DyeCampAlum

I appreciate the approach Titan Tiger has laid out. I dearly want Harsin to succeed, but I also wouldn't announce the end of the cosmos if he's let go. You can hire a new coach any time before August. It would be VERY hard to build a good spring training, but it can be done. If it's necessary to dismiss Harsin, and I don't have an opinion on that, Auburn will suffer some and eventually be Auburn again. We are in a VERY hostile environment. Outstanding SEC teams will go 8-4 quite often in coming years. Somebody's gonna win the conference at 10-2 or 9-3 before the dust clears. But Auburn has succeeded when it's been possible to go 9-2 pretty much every year and break through with a 9-1-1 or even 11-0 once in awhile. Now I'd guess that means something like 8-4 or 9-3 as a baseline, with breakthroughs. But it can be done.

Thanks. I liked what I saw of the show, but I didn't know anything about his background.

Sorry to be ignorant, and no aspersions, but who is Ike Jones?

Apparently not. I even looked! Sorry.

Please reply with the number that fits your current Auburn football mood. (I'd do Survey Monkey but want to keep it on the board.) 1. Panicked or extremely low. 2. Deeply concerned 3. Holding on to hope, but.... 4. I believe we're on the right path. 5. I think we could win 10 or more games in 2022.

Nope

It's a bit of a struggle right now to feel good about where we are. I wasn't that rocked by those last 5 games. Disappointed for sure, and a little concerned, but ok. And the first signing day was hugely encouraging. Players were communicating how much they love the new regime. But the rate of transfers out, and the way Mason left--there's a reason every national commentator I see thinks we're on fire. The Davis thing, I'm willing to trust what the guy said in the absence of other evidence. But whatever's going on with the transfers has me very, very itchy. Regarding Gus, I'm grateful for the job he did. It was evident, though, that he had a ceiling and wasn't going to get us back to championships. Too many signs of grasping straws. You can just run out your time somewhere, and I wish him success at UCF. I certainly root for him.

Only Arizona ahead of us

Not quite on point. I believe Auburn is way ahead of most SEC teams in players lots. As of Jan 26, Auburn was #3 in the conference in transfers out, #9 in the Power 5. So yes, transfers are normal. And no, Auburn's situation is not.

A balanced take might be that Davis’s statement looks authentic, while we’re leaking too many players and Mason’s departure raises the temperature. With so many players gone, 2022 is feeling rough. If this kind of turnover persists, we’ll know there’s a real problem.

I'm not here for trashing Mason. Auburn had the #17 most efficient defense in the country per advanced metrics (Football Outsiders). There's stuff to worry about, but I'm happy to be positive.

I’m pretty down about this one. Auburn was 5th in the conference in scoring defense, 4th in yards per play, 4th in defensive efficiency—all with an offense way below average in all those things. As for the Boise crowd, it feels odd that well respected black guys are getting replaced with Boise white guys. Well, twice. That can’t help with recruits. Look, I’m an Auburn fan. I’ve been pretty positive about Harsin. I know Boise was good on D the year before Harsin came. But I cannot imagine how we lose Mason if things are “fine.”

At Stanford he was known for his sophisticated pressure packages. Just look up the stats: 11th in the conference in offense, 5th in defense. He did great.

I think lots of people don't get how defense has changed. What Georgia did this year is just off the map. A few years back I got to talk with a G5 defensive coordinator. You basically don't try to shut down teams anymore. You have to disrupt them: sacks, turnovers, penalties, and so on. And you know you're gonna give up points. 40 total PPG was average in 2000. That would have been 58 or 60 last year, based on what teams scored. That number is consistent with the past few years. The other thing is, Auburn's offense has had trouble against good defenses for several years largely due to marginal OL and sketchy QB play. That puts enormous pressure on a defense, which will break down. The A&M game would be a prime example, but you could add State, Carolina, and Alabama to the list. I think Mason is doing a terrific job, and that's why he's desirable.

I'm praying too. A little concerned that Gus issued his statement after Tate said things were looking up, but none of us knows anything.

