meh130

If we beat Penn State, Missouri becomes a trap game. If we beat Penn State and Mizzou, LSU becomes a trap game. Georgia will crush us then we go to Oxford. Will we bounce back or take back-to-back losses? Arkansas becomes a swing game. We could get an emotional win in Oxford to come back and lose to Arkansas. We could lose to Ole Miss and take it out on Arkansas. Or we could start sliding. There are a lot of opportunities for a spiraling decline in 2022. It is not impossible to see an 8 loss slide from Penn State to Texas A&M. It is also not impossible to see us enter the A&M game with only one loss. The real question is will we see consistency, at a team level, this year? This is not something we have had in a long time, even in years where we had relative success.

The only Auburn player selected in the draft. Putting AU at just ahead of Vanderbilt, with zero NFL draft selections. This should settle the Gus discussion.

This. The short passing game is what stops crowding the box. If the box is less crowded, because the LBs have to respect the short passing game, the RB gets through the line of scrimmage, then it is the RB's talent (cutting, breaking tackles, etc.) that can turn a short gain into a long one.

Here is the issue. A new coach needs to hit it out of the park with hiring of staff early. They need to hit it out of the park in recruiting early. They need to hit it out of the park in the transfer portal early. While Auburn is the exception, given we had a near coup just one year into a new coach's tenure, the fact is by year three a coach that is not producing expected results will be in the hot seat. That means going into year three they may not have the hiring ability they had going into year one. In theory, they can offer a prospective assistant a two-year guaranteed contract, if the PTB will allow for it. I think AU put Harsin in a bad spot to begin. Firing Malzahn was delayed due in part to the COVID season delays, and the desire of the PTB to wait until the end of the season. Then there was the fiasco of the "no search" to "search", the "Stop Steele" movement and the drama around it, and the appearance of total disfunction around the PTB and the athletic department. That poisoned the well for many–not just potential HC candidates, but potential assistants. Harsin did his best to get an OC and DC with SEC experience–not the best hires, but adequate. He hired some others with experience in the south. However, probably due to the fact Harsin was not well known to many of the staff outside of Bobo, and Harsin's know personality/demeanor, some of these hires turned out to not fit with what Harsin wanted and felt he needed. Then you have the coaching turnover. Tracy Rocker leaves before he begins. Harsin fires Cornelius Williams after the Penn State game. Harsin felt it was an immediate necessity, but others saw problems. We cratered in the last games of the season. People wonder if Harsin is in over his head. Bobo was fired, many were fine with that. Then there was the strange departure of Derek Mason. Some wanted Mason gone earlier. Some as early as after the Penn State game. Then one of Harsin's solid hires (who was questioned originally due to his lack of college coaching experience), Nick Eason, leaves for his alma mater. An exodus of players to the transfer portal happens. Harsin struggles with hiring a replacement for Bobo, then has his replacement depart before starting, leaving more questions of Harsin's hiring ability. After a solid early signing day, national signing day is a non-event. Auburn struggles to rebuild its staff and appears to take backward steps in most of its hires. There is the attempted coup, followed by the hire of a wide receivers coach. Harsin simply did not have the currency to make better hires going into year two compared to year one. He had to make his home-run hires in year one. However, had we done better, perhaps beating MSU and USCe, even losing our bowl game, with an 8-5 result, Harsin may have had the currency needed. But he could not predict that going in. If we need to make more coaching changes after this coming season, Harsin will likely have even less currency than after last season. That is, unless we exceed expectations. You may recall Malzahn also got stuck with hiring struggles when it came to replacing Chip Lindsey after the 2018 season. A coach in the hot seat will struggle to hire assistants. They will struggle to recruit. It becomes a death spiral. I think that is why we are starting to see head coaches fired in mid-season. It takes the uncertainty out of the opportunity. It tells prospects a head coaching job is open. It allows the university to start vetting candidates a month or more before other HC positions open up. It allows candidates to build a list of potential assistants early and gauge interest, to get ahead of other HC candidates looking to do the same. I don't know what the future holds for Auburn under Harsin. However, if the PTB decide he needs to be replaced at some point, I hope they get their act together this time.

^^^This^^^ TJ's performance in A-Day looked like his performance last year. If his inconsistency cannot be coached out, and TJ starts, it will lose us some games.

The PTB screwed up the timing on this. The way to do it would be to launch an investigation behind the scenes, not leak it, and get the case air-tight not for a firing for cause, but for a much reduced settlement. Then fire him mid-season 2022 to get ahead of other schools in the coaching search. February is not the time to do this.

I thought the NCAA prohibited the hiring of a parent of a scholarship athlete to an off the field position.

Another point that I believe is being missed. A "personal issue" and a "family situation" have both been mentioned. And "being overwhelmed with the job/recruiting" has been mentioned. Is it not possible the two are related? That Davis has a "family situation" right now, at this moment, and because of that the prospect of doing the job right, right now, at this moment is "overwhelming"? What if the "family situation" is a medium-term or longer situation, and not something that can be addressed in a week or two? That to me, makes a lot more sense of the "overwhelmed" comment, which may have been taken out of context.

