Zac Blackerby

[1716AU 728]

I believe that is his name, made the conclusion that Gus is the best Coach in Auburn Football program history on his podcast for Thursday. If it were not for Saban, Smith, Orgeron, and now, Fisher at A&M, his tenure would look very different.

I found that quite a statement.  

[gr82be 14,423]

30 minutes ago, 1716AU said:

I believe that is his name, made the conclusion that Gus is the best Coach in Auburn Football program history on his podcast for Thursday. If it were not for Saban, Smith, Orgeron, and now, Fisher at A&M, his tenure would look very different.

I found that quite a statement.  

Who is Smith? Drawing blank there. Is it supposed to be Smart? If so, Gus is probably the best Auburn coach in Georgia program history too. 

[shabby 1,956]

Its a fair statement that all of Auburns former coaches had it easier competition wise. 

[AUFriction 1,179]

I haven’t listened to the podcast from yesterday, but I’m a little surprised by that. Blackerby  is one of the more objective Auburn podcasters, but he’s not been particularly happy with Gus lately. 
 

That said, I’ve brought this point up before. Gus’s record is not far off from many of the other respected Auburn coaches, and he’s done it at a time where our rivals are having almost unheard of success. (I’m sure someone is going to ignore the numbers and still pick a fight over this.) For me, he’s performing a hair below expectations, but not as bad as others on this forum seem to think he is. We’ve had about 1 loss a year we shouldn’t have. This year, it was South Carolina. Last year, it was Florida. In 2018, it was Tennessee. We should not have lost those games, and we should be beating UGA a little more frequently. But it’s INSANE to expect us to win 10-11 games every year with the schedule we have.

[DAG 33,977]

1 hour ago, 1716AU said:

I believe that is his name, made the conclusion that Gus is the best Coach in Auburn Football program history on his podcast for Thursday. If it were not for Saban, Smith, Orgeron, and now, Fisher at A&M, his tenure would look very different.

I found that quite a statement.  

Correct he probably is and that is the problem. 

[CodeRocket 410]

He may be the best coach in Auburn Football program history but he is certainly not a good recruiter. If things continue along the current trend, Rivals team ranking (#39), he will leave this program in a very bad place when he departs. A place that it make take years to recover from.

[Mikey 16,576]

37 minutes ago, CodeRocket said:

He may be the best coach in Auburn Football program history but he is certainly not a good recruiter. If things continue along the current trend, Rivals team ranking (#39), he will leave this program in a very bad place when he departs. A place that it make take years to recover from.

The recruiting has been very solid up until this season. Remember, this season isn't over yet. The players we have committed are very much up to par, low numbers are the problem right now and there is still opportunity to correct that.

[Win4AU 4,052]

He’s definitely better than he gets credit for.  I can’t think of any coach past or present as that has to face the talent level that Auburn does in its top 3 rivals year in and year out.  Mix in games against Oregon, Clemson, Washington, and Florida and it gets tough.  Gus has laid some eggs so don’t get me wrong.  I’d still say Dye had a better record year in and year out versus quality but he still had some lopsided scores against top teams and didn’t win the big games by much.  Tubs had a great record against top teams but also had those Arkansas games that drove people crazy.  Bowden was good for 2 years then dropped off.  I can’t speak for anyone before Dye.  If you flip flop Bowden and Gus and he comes in and plays for a NC and 2 SEC then you’re pretty satisfied compared to the rest of the SEC.

[Win4AU 4,052]

Add to say Gus is just Tubs 2.0.  We’ll bitch about him till he’s gone and then we’ll say “wish this guy was like “____” when things aren’t going well.  It’s JABA defined.  Enjoy the good stuff and if things get bumpy remind yourself it’s just for fun and move on with your life.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

That statement is wrong. Gus has never been the best coach in Auburn history and he never will be. Far from it. 

[gravejd 3,270]

If a coach with 1 SEC title in 8 years is our best coach then that is just sad. Dye and Shug are for sure better. Donahue and Heisman I would put ahead. The interesting question to me would be is Gus or Tubby better? They had very similar careers in my opinion. 1 great season and then a bunch of almost seasons 

He’s done pretty good with bama being great but the Georgia rise happened while he was coach. So I blame Gus for us falling behind in that rivalry

[Mikey 16,576]

32 minutes ago, gravejd said:

If a coach with 1 SEC title in 8 years is our best coach then that is just sad.

Prior to Dye's run, Auburn had the same number of SEC titles as national titles. One.

https://www.secsports.com/article/12880121/football-sec-champions

[I_M4_AU 7,799]

13 hours ago, shabby said:

Its a fair statement that all of Auburns former coaches had it easier competition wise. 

