away from winning in Athens. They probably should have beaten Kentucky. If you had told me during the summer that Auburn would have a chance to win 8, 9, 10 games, I wouldn't have believed it.
Q: What do you think of Gus Malzahn?
A: I know this -- athletic directors love him. They like him for the same reasons they love Dan Mullen. He's young, he's bright and he does things that create excitement. You can sell that. A good offense gets the fan base more geeked than anything else. It's like a new toy. I'm not saying he's ready to be a head coach, but I know he is and will be on some short lists.
Q: What is your opinion of Chizik as a coach?
A: I know he comes off as pretty dry in interviews. He's a lot better with the players. He doesn't let the media see much. One of the things I remember about going down there during the summer was how well he related to the players.
Q: What about his approach toward recruiting?
A: I think this staff will recruit better than Tommy. He was great in big games, but I think this staff has some guys who will be great in big games, too. I look at it this way: If this staff is going to recruit much better than Tommy and they're already winning 7 or 8 games, they're going to improve on that win total very quickly.
Q: What is their ceiling?
A: I think they're going to be a Top 4 team in the SEC. Right now, you have Alabama, Florida, LSU and there's room for one more. (Auburn) can get back there. In two years, they'll have a chance to be that fourth team or even higher. They have to get the right quarterback to run Malzahn's system. Is that going to be Tyrik Rollison? We'll have to see.
Q: Final thought?
A: Auburn is better than I thought. Had they beaten UK, I'd seriously consider Gene for Coach of the Year. He's accomplishing a lot.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
10:29 AM
103 Comments:
Substance
We are A LOT better that I thought we would be...
ND is goign to let the round mound go and Saban will be at ND...
WTH is up with Blogger? I can't see what I'm typing.
Really enjoyed the interview with Lowe and thanks for the website I did add it to my favorites,
He is right we are much better than most anyone thought we would be. The losses to KY and GA were very disappointing and kept us from going to a better Bowl. With Miss and Ky winning this probably dropped us in the pecking order.
Peter mine is working fine
I'm not having any issues with Blogger.com.
I'm watching the FIFA beach soccer finals. Brazil v. Switzerland. It's a grudge match.
So Jay G. when Auburn beats Alabama, will you rank Auburn?
A guy can hope...
Ummm, yeah.
JGT got any ideas on Weiss replacement. I mean good ones that could be circulating in the medta area
Saban.
if Saban leaves he is insane
Switzerland, burgeoning soccer power? They won the u-17 World Cup last week. Not that that has a thing to do with beach soccer.
Is Urban Myer untouchable? Would Saban really leave?
I agree JHag - Why Would He Leave? He owns everything associated with UAT - anything he want/needs, all he has to do is ask. He is on top of the mountain right now. I would consider a move to ND a lateral move at best. ND is not the Same ND of our fathers.
Was Auburn Everyday broadcast this week - my Tivo didn't record it if it was.
I think Meyer would leave before Saban...Tebows gonna be gone, and Meyer has those catholic ties and said it was his dream job a few years ago (ND)
I don't think it was LT I could not find it at it's regular time on CSS
Jhag that's what I thought that Myer had some great desire to go to ND at one time but he too would be foolish to move out of Fla.
Imagine what John Gruden would do at LSU
JHag - I agree again (this is scaring me..) Meyer's coaching legacy is going to be measure by what he does A.T. (After Tebow). I personally think he is a top tear coach but will not live up to the Tebow years at Florida once he graduates. Why not move on to his Dream Job and not have to deal with that?
Yeah Meyer is a great coach, but he did get very lucky inheriting Tim Tebow
Ah... I can now Disagree with JHag - Gruden is the next Madden - unless he has a burning desire to just coach - he has a lifetime ticket as an announcer. Money would be object for the networks to keep him in the booth.
John Gruden is from South Bend so itd be interesting to see if ND takes a run at him but then again they probably are going to stay away from NFL associated coaches...and Gruden has said he wants to coach again several times even during broadcasts
Saban's next stop is the lake house in Georgia.
That may well be but money talks and BS walks.
Uh he has all the money he could ever want...and more importantly he has complete POWER....something that Notre Dame isn't going to give any coach.
The talk coming out of the media and rival fans upon Saban's hiring has proven to be correct...
The talking points were that
A) Tuberville would hold his own against Saban. That's true.. They were 1-1 against each other here until Tubs left or was run off.
B) Saban wouldn't be able to recruit like he did at LSU. That's true too.. He's recruited better.
C) Saban wouldn't win like he did at LSU. That's proven true. He's just completed his first back to back ten win season.
I don't know if anyone really had any idea what Saban is about.
