meh130

Last year’s class was ranked 19th overall by 247. 18th if you include transfers.

This is correct. Our OL is simply bad a zone blocking, and we need alternatives. That quick pitch to Tank worked because the TE had the angle on the Edge defender, and the OT pulled and provided a lead block. Our OL needs plays that give angles, which inside zone, wide zone, and outside zone do not provide. But, zone options provide a numbers advantage. Our goal has to be to get players with the ball in the C and D gaps, i.e., outside of the OT. I would go with a 3 WR, TE as wing-back or sniffer, and attack the edge with inside zone read option, quick pitch, WR bubble screen, pass in the flat, WR tunnel screens, etc. Also consider WR jet sweep type plays. Attack the edge outside of the OT. Far outside of the OT, if possible. Also do the same with 4 WR sets. Even do the WRs extra wide or stacked. Force the defense to put multiple defenders on the perimeter.

Quick passes to the WRs: Bubble screens, quick outs, quick slants. Quick passes to the RBs: Flats, wheel routes. Please make this happen Saturday.

Ugh. Well, we need a game plan that plays to Robby's ability.

Honestly, from a recruiting and coaching position I think Freeze is the best option, but I don't think Auburn will take him. I get that he needs to have his phone taken away and put in a lock box. But I think a big school with NIL money combined with Freeze will do very well. I think Freeze is better than Kiffin, but I do think Kiffin has a "splash" factor. I think Aranda would be the next best choice. I think Sanders has potential, but also some risk. I don't think Auburn is going to hire him. Sanders is an enigma. He has $93 million in lifetime earnings, but by some estimates his net worth is only $40 million. My guess is it is actually higher. I don't see Sanders having burned $53 million over the last 30 odd years. But that is the point with Sanders. He already has "FU" money. Sanders is looking for a mission, not a job. I think Grimes would work very well. I think he is the offensive version of Aranda, back when Aranda was the hot coordinator everyone was projecting to be a head coach soon. A thought about Stoops. Is he hungry? Does he want to go up a level, and work harder? That is a good question. He has a good thing going at UK. He is like Tubbs at Ole Miss right now. So I guess my list is: 1st: Freeze 2nd: Aranda Tied at 3rd: Kiffin/Grimes 4th: Sanders (High Risk/High Reward) 5th: Stoops But the more I think of it, Grimes is the value play. He is a Cristobal at Oregon or Pittman at Arkansas type hire. Some school is going to hire him as a head coach and he will do well.

I am thinking 17-9 LSU.

Winning would require scoring more points that Georgia. I do not think we will score any points against Georgia.

Here are my thoughts/concerns regarding Sanders: 1. I do not know if his recruiting success will translate to the toughest recruiting environment in college football. It does not take much to make a recruiting splash in the FCS. Related, recruiting success may be great for a year or two, but is it durable? 2. I actually think Sander's current staff and gameday coaching are stronger elements than his current recruiting, because they are likely to be repeatable. He appears to be good at leading a coaching staff, and he seems to be good at inspirational motivation of his players, and both he and his current staff seem to be good at getting the most out of their players. 3. I have said it before, and I will say it again. Aflac is not going to renew Sanders contract if he is in not only the same NCAA sub-division, but the same conference, the same conference division, and the same state, as their other pitch coach. They just won't. They may keep Sanders and hire someone else. Or they may keep Saban and hire someone else. But I just can't see them keeping both. The whole basis of the commercial is the two coaches are famous, but also the two coaches are not competitors with each other. They cannot turn a national commercial into a local commercial. So everyone assuming Sanders could come to Auburn and keep his Aflac commercials with Saban, it won't happen. Remember before Sanders became an FCS coach, the Aflac commercials only included Saban.

Two more hours of tailgating!

^^^This^^^ When did commercial breaks go from 2 minutes to 4 minutes? I thought they were 3 minutes until I saw the guy with the timeout clock board and it showed 3:38 and counting. If I recall, late in the first half of the Mizzou team, one team called a timeout, the ref's said it was a 30 second timeout, and it ended up being a 4 minute timeout because ESPN took a commercial break.

That would make sense, but CBS has to spread their television slots around. They have two games that day, so the put the Bama aTm game in the prime-time slot. Auburn has had one game on CBS so far, that was Penn State. Georgia has not had one yet. Georgia-Florida will get a CBS broadcast. Auburn Alabama is likely to be a CBS game.

