Auburn People Deserve Better...

[ellitor 33,086]

 

Quote

 

Auburn people deserve better from their leaders

By Phillip Marshall

Reading the words of Mary Kate Houlditch, our hard-working intern, in her excellent farewell piece expressing her love for Auburn and what it has done for her, I thought back to my experiences over the years. And I was struck by the thought that people like Mary Kate deserve so much better.

I’m not talking about wins and losses, winning championships or not. Those things are always going to come and go. I’m not even talking about whether Gus Malzahn should be the head coach or not. What Auburn people deserve is to know that the people who make decisions for the place they love so much are making them with the best interests of the university and those who love it at heart.

President Steven Leath and athletics director Allen Greene said almost a month ago that Malzahn would be the coach in 2019, but it was obvious to anyone those statements, both made in impromptu interviews, were not enough. If they knew they wanted to keep him, all they had to do was say so forcefully the Sunday after a 52-21 loss to Alabama.

They didn’t do it. Far from it. They just didn’t want anybody to know what they were doing. Malzahn was presented with a ridiculous offer. He called the bluff and said he would consider it. The president left for Washington, D.C. Instead of empowering Greene, who he hired, to resolve a deteriorating situation, Leath asked trustee Raymond Harbert to negotiate with Malzahn. That’s strange on the face of it, and even stranger when you realize that Harbert is Malzahn’s friend, supporter and No. 1 advocate. Harbert, beyond any question, has more influence on the president than anyone else at Auburn.

Auburn and Auburn football are not about Leath or Harbert or Malzahn or any other individual. Auburn people love Auburn. Most of them love Auburn football. What happens is important to them. Maybe Leath, who came from Iowa State, didn’t understand that. He should understand it now.

One who is a major donor and carries Auburn in his heart every day of his life wrote this to me: “I really have no words to accurately describe what I feel and think. I've never seen incompetence to this degree - and I've seen some pretty bad things.”

Some people who are important to me are not happy with me for reporting the things I’ve reported over the past week. In reality, however, they are most unhappy about what has happened and the way it has happened. They want to feel good about where their program is headed. They want to know there is a commitment to excellence and a plan for excellence.

I didn’t go to school at Auburn, but as the son of the most prominent sports writer in the state, I’ve been around Auburn since I was a little boy. I attended my first college football game more than 60 years ago, a 15-7 Auburn victory over Mississippi State at Birmingham’s Legion Field on Nov. 9, 1957. I had a sideline pass for the Auburn-Chattanooga game, my first at what was then Cliff Hare Stadium, in 1960. I can still see Jimmy Burson returning the second-half kickoff from the back of the end zone all the way for a the only touchdown in a 10-0 Auburn victory.

I am in my 50th year of covering sports in Alabama. I covered my first Auburn football game on Nov. 1, 1969. Auburn intercepted 10 John Reaves passes and crushed No. 7 Florida 38-12. For the first 20-plus years of my career, I covered both Auburn and Alabama. For the last 25 years, I’ve covered Auburn almost exclusively, first as a beat writer for The Huntsville Times and for the last 10-plus years for Auburn Undercover.

I’ve seen the impact Auburn has on people. The love of the place and the idea is very real for people like Mary Kate. It’s very real, too, for the young men and women who shed sweat and blood to compete for Auburn before they go on with their lives.

David Housel, a brilliant writer and an Auburn man through and through who became athletics director, famously wrote this:

What is Auburn? Far be it from me to answer that question. There are as many definitions of Auburn as there are Auburn men and women. It would be safe to say, however, that Auburn is much more than a football game. It is much more than winning and losing. It is a spirit. It is an attitude. It is a way of looking at life and at one another. It is, almost, a way of living. Unless you have experienced it, you will never know what it is, you will never understand it. Once you have experienced it, you will never be the same. A part of you will, forevermore, be an Auburn man or an Auburn woman.

And they all deserve better than what has transpired the past week and, honestly, in too many other weeks at too many other times.

Leath has been swamped with angry emails and text messages, some from very prominent Auburn people. Auburn assistant coaches have pleaded for clarity because they have been getting turned every way but loose on the recruiting trail.

Leath is trying to survive the firestorm he created, with Harbert’s help, last December by giving Malzahn a seven-year, $49 million contract with 75 percent of it guaranteed. Both of them are trying their best to operate in secret, essentially telling loyal Auburn people they don’t deserve to know what is being done in their names and with their money.

They have left Greene, certainly competent and capable enough to deal with this thing, embarrassingly on the sideline. They have damaged themselves, damaged Malzahn, damaged Greene and damaged Auburn’s football program. They have put their own self-interests ahead of the interests of Mary Kate and hundreds of thousands of others who made and continue to make Auburn a special place.

The unspoken message to Auburn people is that they don’t matter, that what’s being done to the football program that they love so much is none of their business.

They are angry, some because they wanted Malzahn gone but more because of the way things have been done. Sooner or later, one way or another, they will be heard.

 

 

[ellitor 33,086]

The bolded part at the bottom is one of the things that pisses me off most.

[fredst 9,064]

5 minutes ago, ellitor said:

The bolded part at the bottom is one of the things that pisses me off most.

 

[ellitor 33,086]

1 minute ago, fredst said:

 

Goofy ass & all, it was a good piece by Phillip.