One thing I disagree with Lowe about: the problems with Tuberville were more than just a bad hire with Franklin.
Franklin wasn't the one not recruiting well, I mean how do you talk about the horrible numbers crunch and not mention how recruiting had went in the tank in the last 2-3 years?
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I'm sure there are Peter...and if you can figure out a way to make me go there..have at it.
Nice delete btw.
I Love Chris's perspective on the future of Auburn - as the gurus like to say (me not being one of them) - Auburn has a great Upside... I do have that feeling too.... I compare it to how I felt when Dye was hired.... Better Days Are Ahead
Does Saban really have any more power at UA-T than he would anywhere else? I think if he's at ND doing what he's doing now, he has power. As soon as he stops winning at UA-T, he'll have some of that pulled back, same as any other place. The only coach with absolute power is Joe Pa, and even that's been questioned at times.
I hate you.
It has been my experience that wealthy people always want more money. All of the ones I have known, heard about, read about or seen in the news fall under this oblique state. If power was Saban's thing then LSU would have satisfied him. NOt so he wanted more money.
I am not saying that he will but the possiblity is there.
Meyer didn't inherit Tebow. He signed him in his second class.
FSJ...Tubs was 4-3 against Saban. Get it right.
Geez.
Not at Alabama.
IMO, Meyer is a much more likely option for Notre Dame, but even then I think that he'd be crazy to leave.
I figure their fallback options from that will be Stoops or Kelly.
FSJ...fear the one.
As in the #1 Gators.
No doubt Bro...To be the man you have to beat the man.
I hope TCU destroys Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
I think Myer will be high on the ND list and may take it . I asked JGT the question earlier and his answer was one word. Now I don't know if it was a guess or something he heard.
Peter, I hope Auburn destroys whoever they play in Memphis or Nashville.
I don't think Meyer takes the ND job, but I it will be interesting to see just how much money they throw at him.
I hope Auburn destroys whoever they play in Auburn...on Friday.
Who are we playing, again?
Not saying Saban is up for or will take the ND job if offered but you are forgetting that he has no buyout clause in his UAT contract. He can walk away with the the rest of his 32 million dollar deal at UAT and start earning whatever ND pays him as well. As Digger said before, powerful people want more.
Good point IV. He may think he is the next Knute.
With that said - no way he goes to ND. He is king of the UAT domain.....
Just for grins...let's say that Meyer leaves UF...
Who do they go after?
Petrino? Kelly? Patterson?
Loganville,
You are more than likely correct; however, stranger things have happened. Did you in your wildest imagination believe a 5 and 19 Gene Chizik would be the new Auburn Coach this time last year?
digger,
Good point...From what I read in the newspapers I was under the assumption that Auburn was going after a big name coach and that money wouldn't be an issue at all.
With that said, Chizik has surpassed expectations.
Nope IV... But Auburn didn't exactly have a target rich environment for established head coaches that wanted to come... I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with the State Of Auburn as of today.
crap..sorry..
meant IV.
I also thought that Auburn would have gone after a big name, high priced coach. Little did I ever think that we would get a coach that was willing to take a start out HC's pay and spread the difference around to his assistants. I now think that after the job that this staff has done this year, we may have got a bargain. They have one more job to do this regular season. BEAT BAMA!!!! WAR EAGLE, I HATE UAT.
IV - I refer to my earlier psot - I haven't felt this good since the Dye hire. I see the same focus and enthusiasm I saw out of that move. First year under Dye wasn't spectacular - but the team played a full game and never gave up.
We will by the pundit's pick probably loose this Friday. But if we do (and I like our chances of not), that team from the West will know we were there.
$aban is too smart to go to ND. He enjoys his arrogant "focused" act and surely realizes that he can't beat up the national press like does the local Alabama press without consequences.
$aban doesn't have an ego that demands the god-like worship that he gets from the 'necks, but he does want the absoute power that he's been given. He won't get either at ND.
A very nice article and I think it a good assessment of where we are. We have a shot of getting into the top four in the SEC in the next few years. Depth and getting some linemen in place is crucial.
No way does Sabam go to ND. He has such a sweet deal at Bama, I can't see him leaving. Pretty much any cousin humper would let Saban screw his wife, daughter, mother, or him. Saban can do no wrong at Alabama now, so he would be insane to leave.
I'd feel best about AU if we could know that Gus would be there 2 more years. We are definitely moving in the right direction.
LT ....hate to do this to ya, but Bama has the strength and depth to crush our defense. If our offense has a steller day, we may keep it respectable. If not, then the D will collapse into a pool of walkons.
I would like to see us win the bowl game. We don't need to play against teams with good O lines right now. I'll probably get some grief from other Hotties over this, but a Conf USA team would be the easiest type of foe right now.
