TJRanger175

Grimes loves Auburn. I think he was let go because he was at odds with Gus in terms of run blocking schemes. If the job is offered to him I am positive he takes it.

Here is a part of his bio that stuck out to me: A three-time Frank Broyles Award nominee for Assistant Coach of the Year, Anae is a 32-year coaching veteran that has directed multiple record-breaking performances and NCAA top-25 offensive statistical finishes during his career. Over the previous 14 seasons as Mendenhall’s offensive coordinator, an Anae-led offense has earned top-25 NCAA statistical rankings in 10 different offensive categories a total of 51 times, including 18 top-10 ratings. Might not be an option, but he would be a good one. I would be excited about Anae or Ludwig. Grimes would be freaking fantastic. He runs the wide-zone offense that quite a few NFL teams run. Hill would be my 4th choice, but like someone said above… he would be a better offensive coordinator than any Auburn has seen in quite some time.

I think Zak would be an upgrade, but I am certain people would find something wrong with almost anyone. I would be absolutely ecstatic if Grimes was hired.

A very small possibility (this is pure speculation) is Robert Anae, the OC of Virginia. His offenses are pretty great, but he may be too loyal to Bronco Mendenhall to leave. Anae was the BSU OL Coach while Harsin was in school. I think the best possibility is Zak Hill, especially since there is a history, he is good at developing QB's, and there is no guarantee he will have a job if Herm Edwards hangs it up. I could see Andy Ludwig because of the obvious connections to Harsin and Mason, but he would be a very hard pull. He was great at Wisconsin with Melvin Gordon. He runs multiple offenses and tries to get the hands of the people who make plays. He is said to not have an offensive style because he molds it around what the players can do. Very good QB coach. He has said that Utah is his last job, so the probability is very low. He would be a fantastic hire for Auburn. I don't see any hire being made if the person has never called plays.

The biggest hurdle to cross is Graham's first coach was Lincoln Riley. There is a very high chance he is retained as the USC coordinator.

I was thinking about it and could see one of these 3 being the guy hired: Kiesau is a fantastic OC. If that is the way it goes, then it will be an upgrade. Zak Hill would be a great fit. He is a rising star. Obvious ties since he was Harsin's OC at Boise. Grimes would be a great fit. He loved it at AU. Him and Harsin were both coached by Dick Koetter (different schools). Harsin was the OC at Texas when they tried to hire Grimes in 2011. They just missed working together in Boise when Grimes followed Koetter to Arizona State and Harsin became a GA in 2000. Grimes was at Colorado with Dan Hawkins. There are a lot of connections here.

I can see Notre Dame hiring Urban. He is not fitting in with the NFL. I would hope he hires Dan Mullen to be his OC again. Then Dan would legitimately become...

I don't think Saban is afraid of anyone. The fans show concern because of the increased competition. I think Saban welcomes the competition.

Yes- huge difference. They are concerned about Harsin. BTW- they had no such concern the last couple of coaches we had.

I was looking for Coach Harsin’s post game presser and came across one from the Bama YT page: What is interesting to me is the comments. There were a few Homer comments, but the majority of them were overwhelmingly positive towards Auburn. It was kind of weird seeing so many Bama fans more respectful of Harsin’s coaching ability than some of the people on here. I was talking to a Bama fan and he remarked that Auburn is going to be very dangerous once the talent gap is made up.

Unbelievable thread. always surprised at the amount of negativity. This was an amazing game that came down to depth. They had it and we did not.

Dirty flop.

McCreary is making some money tonight

One- what I described above was a nightmare situation. Not something to even remotely ponder. It was my dark humor shining through. Two- I’m not disagreeing with you, but we will never know. Three- I don’t think the schemes have been the issue as much as lack of player development from the previous staff. Recruiting has been decent the last decade… the development has been horrible. The previous schemes did not help either. nothing we did on offense with Gus helped guys get into the NFL, and we lost out on players because of that. Steele’s defense was not complicated and relied heavily on man coverage. Not being multiple has not necessarily hurt defensive development, but now that we are it will pay dividends.” In the future. McCreary worked himself into the 1st round due to being able to play Man AND Zone. Offense has been the issue this year more than defense. It is hard to have a good offense when once highly rated players are not developed enough to keep up with the competition.

and Bobo is named the new HC with Kevin Steele as his DC.

