2023 Discussion Thread

[AUGoo 2,659]

Just now, tinman1 said:

Probably not.  I have yet to see anyone mention the cancers we had in the locker room that afftected team morale and the play on the field.  Those guys are gone, either on their own or were run off.  We apparently had guys that did not accept their new head coach or his assistants.  They were too demanding.  Many guys wanted Steele to be named.  Some wished Gus had not been fired.  Hopefully all the players, coaches, administrators and boosters can get on the same page and do whats best for AU.

Interesting.

I have not seen any of the bad locker room talk.  

What a mess!

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

22 minutes ago, 80Tiger said:

There is an old sports saying (and I am paraphrasing). You play the game in front of you. You never plan/strategize etc on the following games.

If they are coaching for the 24 class, they will not be here to see it.

Well I fully agree and I don't necessarily mean the staff is intentionally doing this...I just believe that is kind of the circumstances they are in more so.

[Mikey 16,550]

50 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I think as hard as it is for me to admit it...that the staff essentially is coaching for the 24 class. They of course are going to do the best they can with this year's class, but I think we grind it out on the field. Pull some upsets, load up on portal talent and then the 24 class is the one that gets him in the top 10...if all the other things happen first. Harsin has to win on the field this year first.

This time last year it was "Just wait, the class of '23 will really be something special". I don't have any reason to think that '24 will be any better unless something totally unexpected happens. (Big winning season, coaching change or something similar)

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

15 minutes ago, Mikey said:

This time last year it was "Just wait, the class of '23 will really be something special". I don't have any reason to think that '24 will be any better unless something totally unexpected happens. (Big winning season, coaching change or something similar)

It’s funny you said this, because I was reading through the thread and got to that comment and thought “wait wasn’t that supposed to be the 2023 class?” 

[provibe 261]

1 hour ago, AUGoo said:

Interesting.

I have not seen any of the bad locker room talk.  

What a mess!

I may be misunderstanding you  but I think he was talking about when Harsin first took over. From all that I’m reading, we now have players and coaches that are all pulling together!

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

This time last year it was "Just wait, the class of '23 will really be something special". I don't have any reason to think that '24 will be any better unless something totally unexpected happens. (Big winning season, coaching change or something similar)

Well, this time last year we didn't have an attempted and failed debacle of a coupe. Anyone who doesn't believe the off-season mess has had an impact on the 23 class is blindly naive, as is anyone who believes it is the sole reason for our struggles. 

Furthermore, I am not saying this is what I think will happen. I am saying this is the path that leads to Harsin's best chance at being employed at AU for the long haul.  I also said that Harsin needs to win on the field this year in order for that to happen. 

[cole256 17,039]

38 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Well, this time last year we didn't have an attempted and failed debacle of a coupe. Anyone who doesn't believe the off-season mess has had an impact on the 23 class is blindly naive, as is anyone who believes it is the sole reason for our struggles. 

Furthermore, I am not saying this is what I think will happen. I am saying this is the path that leads to Harsin's best chance at being employed at AU for the long haul.  I also said that Harsin needs to win on the field this year in order for that to happen. 

It's hilarious how some think that all that stuff happened and it was going to go back to normal and recruit away!

[cole256 17,039]

It's weird that some of the main pitchfork guys are the very same people that would argue with me about waiting and see another year with former head coaches and QB's. Now here they are 🙋

[shabby 1,956]

22 minutes ago, cole256 said:

It's hilarious how some think that all that stuff happened and it was going to go back to normal and recruit away!

How was the recruiting for OL going before all the drama..... .? I think its fair to say that recruiting for key positions was bad before the coaching drama and horrendous after. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

16 minutes ago, shabby said:

How was the recruiting for OL going before all the drama..... .? I think its fair to say that recruiting for key positions was bad before the coaching drama and horrendous after. 

These two aren't mutually exclusive. The OL recruiting could be bad and the off season mess still have a negative impact.  The staff definitely was not knocking it out of the park before, but they also only had 1 real class and even that class they started waaay behind the 8-ball on. The 23 class was going to be the first good measuring stick for their recruiting prowess. The off-season definitely has made things much harder on them for this class.  All you have to do is listen to what recruits are saying.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

48 minutes ago, cole256 said:

It's hilarious how some think that all that stuff happened and it was going to go back to normal and recruit away!

Yep. I said when they announced he was staying that they crippled him. He can recover, but he has to win now and the odds are stacked.

