The word on the Search

[mdp5150 167]

As soon as Petrino wins the SEC and BCS, plus the Sun Belt, I will agree with you!

I agree, winning the Sunbelt with a returning team that was a heavy favorite to win it is much better than building a BCS conference winning Louisville team :-\/>

Gus had four returning starters at Arky State and has won ever where he has been. I guess you are one of those who thinks it was chiz and roof in 2010?

How much credit does Gus get for our current mess at QB & WR?

How much development happened at the position under Gus? When he came there the "answer" was Chris Todd. Don't you think that he should have put some permanent solutions in place? I do not want to say anything negative about players but we all saw the results. Some if not the worst QB play ever at the school we love so much. If that position was better this year then we would have won 6 games. He recruited the same character issue guys as the rest and we somehow give him a pass because we loved his exciting offense that was great against everyone except teams that compete for championships.

He had KF for fall camp - that's it. Most of his effort went into BT who played very well given his athletic decencies As for Clint, AU took a flier on him. Avg QB but was never really SEC level

IMO.. He was part of the first class, and the staff had no real time for evals. Gus has never had the benefit of a returning stater but still has consistently won games. I would be interested to see him have a QB for more than 1 year before questioning his developmental ability. Yes he recruited Pike, but remember Gus was not in charge of discipline, that was Chizik and Jackson's job.....how have the Arky state players behaved this year...you know?

You just proved my point. When he arrived here he had Chris Todd & Barrett Trotter as his QB. What was his plan to fix this position? Over a 4 year period that position regressed. If we do not fix that position then we will be 6-6 next year. Every coach is in charge of discipline. If Gus went to Chizik and said we need to find another option because Pike got suspended 2x from his high school team for synthetic pot use then he would have allowed him to find another one. Come on. That is just common sense. He wanted Pike & he wanted KF. One lost his job to a true freshman and the other is a tight end for Louisville. If we hire CGM then I will support him just like I did Chizik but we will be a 7-8 win team every single year. Look at his offense against the best teams in the league. All of his wins came in just 1 year.

The head coach has final say so on discipline. I am not sure what kind of QB Pike could have been in Gus offense. And Gus was long gone before Pike was kicked off, yes he had some issues in high school, so did I. But when I got to college I saw opportunity and changed my behavior - I guess others should have given up on me as well? Pike got a chance and blew it, therefore he is buried at Louisville. Gus was here 3 years, he never had the same QB, the closet QB he could develop was Trotter, who played well up until his injuries kicked in. BT had an outstanding final game along with Gus, and if he had returned this year we may have had a far better season.

I agree that we would have done better with Gus as our OC. He was better than good against teams we were favored to beat. Our weakest position is QB and he should be held responsible for the shortcomings at that position. In his 3 years he should have identified the problem and put some permanent solutions in place. It is a huge setback for him.

[ellitor 33,091]

Auburn & Ole Miss will be virtually identical in their offense? True or false? I feel like they beat us with Malzahns offense this year.

No. A big part of Gus's offense is the HUNH and the power spread. Both of which were rarely used this season.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

The Twitter noise seems to be pushing toward Smart. Strongly.

I have no real opinion. Obviously, he can coach. Recruits will already know him. But building a program and running it is a different job than building a defense. Very, very interesting.

[taylojo 0]

I would be okay if they would announce Smart as the new head coach this week.......just to interfere with the turds bowl preparation. We can fire him after the NC game.

There's no way I want Kirby Smart or any other turd in Auburn and leading Auburn football.

Pat Dye was a Turd before becoming arguably the best coach in Auburn history. Just sayin

He was a turd coach before he saw the light. That's different than an ordinary turd.

[ellitor 33,091]

I don't follow the other schools but here's a question around context; are UT and Arkansas considering Gus or Bobby? Are either considering Kirby?

Read an article yesterday that said UT should hire Tressel and it made way too much sense. Otherwise, I don't know if two major powers in the SEC consider our candidates as attractive as we might (or might not, considering your perspective).

Not saying we should care what another school might find attractive (or not) but if Gus is a solid candidate for Auburn, why wouldn't Arkansas poach him from their back yard?

Tennessee can't hire Tressel unless they want NCAA sanctions. There is an NCAA 5 year ban on him.

[ellitor 33,091]

Why do people think we have a problem at wr? We have guys running open down the field every game. and physical recievers who block on the edges. There is no problem at wr. just don't have anyone who can get them the ball consistently

Topic for a different thread but there are problems at WR.