A little off topic but living 20 miles from the UGA campus, I'm inundated with everything Georgia.... But I had to giggle on Mark Bradley's piece in the AJC on the passing of UGA VII concerning a stand-in for UGA IV....
As fate would have it, I wound up working at the ol’ AJC and hanging around Georgia on a semi-regular basis, and I’ve had the honor and privilege of meeting all Ugas from III through VII, who died today of a heart attack. I even met Otto, who spelled Uga IV for four games — going 3-1 — back in 1986. (Uga had hurt himself falling off his hotel bed. Seriously.) And I still remember what Vince Dooley said that year: “We’ve got good depth at dog.”
You got to love Vince.
I look for our defensive line to be improved against Bama and especially in the bowl game. This has been a long season and our line has been worn down, but the breaks they are getting now will really help.
I have been looking at some possible bowl matchups. Some are saying we play Oklahoma State or Wisconsin. That would be bad news. Houston is another possibility that would be a concern. Others are Clempson and UNC, which seem much more doable.
I'm not sure that I'll ever understand college football. From coaching hires, to positional award winners, to the actual rankings themselves; there is just so much that is subjective. I hate to overly simplify things, but why aren't the best coaches, teams, and players properly rewarded by objective performance measures? Toby Gerhart is easily the best RB in the country, but Ingram is going to finish ahead of him in the Heisman voting, why? TCU, Boise, and Cincy can hang with anyone, will they get to prove it? No.
I look at hires like Chizik and Nutt and am dumbfounded just like the previous references. Ole Miss, do you really think Nutt is going to take your program to the next level? He has a track record, you know he is going to be no better than nine wins at best. Why on earth would you hire a coach who is the epitome of average? Do you have any aspirations for an SEC or national championship?
Auburn, you hire a head coach who is 5-19. A guy whose previous school went from bad to worse in his tenure. Why in the heck would you hire someone who made his previous employer worse off than when he arrived? Where else in the world does that kind of philosophy fly? It's not like there weren't other options. If you are an SEC school you better be going after the best talent out there, IMO, someone like Gary Patterson at TCU or Chris Petersen at Boise. Guys who are proven winners, guys showing an upward trend in their careers.
There is still a lot of time for Chizik to prove himself, but the fact ISU is instantly better under Rhodes is pretty discouraging. A lot will say it's only because of the foundation Chizik built. Funny, you don't hear much about Chizik's success this year due in large part of the foundation Tubb's built. Last I checked any player having any kind of impact out there was a Tubs recruit. At least there is an encouraging trend in recruiting, but there have been plenty of good recruiters in the SEC. Orgeron and Zook fit that mold, but they didn't exactly win a ton of games. I'd love to have Chizik as a member of the staff, but let him stick to the X's and O's. He will be perpetually overmatched as a HC against the likes of Saban, Petrino, and Meyer.
think its very interesting that JGT has an "in" with ESPN. I wonder what's up with that?
I also have to say, I wish the IB were on Saturday instead of Friday. MHO.
Oklahoma State looked like a team Auburn could beat a few days ago.
K_Mo, I didn't read your post yet, but your avatar is hot.
K Mo I did read your post, your avatar IS hot, but I disagree with a majority of what you have to write. My opinion.
AU is better than I expected, but I am still a bit peeve after the UGA game. During and after the game, I was a bit critical of the effort we showed on the field. I stand by it, especially after watching the KY-UGA game last night. It is unexcusable for us to have lost to both those teams. Ark and LSU kicked our butts. Nonetheless, I am hoping and imploring that TX and/or FL/UAT lose so we can see which team, Boise St, Cincinnati, and TCU gets into the NCG, and the uproar the BCS will see when the other 2 don't get into the NCG. I know "nothing" will happen, but it'll be fun to see. Also, I LOVED watching CBS announcers basically calling the HAT an idiot yesterday; spiking the ball with 1 second left...LSU's luck finally ran out, although I was certain they were going to win the game when they got the onsides kick and LaFelle's big screen catch...
Mo,
I also read your post, I too disagree with most of what you said; however, it was an interesting point of view. How did you land at Auburn if you basically don't fit in nor like Alabama as you said in your profile?
Glad you guys like the AVATAR. It's basically a characature of my g/f I had made for her b-day. I saw this guy on this ESPN page 2 feature and hit him up. This guy does all kinds of cool stuff:
http://rkullman.blogspot.com
Anyhow, yeah, I don't see many guys on this forum agreeing with me on my opinion. I'm just tired of seeing objective information getting passed up in college football. So often these hires and choices are made based on a good-ole boy system or whoever has the most money gets their pick. Then these schools wonder why they go through 3 or 4 coaches before they find a consistent winner.