[GwillMac6 20,607]

5 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I think as hard as it is for me to admit it...that the staff essentially is coaching for the 24 class. They of course are going to do the best they can with this year's class, but I think we grind it out on the field. Pull some upsets, load up on portal talent and then the 24 class is the one that gets him in the top 10...if all the other things happen first. Harsin has to win on the field this year first.

That is what people said about last class. Kicked the can down the road until the 2023 class. Now the 2024 class is the saving grace? Let’s just face it. This staff can’t recruit. That’s just the reality of the situation.

[provibe 261]

2 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Yep. I said when they announced he was staying that they crippled him. He can recover, but he has to win now and the odds are stacked.

I think we will be much improved over last year, but so will most teams in the SEC. I believe we will be really good on defense. Much improved at quarterback position and I really believe we will be stronger and improved on offensive line. We are good at running back and I have faith that Ike will have wide receiver group performing much better. How all this compares to our competition and how it improves win-loss totals, I’m not sure. We really have a tough schedule! If we win the games we are supposed to and win a couple of toss ups and maybe one we’re not supposed to, we could have a decent season, providing we don’t get blown out by Ga or Al. I’m really more concerned with 2023.

[GwillMac6 20,607]

3 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Well, this time last year we didn't have an attempted and failed debacle of a coupe. Anyone who doesn't believe the off-season mess has had an impact on the 23 class is blindly naive, as is anyone who believes it is the sole reason for our struggles. 

Furthermore, I am not saying this is what I think will happen. I am saying this is the path that leads to Harsin's best chance at being employed at AU for the long haul.  I also said that Harsin needs to win on the field this year in order for that to happen. 

It’s a lot easier to fathom him winning 8 or 9 games this year than him recruiting the way he needs to for us to compete for championships which is the goal. If you need to win on the field to recruit better you already lost and just aren’t the necessary kind of head coach AU needs In the cutthroat recruiting environment of the sec. If yon aren’t a good recruiting head coach you better have assistants who are. We only have a couple of good recruiters on staff. It’s clear he’s not getting nil help. Recruiting is not going to turn around. 

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

8 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

It’s a lot easier to fathom him winning 8 or 9 games this year than him recruiting the way he needs to for us to compete for championships which is the goal. If you need to win on the field to recruit better you already lost and just aren’t the necessary kind of head coach AU needs In the cutthroat recruiting environment of the sec. If yon aren’t a good recruiting head coach you better have assistants who are. We only have a couple of good recruiters on staff. It’s clear he’s not getting nil help. Recruiting is not going to turn around. 

[e808 3,020]

For the sake of conversation Auburn had the #10 ranked recruiting class in 2013 after only winning 3 games in 2012 

Edited July 8, 2022 by e808

[DAG 33,955]

6 minutes ago, e808 said:

For the sake of conversation Auburn had the 10 ranked recruiting class in 2013 after only winning 3 games in 2012

The problem is you have fans who are either all in on recruiting or all in on coaching. Some of these fans would be absolutely happy with a recruiter as a HC with top ten classes, but what about the results? The other also falls in there same line. I think recruiting will slowly build as we yield results and everyone is on the same pathway. So that is going to take CBH winning 50-50 games majority of the time while also upsetting some folks until he gets the sufficient buy in. We all know he has the coaching acumen but that is not nearly enough in this conference.

 

Additionally, AU fans need to get over the idea that we are above it all. Recruiting is a dirty game and if we want to get with the best that is what it is going to take. Maybe that mindset will be CBH undoing. Iono, but Ive seen Auburn fans in the past thumb their nose at a couple of guys who absolutely knew the landscape of what it takes to be successful in this league.

Edited July 8, 2022 by DAG

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

37 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

It’s a lot easier to fathom him winning 8 or 9 games this year than him recruiting the way he needs to for us to compete for championships which is the goal. If you need to win on the field to recruit better you already lost and just aren’t the necessary kind of head coach AU needs In the cutthroat recruiting environment of the sec. If yon aren’t a good recruiting head coach you better have assistants who are. We only have a couple of good recruiters on staff. It’s clear he’s not getting nil help. Recruiting is not going to turn around. 

I agree with pretty much all of this except I believe recruiting can turn around from what it is. Can it get to the level we need? That is undetermined. Will it get better at all? We will see. 

[AUwent 3,747]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:38 PM, GwillMac6 said:

It’s a lot easier to fathom him winning 8 or 9 games this year than him recruiting the way he needs to for us to compete for championships which is the goal. If you need to win on the field to recruit better you already lost and just aren’t the necessary kind of head coach AU needs In the cutthroat recruiting environment of the sec. If yon aren’t a good recruiting head coach you better have assistants who are. We only have a couple of good recruiters on staff. It’s clear he’s not getting nil help. Recruiting is not going to turn around. 