A error on the USA Today/Auburn Wire story from December on Reeder. They made references to "this past season", when they meant 2020, not 2021. Reeder was not on the Utah State staff in 2021. He was the OC for Utah State in 2020 under Gary Andersen. Andersen was fired 3 games into the 2020 season. I don't think any of Andersen's staff was retained. Blake Anderson (from Arkansas State) was hired to replace Gary Andersen, and Blake brought in Anthony Tucker from UCF as his OC. The 2020 season for Utah State was a disaster. It was a pandemic shortened 8-game season. One game was cancelled due to COVID. They fired their head coach 3 games in. The players supported interim HC Frank Maile for permanent HC. The president of the university in a Zoom call with the team said they would not retain Maile and then went on to make disparaging comments about Maile. That caused the players to boycott the final game. So they only played 6 total games. This is the season the USA Today article refers to. Regarding Reeder, he had success at Eastern Washington, but not at North Texas or Utah State. He clearly needs more seasoning before taking on a Power 5 OC role, but as QB coach only, he may have potential. https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/12/22/22194392/utah-state-football-opt-put-noelle-cockett-mark-hartwell-frank-maile-mountain-west-conference

Given Kiesau has 7 seasons of prior OC experience, and was a finalist to be the new Head Coach at Boise State, this makes little sense.

87-78. Baylor was ranked #4. This helps us down the road in the NCAA tournament seeding if we keep winning.

Regarding Mason. There was some criticism of Mason early on, based on the fact he was a DC in a PAC-12 school which is not in the same category as SEC or B1G football. He had defensive issues at Vandy, and for a significant part of his tenure, he was both HC and DC. I lost faith in Mason during the Georgia State game. There was something very wrong with our defense and our game plan in that game. While our season defensive stats may look good, GSU and MSU exposed serious scheme and game plan issues. The use of a 3-man rush against MSU was a real eye-opener. Obviously, the defense was adapted for the Iron Bowl. Who was responsible for that? Who knows? Why was Mason hired in the first place? I think because he had SEC experience, the thought was he would benefit recruiting. Same with Bobo. Did the PTB force Mason on Harsin? I doubt it. Whenever a new coach comes into a new geography, they need to hire some assistants in that geography. That explains Mason, Bobo, and Cornelius Williams. Obviously, there were mismatches there. Did the PTB force Bobo on Harsin? Possibly, as Bobo's name had come up as the likely OC for Steele, if Steele got the job. This churn does not bother me. I think Mason's defensive scheme was too much for our existing players to adapt to, and misused their skillsets. I think Mason figured that out over time, and changed his game plans. But it many have been too little, too late. What does bother me is the continued lack of recruiting in the offensive line. That simply has to be fixed, or the offense will not improve. We lost 5 games by 28 points or less, 4 games by 24 points or less, and three games by 21 points or less. In 3 of those games, one additional touchdown would have won them.

This is a good point. It only harm’s Kobe’s appeal to a potential new team to admit he was kicked off the team, and to publicly admit he and his coach(es) had an issue between them. And that may be answer the questions on why Kobe was dismissed. He clearly is not the most mature when dealing with disagreements between himself and his coaches.

Yep. And I don’t think PM has any idea how to actually see what is being said on social media. Somebody sends him a handful of select screenshots, and he thinks that represents 90% of the social media posts.

I do think our fan base has become more toxic over the last 20 years. It has been a manic ride, to say the least. That makes people jaded. Jetgate in 2003. Being screwed out of a chance to play for the NC in 2004. Winning 6 in a row as Bama imploded. The BCS National Championship in 2010. Updyke poisoning the Toomer’s Oaks, which even with multiple replantings has still not fully recovered to this day. The collapse in 2012. The miracle season in 2013. Inexplicable issues from mid-2014 to mid-2017. An incredibly stupid contract extension in 2017. Mediocracy in 2018 and 2019, followed by inexplicable play in 2020. Then there is the fact our in-state rival is now the greatest powerhouse in the history of college football, and or other top rival, who we have struggled to beat more than Bama has quickly dominated the SEC East and become a perennial Top 5 program. Add to that, Bama, UGA, and LSU fans are incredibly nasty. Bama fans lining up to get pictures taken with Updyke. Grown LSU fans spitting on the AUMB. We get more crap than any other team. Texas has Oklahoma. Michigan has Ohio State. Florida has Georgia. USCe had Clemson. Texas A&M has no one, those cowards fled their conference and their In-State rival.

Yeah, I think the message from AU’s coaching staff was worded to protect Kobe and help him find another school. My guess is there was more there. I am guessing it was a lot of little things, rather than one big thing. Little things small enough to keep him from losing playing time, but enough of them the coaching staff decided it was best to part ways.