IV, when I graduated high school I knew I wanted to do something engineering. I got into UCF, UGA, and Ga Tech which was basically all I applied to. Half my high school went to UGA and they didn't have engineering so I decided against it. UCF was awesome, I loved it, but my dad suggested that I better not miss out on the opportunity to go to a school that has more of "collegiate" atmosphere b/c UCF was more of a big city school. I also had friends at Tech who were miserable, and also seeing the Coeds on the visit left something to be desired.
So, I ended up at Auburn. I enjoyed it for a while, but after two years it started to wear on me. I don't hunt, I don't drive an F-150, and I'm not in a frat. Which in turns means I pretty much have nothing to do. Any place you go after a while little things will start to bother you, but none of that stuff really mattered as much as when I got to graduation and the majority of people hiring were Jim Bob's pipe welding out in the middle of nowhere Alabama. It was painfully frustrating. On the lighter side of things though, I have made some great friends, got to watch some incredible football games, and met an awesome g/f. So War Eagle!
First things first, you need more than 1 season to be consistent. So lets give the man his contract time at least, before we say he's not worth his salt. I also think one of the reasons Chizik came to the forefront is that he was the DC at Auburn. He at least has an understanding of SEC football and understands the passion and craziness of the fans, and the level of performance of the conference. None of the other guys have experienced that. Not to say they wouldn't succeed, I feel Patterson and Peterson can, but he's been here and seen it, and led that defense that was part of an undefeated season. As a note I was pushing for Gary Patterson, since I have so much influence on those kind of decisions.
Dude, your posts are longer than IV's.
Interesting views, but I do believe Chizik has done a great job at both Iowa State and Auburn. Yes, short sighted people will purely judge by the record at Iowa State, but they are starting to see the results of the choice he made to play the young guys. Chizik was only at Iowa State a couple of years so you can hardly expect him to turn everything around, but it is apparent he had them headed in the right direction. Paul Rhoads couldn't have come in and done this well without the groundwork Chizik had made.
I met lots of people at Auburn who weren't in fraternities and who didn't drive F-250s. Anyone who doesn't find somewhere to fit in there pretty much does so by choice.
Short.
Longggggggggggg
Snacks, you are my man.
K-Mo: Enjoyed playing MW2 with you. You can come ride my coattails anytime.
An observation from an old man's point of view:
Money and/or a fine woman will make a man do strange things.
See, Auburn doesn't suck that bad. If you weren't there, you'd have no reason to meet and play video games with Jay Geronimo Tate.
You surprised me with your abilities Tate. I've got some work to do to get to your level.
Has anyone mentioned that K_Mo's avatar is hot?
I've obviously got nothing substantial to add today.
Hate. Woo-hoo.
...and that was a Beasley.
Hot is an understatement Snacks.
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Anyone going to join me outside HABOTN headquarters to picket Jay G. violating the Iowa rule and ranking LSU ahead of Ole Miss, when obviously Ole Miss proved to be less inept than LSU?
I hate the Iowa rule, and love Jay G, so I'm thinking you might be a bammer. ;-)
Brother Jet,
I am new to the HATE thing. I am basically a LOVER. As minister of HATE, what advice do you have for me and my dog and my business partner? AU '74 and AU '04.
I'm not Jet, but I've got some good advice.
Has Bama been on the cover of SI this year? My dog hates bama and Florida (especially Tebow) equally. She ripped Tebow's pic off the cover of SI, tore him in half, then ripped his face off. I suggest you teach your dog similar sensibilities...as for you and your partner, I think you need to drive through a trailer park outside of Bammerham and use it as inspiration. Dig deep and you'll find the hate in your heart.
You have to learn hate for UAT? I was born with that ability and have nourished it over a 70 year period.
As reported by Andy Bitter of War Eagle Extra, Auburn swimmer Jordan Anderson has been named a Rhodes Scholar. Pretty sweet!
Also from AB, A-Day has been set for April 17. Fun weekend after tax day.
Easyedwin,
In times like these I turn to the Good Book. Proverbs 6:16-19 teaches us well.
"16 There are six things the LORD hates: seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."
How can you not read this and understand that UAT is evil incarnate?
This will be an interesting spring because they are going to try to get 4 or 5 players enrolled for spring ball. It would be wonderful to see.
Great reporting by Andy Bitter. He's all over the swimming team. Nice work.
I'll post Gene Chizik stuff once this teleconference has ended.
I expect that to be around 5:20 p.m. CST.
Incredible ! Thank you PF and a special thanks to Bro Jet.
I HATE UAT !
I HATE FSJ and Michael too
New thread UPZ.
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