Unless you’re a strong recruiter (no national or regional clout), you’re going to need Bowden/Malzahn-like success out the gate.

Edited July 9, 2022 by AUwent

[e808 3,020]

7 minutes ago, DAG said:

The problem is you have fans who are either all in on recruiting or all in on coaching. Some of these fans would be absolutely happy with a recruiter as a HC with top ten classes, but what about the results? The other also falls in there same line. I think recruiting will slowly build as we yield results and everyone is on the same pathway. So that is going to take CBH winning 50-50 games majority of the time while also upsetting some folks until he gets the sufficient buy in. We all know he has the coaching acumen but that is not nearly enough in this conference.

 

Additionally, AU fans need to get over the idea that we are above it all. Recruiting is a dirty game and if we want to get with the best that is what it is going to take. Maybe that mindset will be CBH undoing. Iono, but Ive seen Auburn fans in the past thumb their nose at a couple of guys who absolutely knew the landscape of what it takes to be successful in this league.

No argument there. It’s very dirty either keep up or get left behind.  Might be an unpopular opinion but I dont think Kirby is that good of a coach right now but with the talent he has acquired it has allowed him to learn while on the job. He said something like recruiting is the key and coaching is the easy part. 
Definitely wouldn’t be upset if he was at Auburn.

[DAG 33,955]

36 minutes ago, e808 said:

No argument there. It’s very dirty either keep up or get left behind.  Might be an unpopular opinion but I dont think Kirby is that good of a coach right now but with the talent he has acquired it has allowed him to learn while on the job. He said something like recruiting is the key and coaching is the easy part. 
Definitely wouldn’t be upset if he was at Auburn.

I slightly disagree. I think that is exactly what makes him a very good collegiate coach. He recruits well and he brings in the coordinators he needs to get the job done. A major reason why I loss my mind when we chose not to hire him.  To me that’s auburn undoing lately. Two extremes between Gus and CBH. There may still be time for CBH though. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by DAG

[au302 2,669]

11 hours ago, tinman1 said:

Probably not.  I have yet to see anyone mention the cancers we had in the locker room that afftected team morale and the play on the field.  Those guys are gone, either on their own or were run off.  We apparently had guys that did not accept their new head coach or his assistants.  They were too demanding.  Many guys wanted Steele to be named.  Some wished Gus had not been fired.  Hopefully all the players, coaches, administrators and boosters can get on the same page and do whats best for AU.

This cracks me up because Steele would've made Harsin's culture change look merciful. He told the PTB's that he was sick of the culture issues Malzahn created and wanted to toughen everyone up. Guarantee he'd have run the entire offense off besides Tank and the TE's. Dude must've wanted to puke drawing up master class game plans and watching Gus's HS offense still lose in spite of the D's heroic efforts. See Florida 2019, and especially LSU 2019, for reference. LSU 2019 still makes me sick. Made Joey B look human, even confused on a few drives, and our offense wouldn't take the game against their average D. Sick. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by au302

[GwillMac6 20,607]

5 hours ago, e808 said:

No argument there. It’s very dirty either keep up or get left behind.  Might be an unpopular opinion but I dont think Kirby is that good of a coach right now but with the talent he has acquired it has allowed him to learn while on the job. He said something like recruiting is the key and coaching is the easy part. 
Definitely wouldn’t be upset if he was at Auburn.

Absolutely. Talent acquisition is the single most important thing a head coach needs to excel at the college level. 

[aucom96 1,614]

5 hours ago, DAG said:

We all know he has the coaching acumen

This isn't a slam dunk. He coached an already established program who dominated a weak conference. That doesn't count for much in the SEC. He has to prove himself here, and so far it hasn't been promising. He had a losing first season and his staff blew up. This year is going to be his best chance to prove his on the field abilities and not much has changed from last season in the talent pool. 

[AUwent 3,747]

41 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

This isn't a slam dunk. He coached an already established program who dominated a weak conference. That doesn't count for much in the SEC. He has to prove himself here, and so far it hasn't been promising. He had a losing first season and his staff blew up. This year is going to be his best chance to prove his on the field abilities and not much has changed from last season in the talent pool. 

This. Urban Meyer--for example--may not have had SEC experience, but he took a program that was a nobody throughout its entire history and made them the first BCS buster in just two years.

Edited July 9, 2022 by AUwent