[doverstutts 1,643]

ellitor, i sat down at the latter part of last week and i wrote every single BOT member.....i spent all afternoon typing a form letter, that was respectful,understanding of their position and very much to the point....there was some variation in each such as "Q's" was different than sarah newtons, etc....i explained fan apathy and asked them to guage the "average joe" fanbase, the folks that are the "butts in the seats" type, to get a feel for the sentiment and outlook on the football program and the confidence in those that are responsible for overseeing AU.....i have had exactly one reply.....at this point, blaming coach clouseau is misplacing the blame....after this past week, he is no longer responsible  for the failures of the football program and the finger  has to point  to a higher level

[aubaseball 2,595]

This is what I’ve been saying all along.    If not Malzahn, chizik, tuberville or Bowden,  who can you trust to make a decent hire? I don’t think there is anyone or any group of people that can make the right hire.   

[autigeremt 6,599]

49 minutes ago, ellitor said:

The bolded part at the bottom is one of the things that pisses me off most.

That’s the way some are treated on campus depending on the “leader”. It’s frustrating.

[auelvis87 96]

Can we just put a ban on hiring anyone that has ties to Iowa State?

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

The bolded part at the bottom is one of the things that pisses me off most.

I have no way to show my appreciation to Phillip Marshall for writing this piece ~ please forward a BIG Thank You to PM from this Auburn fan.  TIA ellitor.

[ellitor 33,086]

14 minutes ago, auelvis87 said:

Can we just put a ban on hiring anyone that has ties to Iowa State?

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, auelvis87 said:

Can we just put a ban on hiring anyone that has ties to Iowa State?

I dunno. Matt Campbell doesn't look so bad RN*.

*This is less a serious opinion than commentary on the current state of Auburn football.  

[AuCivilEng1 11,000]

Good for PM! Call this crap out. They won't change anything unless we force their hand! Steven Leath does not speak for me or any other Auburn graduate. 

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

24 minutes ago, auelvis87 said:

Can we just put a ban on hiring anyone that has ties to Iowa State?

Or anyone who is from Arkansas. 

[AuCivilEng1 11,000]

11 minutes ago, keesler said:

I have no way to show my appreciation to Phillip Marshall for writing this piece ~ please forward a BIG Thank You to PM from this Auburn fan.  TIA ellitor.

@PMARSHONAU on Twitter. That's how I thanked him.

[aujeff11 6,243]

At the end of the day, we don’t deserve anything, just like Bama/ Clemson/ UGA/ etc fans don’t deserve anything.  I’m confused and SMH about the message. 

[auskip07 930]

14 minutes ago, keesler said:

I have no way to show my appreciation to Phillip Marshall for writing this piece ~ please forward a BIG Thank You to PM from this Auburn fan.  TIA ellitor.

I guess you could buy a subscription

[auelvis87 96]

12 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I dunno. Matt Campbell doesn't look so bad RN*.

*This is less a serious opinion than commentary on the current state of Auburn football.  

Agree but I'm just saying we keep him at Iowa State!  😄

[Linayus 676]

It definitely hits the nail on the head with the sentiment most fans have toward the PTB.

I honestly feel sorry for AD Greene being put in this situation through zero fault of his own.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

I'll be the heretic and suggest this well written piece is premature. (Then again I thought Chizik deserved another season and we should have done whatever it took to hold onto Eddie Gran, so what do I know).😉

[au701948 998]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

 

 

 

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

 

 

1 hour ago, doverstutts said:

ellitor, i sat down at the latter part of last week and i wrote every single BOT member.....i spent all afternoon typing a form letter, that was respectful,understanding of their position and very much to the point....there was some variation in each such as "Q's" was different than sarah newtons, etc....i explained fan apathy and asked them to guage the "average joe" fanbase, the folks that are the "butts in the seats" type, to get a feel for the sentiment and outlook on the football program and the confidence in those that are responsible for overseeing AU.....i have had exactly one reply.....at this point, blaming coach clouseau is misplacing the blame....after this past week, he is no longer responsible  for the failures of the football program and the finger  has to point  to a higher level

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

 

 

Dover...I wish that all of us fans and alumni would do the same as you. It may not have an impact today. But maybe it would at least plant a seed indicating the feelings of how absurd and inadequate we the fans and alumni view the BOT and President’s lack of clarity and appreciation for Auburn Men and Women in general. WE are Auburn as David Housel has so eloquently stated...Not the BOT nor an uninterested President.

[ellitor 33,086]

Just now, aucanucktiger said:

I'll be the heretic and suggest this well written piece is premature. (Then again I thought Chizik deserved another season and we should have done whatever it took to hold onto Eddie Gran, so what do I know).😉

You're an outlier often which is cool. If you are originally from Canada as your avi name suggests then that explains it. lol

[The Plainsman 948]

I get it and all,  but It is just so bleeding heart.  

This is how Auburn has always been,  even when we fell in love with it. 

We will turn it around,  Auburn always does,  and I believe that.  

The lows are low, and the highs are high.   It’s been this way for 30 years that I know of.    I stick by Auburn period.  

[au701948 998]

20 minutes ago, keesler said:

I have no way to show my appreciation to Phillip Marshall for writing this piece ~ please forward a BIG Thank You to PM from this Auburn fan.  TIA ellitor.

Amen and Amen. As I said in another post, WE are Auburn, not the BOT nor some uninterested President.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Just cause you have $$$ does not mean you know wth you are doing as it relates to athletics. Sometimes you need to tell money people to go you know where....yes your cash is appreciated but please let me do my job without your input or idle threats. Gus is still here because someone with some money wants him to be here.

[AuCivilEng1 11,000]

Auburn is an extension of the world we live in. A wealthy hand full are deciding what's best for everyone.