Phil had a lot of connections at one time. COVID, the coaching change, and Alan Green being almost persona non-grata in the athletic department has really hurt Phil’s sources. You can see it in the style of his writing now. Much of it is short, content-free, and opinion based. Phil had a lot of inside knowledge during the lead-up, and the days following the firing of Gus. Then he was flying blind. Because of COVID, he has not been able to walk the halls or do anything face to face. CBH will not call on him during Zoom press conferences. Phil complains about CBH’s long-winded answers, that CBH is just trying to run the clock out so most of the reporters don’t get a chance to ask a question. But Phil does not do a good job of getting the nuggets out of CBH’s long-winded answers like others can. Phil does have connections that are no longer connected to Auburn, so an article like this (second-hand, hearsay, etc.) is the best Phil can do about getting a “scoop” about Auburn. Some have speculated the source for this was CGM, but I think it could be Kevin Steele or Rodney Garner, both of which Phil had relationships with. Regarding the whole social media thing about Bo Nix, I scoured Nix’s Instagram and the only negative comments I saw were from people who clearly were fans of Auburn’s rivals. I don’t doubt there were negative comments on message boards, but I think the social media posts about Bo were getting amplified by his family. I think 90% of the “Auburn fans hate Bo” issue was when he was booed during the GSU game, and when Finley was cheered, which was in the stadium, not on social media.

Two words: Duke Williams. That said, it was not as bad as the Chiz years.

“A recruit can be offered a lucrative deal in return for a commitment.” This is expressly forbidden under NIL. That is why you see the broad deals like every OL at Texas, or the entire team at Miami. I have no doubt there are under the table promises. It would be completely legal for a high school athlete in a state where there are no laws against high school athletes getting an NIL deal to get a deal before signing with any university. That would make sense for apparel and other items.

I don't think I have ever seen a worse prepared game plan than that game. Gus literally pulled a then 33 year old high school offense book ("Single Wing Offense with the Spinning Fullback", by John Aldrich), and attempted to use it against a top college program with one of the nation's best defensive coordinators. There are a lot of new plays a coach can put in before the first game of a season. But the reality is, a novel scheme rarely overcomes superior talent and coaching. Fast, strong, disciplined players can snuff out a novel scheme. If the time spent on putting in those plays had instead gone towards perfecting existing plays, we might have won that game.

This. No coach dismisses a high performer on a whim. This was likely due to ongoing issues. Discipline is critical, especially when making fundamental changes to a program.

Yous Guys makes me cringe.

I think the philosophy here is to focus on the QB coach side of the equation, not the OC role. QB coaching has been a notorious weak spot for Auburn for a long time. And it is not a strong point for many college programs. The OC side is something that can be developed over time. I would add, all NFL QBs are a very different animal than most college QBs. Remember the Jon Gruden interview with Cam Newton in 2011? NFL QBs have to read defenses. They have to be able to change the play via audible based on a pre-snap read. They have to be able to determine where a passing play will go after the snap based on a read progression. In many college systems, an offensive assistant in the press box reads the defense and calls the change, then another assistant signals in the change, then the QB audibles the change. In most college offenses, the passing read progression is much less complicated than the NFL. Art Briles had passing plays that had no reads and no progression. They were architected to get one receiver open, and if the play wasn't there, the QB either had to throw the ball away or run it. He had others that were built with only one read to one side of the field, and the WRs on the other side ran at half speed to preserve their breath, so they could run plays at pace. All of this suggests that an NFL QB coach, with recent experience as an NFL QB, has a lot of experience as a student of the game, and has significantly involvement with the game plan and play calling, both as a player and a coach. I think we will see some different things next year, and expect Harsin to be doing most of the play calling early. Over time, I expect this will shift to Davis.

Oregon strikes me a weird. Pat Nix is obviously very close to Bo's college career. He moved from Pinson Valley down to Phenix City in Bo's second year to be closer to Auburn. Caleb Nix has completed his high school career, but only has offers from schools in the south and east, far from Oregon. There is still a rumor out there that Pat NIx will be hired by Troy to be their OC, and Caleb will commit to Troy. But that means Pat is working on Saturdays and cannot attend Bo's games. But he can't do it from Phenix City either. I can't see Pat Nix looking for a HS coaching job for one year in the Pacific Northwest if Bo is a one-and-done. Given Pat Nix's "list of concerns" he brought to Harsin on multiple occasions, and the fact Bo went into the portal with a "Do Not Contact" tag, suggesting he would be the one reaching out to prospective coaches, I simply cannot believe this was exclusively Bo's decision. But who knows, perhaps the plan was for Pat to help Bo pick the best school, the be hands-off this year.

This is the way it is in the NFL and at the top college programs. I could definitely see Harsin not taking kindly to a parent of a player trying to involve themselves in personnel or team management.