I really can’t agree with this statement.  It’s the Auburn cry every year to compare our opponents schedules with “they don’t play anybody”.  This would indicate Auburn has alway had tough competition.

[I_M4_AU 7,799]

2 hours ago, gravejd said:

The interesting question to me would be is Gus or Tubby better?

I actually would put Gus ahead, even though I am not a Gus fan, as Tubby’s recruiting mantra was to only go after player he thought would actually come to Auburn.  Tubs did coach them up better than Gus, a big plus in my book, but you got to get the 5*s and 4*s on campus.

2 hours ago, gravejd said:

He’s done pretty good with bama being great but the Georgia rise happened while he was coach. So I blame Gus for us falling behind in that rivalry

This X10.  The 2015 and 2016 games are unforgivable.

[1716AU 728]

15 hours ago, gr82be said:

Who is Smith? Drawing blank there. Is it supposed to be Smart? If so, Gus is probably the best Auburn coach in Georgia program history too. 

Sorry.  I thought I wrote Smart, the one that is really as dumb as a bag of rocks...

[shabby 1,956]

1 hour ago, I_M4_AU said:

I really can’t agree with this statement.  It’s the Auburn cry every year to compare our opponents schedules with “they don’t play anybody”.  This would indicate Auburn has alway had tough competition.

Perhaps you could name a 7 year period of time where SEC TEAMS took up this many spots in the top 25 each year? Everyone has their right to their opinion as to whether Gus has done well or not but its not debatable the level of competition his teams have faced. Its not an excuse its a reality

[AUFriction 1,179]

13 hours ago, CodeRocket said:

He may be the best coach in Auburn Football program history but he is certainly not a good recruiter. If things continue along the current trend, Rivals team ranking (#39), he will leave this program in a very bad place when he departs. A place that it make take years to recover from.

He’s actually been a pretty good recruiter. We had a class a couple of years ago that was rated a little low, but the criminally underrated our players that year. (I think Seth Williams was a 3 star by some recruiting services.) Other than that year, his classes have been some of the highest rated in our program’s history. As for this year, Blackerby^ said on his show recently that folks “in the know” are saying the recruits are coming, implying that there are a lot of really impressive prospects that are expected to pick Auburn later and just haven’t announced yet. 
 

The lone exception (and this is where I think a lot of people get hung up on recruiting) is that offensive line recruiting specifically has fallen off since the return of post-cancer JB Grimes. I think people put too much on this though. For most positions, recruiting is the most important thing. For OL, development and chemistry are much more important. Go look at the offensive line we had in the NC year. Ziemba and Pugh were highly rated out of high school but had no real NFL careers. Brandon Moseley, who is the only one to have an NFL career out of this bunch, wasn’t that highly rated out of JUCO, and he actually got beat out by AJ Greene at the start of the season (became the starter after Greene broke his leg). The other two, Berry and Isom, were neither highly rated nor had NFL careers. That wasn’t a stacked offensive line. They just had a lot of starts, a lot of chemistry, and they were taught well as a unit. That hasn’t been the case since JB Grimes left the first time. Hand was a decent recruiter but a bad developer, and Grimes just wasn’t the same when he came back.  Bicknell may be the guy to turn this around, but hasn’t really had a chance yet. To recruit at the highest level, it has to be more than talk. You have to show it on the field. With an almost completely new line this year and a short offseason, he hadn’t had a real chance to do that yet.

[I_M4_AU 7,799]

2 hours ago, shabby said:

Perhaps you could name a 7 year period of time where SEC TEAMS took up this many spots in the top 25 each year? Everyone has their right to their opinion as to whether Gus has done well or not but its not debatable the level of competition his teams have faced. Its not an excuse its a reality

So, you are basing your evaluation of the best coach in Auburn HISTORY on popularity polls that are self promoting?  When Heisman coached there were no polls and he was a pretty good coach in Auburn’s history.  Iron Mike Donahue coached Auburn during the 1913 and 1914 seasons and turned in two unbeaten seasons:

The Tigers ripped through their schedule en route to an unblemished 8-0 record -- crushing their opponents by a cumulative score of 222-13 -- earning a Southeastern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship and, depending on where you look or who you ask, a national title.

“I think that was in the day that people thought only Eastern football teams were worthy of championships,” Housel said. “But it was just the way it was at the time. I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll put that Auburn football team against any team of that era.”