Probably some unpopular thoughts/ views: I am not certain if the “bend, don’t break” style of defense is what Mason favors. Maybe someone can look it up what he has done historically, but I think that is what you get when you don’t have a pass rush. We are starting people who should be backups. Offenses that spread the field will always crush teams with no pass rush. With the exception of a few calls that has everyone scratching their heads, Bobo has called the right play the majority of the time. I think people started the season not liking him and have looked for any reason to support that viewpoint. There is a difference between “coach speak” and repetition of cultural beliefs. Coach speak is what is said to be purposefully evasive. Repetition of cultural beliefs (such as 4th and 1, or finish the day 1 and 0) are designed to change the mindset of the athletes in the program. I don’t think Harsin cares if we get sick of it… I think his target audience is his players. without naming players, there are some pretty prominent players that exude negativity. They are bringing the team down in pressure situations with their body language. Hopefully they grow up or are shown the door. Yes, even if they are one of our better players. I remember when Dennis Green took over the Vikings in the early 90’s. The first thing he did was get rid of a multiple All Pro Strong Safety. Turns out it was the right move because he was a cancer in the locker room. People are quick to judge coaches but sometimes miss that some players have developed habits that cannot be overcome in a year. Negativity and acting like spoiled children on the sideline are habits. Bo was able to work on it, hopefully others will follow his example. much of the pain of this season has come down to lack of execution. A lot of this can be attributed to lack of meaningful repetition. Some of it from lack of focus. More than likely this stems from adopting new systems on offense and defense that are far more complicated. we are too far behind to do something significant in recruiting this year. Many of the relationships these kids have with coaches are measured in years. That is hard for a first year staff to overcome. There will be no excuse if next year gives the same results. Doing well in the transfer portal is an absolute must. of course, it isn’t signing day yet so there might be some significant improvement. I would be OK (not ecstatic) with Top 20, Happy with Top 15, and very happy with Top 12. From next year on, nothing less than Top 10 will do. This off season will be more significant than any I can remember. It is absolutely imperative that the lines get bigger, faster, and stronger. I like coach Pittman and think he will get it done. I am being patient. We want it “right now” when we should be more focused on if it is “done right”. Mullen and Florida failed that test. We overestimate what can be done in a year and under-estimate what can be done in 3-5 years. Auburn fans are some of the best fans in football, but sometimes act like our biggest competition. apologies for bad grammar- typed on phone.

I’m neither positive or negative. you can say I am neutral. It is too early to make a judgment.

You will always find fans who are disappointed in a coach. Especially if that coach follows up the best coach they ever had- Chris Peterson. You don’t have to look very hard to find negative people/ fans. Lord knows it is pretty easy to find them on this board.

No worries. maybe it was overreach to say it has been bad. a better wording would be sub-optimal. When I say recruiting has been bad, I am talking about recruiting from an overall approach that addresses and develops needs. I am not referring to Stars. But if that is the only thing you disagree with, I am good with that.

It might be a good idea to step back and relax. As the season went on, we started to become hopeful, many even believing that this team was better than it actually was. Now many are mad due for a lot of reasons, and the most obvious solution to some is to fire everyone. We forget that this was always going to be a tough year. Recruiting in the past was poor overall, players were not developed, schemes were not conducive to putting players into the NFL. Now we do have an overall culture change, with changes in scheme on both sides, and with poorly developed players. The schemes have been difficult, but they have gotten better. Learning Zone will put McCreary into the 1st round. Some players that start for is probably would not see playing time if they were with Georgia or Alabama. Players have routinely said the play calls were correct, but execution held them back. The true test of a culture is when adversity strikes. It is easy to have a good culture when everything is going well. It is a lot harder when things get tough. All it takes is one negative attitude to start causing cracks. As others have already alluded to, there are a few players on this team who are in it for themselves. It might be a good idea to let them go on their way, no matter how good they are. I am a big believer in addition by subtraction. Sometimes a team will improve by leaps and bounds once people who did not fit the culture leave. I don’t know how this will all pan out- no one does. I think there is a plan, and we have seen glimpses of it.

After joining this board recently and posting a handful of times, I started to become suspicious that a few posters go out of their way to be negative and argumentative. This thread removed all doubts.

Pretty awesome post

Everything I have seen leads me to believe that it will be Texas. It depends a lot on who LSU hires. That will be a wildcard. I don't know if Ed O was ever really a contender, but if they get a great coach that can develop a program it might be a good fit. Not certain what the Manning family thinks of Lane, but I do not know if Ole Miss is a huge contender. I think the worry that Lane might leave at the first sign of a better job is always on peoples mind- I know it was a point of contention for Peyton when Lane left UT. Going to UT will give Arch a little bit of anonymity since Austin is a bigger town that is not dependent on the university. Also, Sark is amazing at developing QB's so that would be tough for anyone to beat. Georgia does not seem to know what it wants in a QB (they let Justin Fields go in favor of Fromm). There is no way of knowing who the OC will be in Alabama- Bill O'Brien is too good to be there long term.

All good. We can't live in the past- although I agree with you 100%. This year shows the value of what happens when good coaches step into the mix. The culture is stronger, the players are getting developed, and AU is running an offensive system that actually produces playmakers and not widgets. I suspect the probability of us being dangerous in the future are much stronger than us trending backwards.

Everyone keeps on emphasizing recruiting, and they are not wrong. What we are seeing unfold right now is equally important- this staff is developing the talent. This staff has a history of developing 3 stars into NFL talent. I can’t wait to see what they will do with a bunch of 4/5 stars that buy into the “Built for Life” philosophy.