2017 was a lesson on the offensive line. Early on, Herb Hand did not get a starting 5 set. He had Prince Tega at left tackle and Austin Golson at center. It was clear in the Clemson game Tega was not ready to start at left tackle. During game three, Golson subbed for injured right tackle Darius James, with Casey Dunn taking over as center. That led to the realization Dunn was staring material at center and Hand moved Golson to left tackle, replacing Tega. However Golson shifted to left guard against LSU when Mike Horton was injured, and then played center in the next game against Arkansas when Dunn was injured. During the Georgia game Golson moved over to right tackle when James was injured again. By then, Tega was playing much better. Most of 2017's early problems were due to not having the right players in the right positions on the offensive line. Once we figured this out, we had success. We also developed Tega during the season to a level where he was effective against Georgia. That was the last season we had a strong offensive line. It has been downhill since.

All of those can work, and in some cases we have done them. The quick pitch to Tank with the TE sealing the edge and the OT pulling as a lead blocker worked Saturday. I don't think we have any real buck sweeps or trap plays, at least we haven't seen them. For outside runs Harsin likes the outside zone or stretch play, and our OL just cannot execute that play well. We need angles. Like I posted earlier, WR screens might have worked Saturday given how Mizzou loaded the box.

Some plays are in the playbook. Others can be added. So some change can be made. We could probably seen success with bubble screens on Saturday given how many defenders Mizzou between the offensive tackles. And those bubble screens are in the playbook, we ran them some last year. Honestly, with this offensive line, I would put Robby at QB, put Tank, Jarquez, and Sean Jackson in the backfield, run the Wishbone triple-option, and have the OL do cut blocks.

I would add, there is no Nick Saban Ford F-150 ad. Auburn has that with Harsin. Georgia has that with Smart. That does not exist with Saban at Bama. Does Saban get the money without actually making the commercial, or does the money just got to Bama's athletic deparartment? Very curious.

They do not have a review show. The ghost of Bear Bryant, and Golden Flake are suffering.

That is the pre-game Thursday night show.

Apparently Kirby Smart does not have a review show either. Wow. I remember watching back to back coaches' review shows on Sunday morning on Fox Sports South back in the day. Dye, Dooley, Bobby Bowden, etc. Apparently, these shows days are numbered.

... Bama does not have a coach's review show. Is this normal? Do most schools have a coach's review show, or are these the things of dinosaurs?

Early candidates include Deion Sanders, Dell McGee,Jamey Chadwell, and Alex Atkins. https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sports/georgia-tech-coaching-search-early-names-emerge-including-sec-assistant/

Felt the same way about Rob in the early years. And Rob got to call the games from a 50 yard line press box.

Andy is technically proficient. No, he does not have the charisma or the passion of Jim Fyffe or Rob Bramblett. But you are going to find few who who combine the two. Andy calls a good game. Granted he is literally calling it off of a TV screen because the idiots at AU decided to push the radio announcers into the traditional press box.

No. We are not better off losing today, because an early firing would open up and expose all of the lack of preparation and planning. This freak win was a blessing. We need time. We are better off with time. We need time to figure out who are the best options at Interim Head Coach. We need time to figure out a plan that give the IHC the most chance of success, or more realistically, the least chance for failure. We need time to line up the PTB to find the right next head coach of Auburn University' s football team. That said, here is my plan: 1. Fire Harsin 2. Appoint Roc Bellantoni as Interim Head Coach. 3. Fire OC Eric Kiesau. Appoint Offensive Analyst Mike Hartline as Interim Offensive Coordinator and Interim Quarterback Coach. 4. Fire DC Jeff Schmedding. Appoint Defensive Backs CoachZac Etheridge as Interim Defensive Coordinator and continuing Defensive Backs Coach. Ideally, the above should happen in short order. Possible additional actions: 5. Fire OL Coach Will Friend. Appoint Offensive Analyst Kendall Simmons Interim Offensive Line Coach. Get through the season. Guarantee Bellantoni, Etheridge, Hartline, and Simmons, remain on staff either in an on the field coach or an off the field position for the next five years, if they want to.

Honestly, Dye did not have "control". What he had was a good relationship with the man who had "control". That was Bobby Lowder. When Lowder soured on Dye, Dye was gone.