One thing for sure with TJ. He can't transfer without losing a year unless he goes to FCS. These all seem to be good guys, which makes you feel all kinds of ways.

None of us knows for sure. Lots of people coming back who seem to love what Harsin's doing. Lots of people leaving, which leaves us confused. Maybe there's a culture change that's weeding out some in the short run but will bring great results in the long run. Maybe those last few losses show us the future. For my part, I'm seeing enough that makes me want to ride it out. I'm not seeing enough to draw a negative conclusion. And I have no interest in this personalized bickering, which just clogs up the board.

Seems to me, this transfer means some stuff. Finley is unlikely to transfer, but I think signing Ashford is a commentary on what Harsin thinks about Davis or expects from him. Also, seems no reason to assume who Harsin projects to start. This guy has 4 years ahead of him. Calzada doesn't. So who knows?

Sorry about that!

The one thing that concerns me with this headline, and I agree it’s a good thing, is what it suggests about Davis’s development.

Nor sure what you're point is. I'm just saying a 6-7 start is disappointing, but it doesn't make me feel negative at this point because we also see positives. There sure are signs of trouble for next year.

Saban went 7-6 in his first year at Alabama, following a 6-7 season under Shula. By no means am I comparing Harsin to Saban at this point. I'm just pointing out that transitions are hard. We have some big weaknesses for 2022, but I see a lot of promising signs right now: tremendous late recruiting and a clear sense of buy-in from the players. I was ready for Malzahn to move on. He's a good coach, but Auburn shouldn't settle for perpetual 8-4. (His Auburn record was 68-35.) But it takes an outstanding coach to do better than that with Auburn's schedule. Let's see if Harsin is that guy.

Even with a new QB and presumably shaky OL, we're gonna see whether this new culture is working real quick next fall. I'm hopeful.

I felt like we had to try it. With Finley hurt, it seemed to me we had no chance in the OT. I’m kinda shocked we got the TD we did. That’s how I felt. I have no idea what the odds are statistically, given all the things that can happen to mess up OT: a sack, a bad snap, a turnover. But I was pretty sure we wouldn’t get a TD.

With the regular season complete, I see enough to say just a few things…. I don’t know if I can put them in order. I am as concerned about recruiting as anybody, and only time will tell on that. Also, what do I know? 1. It looks like the players are all in on this staff. The vaccination thing was a potential disaster, but it doesn’t seem to have disrupted the team’s solidarity. 2. I thought, generally speaking, this defense was magnificent to watch. No awesome pass rushers, but we got a rush. Best LB play I can remember even with injuries. A lot of the criticism we’ve seen, it seems to me is misplaced. When the offense can’t score or sustain possession, a defense will wear down. We’ve seen that, and we saw it last night. * Folks forget that good defense has changed dramatically over the past decade. What Georgia is doing is almost unheard of. I spoke with an FBS DC a couple of years ago, and he said the goal is not to stifle the other team but to disrupt them. So you’re going to have some rougher games. If you give up 21 points, you should win. The median points allowed in the SEC was 24.5 going into Saturday, and Auburn was at 22. Our defense was really, really strong unless they were asked to do too much. 3. We saw high quality special teams play. 4. The offensive scheme isn’t exciting, but the design seems to make sense. We saw dramatic improvement with Nix, who seemed impossible to coach. I tend to like a “brand,” but maybe that’s outdated. There were some genuinely puzzling play calls in key moments. 5. If I had to pin down one weakness in this team, it’s mediocre OL play. We play a weaker opponent, and we dominate. We play a good SEC team, and we struggle. We play an outstanding SEC team, and we’re helpless. It filters out to everything: play calling, defensive consistency, QB play. It didn’t help that receivers couldn’t get open on their own. I was out of town for the USC game, so I don’t know what happened there. If I’d seen it, maybe I’d have a little different opinion. So on the whole, I’m optimistic. Highly concerned about recruiting, especially OL, but everything I’m seeing is consistent with a very promising path. A genius OC would certainly help, but I’m here for this.