They were among the best of their time, and the Tigers followed up 1913 with another unbeaten year in 1914. In that season, they didn’t allow a single point, finishing 8-0-1 after playing to a scoreless tie with Georgia in the second-to-last game on the schedule.

https://www.auburnvillager.com/sports/auburn_university/was-auburn-s-billingsley-national-championship-team-the-school-s/article_ec85487e-c941-11e2-8a10-001a4bcf6878.html

As to the competition part of it; one would have to ask if the SEC teams are so dominate or are the other conferences not highly thought of in this point of time?

Why is it that when Gus goes up against quality OOC opponents at the end of the year does he consistently throws up a loss?

Auburn’s football history is long and distinguished and for some blogger to state Gus is the best is just looking for conversation and I guess that’s what he got.  Mission accomplished.

[shabby 1,956]

1 minute ago, I_M4_AU said:

So, you are basing your evaluation of the best coach in Auburn HISTORY on popularity polls that are self promoting?  When Heisman coached there were no polls and he was a pretty good coach in Auburn’s history.  Iron Mike Donahue coached Auburn during the 1913 and 1914 seasons and turned in two unbeaten seasons:

The Tigers ripped through their schedule en route to an unblemished 8-0 record -- crushing their opponents by a cumulative score of 222-13 -- earning a Southeastern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship and, depending on where you look or who you ask, a national title.

“I think that was in the day that people thought only Eastern football teams were worthy of championships,” Housel said. “But it was just the way it was at the time. I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll put that Auburn football team against any team of that era.”

They were among the best of their time, and the Tigers followed up 1913 with another unbeaten year in 1914. In that season, they didn’t allow a single point, finishing 8-0-1 after playing to a scoreless tie with Georgia in the second-to-last game on the schedule.

https://www.auburnvillager.com/sports/auburn_university/was-auburn-s-billingsley-national-championship-team-the-school-s/article_ec85487e-c941-11e2-8a10-001a4bcf6878.html

As to the competition part of it; one would have to ask if the SEC teams are so dominate or are the other conferences not highly thought of in this point of time?

Why is it that when Gus goes up against quality OOC opponents at the end of the year does he consistently throws up a loss?

Auburn’s football history is long and distinguished and for some blogger to state Gus is the best is just looking for conversation and I guess that’s what he got.  Mission accomplished.

Because college football was high school football in 1913. And calling polls popularity contests just makes your whole post laughable. Ibam not claiming Gus to be the best coaching Auburn history. But he is playing against tougher competition than prior coaches. 

[I_M4_AU 7,799]

4 minutes ago, shabby said:

Because college football was high school football in 1913. And calling polls popularity contests just makes your whole post laughable. Ibam not claiming Gus to be the best coaching Auburn history. But he is playing against tougher competition than prior coaches. 

This is the problem, it is impossible to play 1913/14 players against today’s.  The times have changed and through the growth of the sport we have a much improved game to watch.  Football, as all things, evolve and improve with time.  If it weren’t for those type of players, the players of today would be playing some other sport.  As it is, with rule changes and more innovative play calling and players we are watching the peak of football.

How can you have lived through the 2004 season and not see that the polls are a popularity contest.  Even today’s playoff system has biases that are unmistakable. At least one conference champion gets left out and if 2 teams from one conference gets in then you have 2 conference champions left out, not to mention an undefeated P5 team.  You just have to grin and bear it.

As to tougher competition; is LSU, UGA and Bama playing against tougher competition?  You couldn’t prove it by the way they have handled Auburn the last 7 years.

[shabby 1,956]

16 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

How can you have lived through the 2004 season and not see that the polls are a popularity contest

Because you are looking at one or two teams vs the totality of games Auburn plays. Were the teams Auburn played inflated or deflated by the great polling conspiracy? Which teams on Auburns scheduke were stronger that year than the polls indicated. The truth is Auburn had a weak schedule in 2004.  It doesn't really support the argument you are trying to make

[I_M4_AU 7,799]

1 hour ago, shabby said:

Because you are looking at one or two teams vs the totality of games Auburn plays. Were the teams Auburn played inflated or deflated by the great polling conspiracy? Which teams on Auburns scheduke were stronger that year than the polls indicated. The truth is Auburn had a weak schedule in 2004.  It doesn't really support the argument you are trying to make

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.

[Mikey 16,576]

21 hours ago, I_M4_AU said:

I really can’t agree with this statement.  It’s the Auburn cry every year to compare our opponents schedules with “they don’t play anybody”.  This would indicate Auburn has alway had tough competition.

It's been a few years ago, maybe five? One of the sports talk radio shows discussed a research project done by a grad student at one of our finer Ivy League schools. The project evaluated what college football teams had the hardest schedule over the prior 50 years. Georgia's was the toughest, Auburn's schedule was second.

So yes, we've always had tough competition.