[WarEagle10 77]

I have been listening to Sports Call for the last hour and a half. Sounds like not one person has a concrete clue of who our next HC will be. I will keep you posted.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

There are obviously problems at WR. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why just one guy catches all the downfield passes. I didn't think their blocking was as good as it used to be, either.

[JDUBB4AU 5,112]

Ell thanks for all u do for us..WAR EAGLE

[JMassie11 1,610]

I just don't understand why people are so high on smart... that's sabans team... tn had this same thought process when they hired sunseri (sp) and looked how that turned out

Same could be said for Muschamp... look how that turned out! Like it or not, Gus is tied to Chizik. And, like it or not, Gus is still in Cam's shadow... from some perception.

No its not the same...muschamp coach d at auburn and tx...out from under sabans wing which smart has not done

[ellitor 33,091]

E i trust your information and always have from the ae days. Do you think Mora will make a late push?

I have not heard any rumblings of it yet.

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

There has been a rumor from the scout message boards saying its Patterson. PM says he's still very much in the mix.

[aubearcat 2,137]

There has been a rumor from the scout message boards saying its Patterson. PM says he's still very much in the mix.

I certainly hope so.

[gAUlf 1]

There has been a rumor from the scout message boards saying its Patterson. PM says he's still very much in the mix.

Pretty please. I've had the Gus and Smart rumors I can handle.

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

There has been a rumor from the scout message boards saying its Patterson. PM says he's still very much in the mix.

I certainly hope so.

I am definitely with you on that.

[ellitor 33,091]

Aight E...

IF we settle for on of the "unprovens" (and that's a big IF), would you think that K. Smart would be the better candidate? I sure as heck would...!!!

I do because I trust Coach Dye's opinion on coaches. He looks at Smart to Saban a lot like him under Bear Bryant. When we hired Chiz in 2008 Dye wanted Muschamp , which we now see would have been a great choice, but Jacobs wanted Chizik. When Jacobs picked Chiz Dye backed Jacobs for support.

[TigerNBham 3]

I go from :-\ to then on this one oh, well wde eitherway.

[gman87 398]

I think after the performance sat. Smart would have the lead on trickery gus

You mean the performance of letting UGA go 70 yards in the final 1 1/2 minute and get in position to win?

[DyeCampAlum 335]

EagleWarDamn tweeted the oddest thing: that Auburn is thinking spread for next year.

1. You'd think the head coach would get to make that call, rather than it being a criterion.

2. Spread is meaningless. Oregon's? TCU's? Air Raid? The Saints' offense?

[tsande07 271]

There has been a rumor from the scout message boards saying its Patterson. PM says he's still very much in the mix.

I certainly hope so.

I am definitely with you on that.

+1

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

Everybody is posting on AUC, however that they have heard from Talon Members and big money donors that Kirby Smart is the man. PM replied saying he can't post anything without confirming, but that they could very well be right. Hmmm.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

AU plane on the way to Ft. Worth? Per some guy on Twitter.

Do we have a kneeling emoticon?

[aubearcat 2,137]

Everybody is posting on AUC, however that they have heard from Talon Members and big money donors that Kirby Smart is the man. PM replied saying he can't post anything without confirming, but that they could very well be right. Hmmm.

If it ain't Gary Patterson, I hope like he!! its Kirby Smart.

[tsande07 271]

I swear, if we miss on Patterson without offering to at least have Tim Jackson shine his shoes every day...

[Altima 200]

Aight E...

IF we settle for on of the "unprovens" (and that's a big IF), would you think that K. Smart would be the better candidate? I sure as heck would...!!!

I do because I trust Coach Dye's opinion on coaches. He looks at Smart to Saban a lot like him under Bear Bryant. When we hired Chiz in 2008 Dye wanted Muschamp , which we now see would have been a great choice, but Jacobs wanted Chizik. When Jacobs picked Chiz Dye backed Jacobs for support.

Call me crazy, but I'm actually starting to come around on the whole Smart hire. I mean, he's not my first choice... a proven HC will definitely take priority... but, if it were to come down to Malzahn or Kirby Smart - Smart is the better candidate! We need that breath of fresh air. He can recruit, he's had a top 10 defense for 5 years running, and he's been apart of 3? National Championships! He knows what it takes to win - discipline and S&C (physicality). He can bring that to the plains!

I wouldn't be opposed!!!