TJRanger175

He is a devout Roman Catholic, so LSU might be an option. Who knows if he will go to the SEC? I know I was hoping he would get a call last year when we were searching (I loved the Harsin hire though). USC might be a better path. While LSU is a great job, USC has national recognition and would be an easier path to getting good recruits without having to have contacts in the south. Even though LSU owns the state, USC could go anywhere to get recruits and you would not have to battle it out with everyone else. That being said, I have no idea how much he favors the idea of jumping into the most competitive conference to swim with the sharks. I know he is hyper competitive (he was probably one of the best wrestlers in history in Ohio- a state known for wrestling).

I live in Cincinnati. Well known secret that UC is only a "stopping point" and not a final destination. The only thing that kept Fickell from leaving was that his son was still in High School. Now that his son is wrapping up his Sr season, nothing is stopping him from jumping ship. I think locals are resigned to the fact that he probably is leaving.

I think the stories that Bo was "lazy" was more marketing than anything. It put forth the mythology that he was the most physically gifted guy ever. He probably was the most physically gifted guy, but from my understanding he was an incredibly hard worker. I find it hard to believe that Coach Dye would tolerate anyone who did not have a work ethic. Regarding the current policy of earning playing time- If Coach Harsin makes an exception, then that would diminish the importance of the culture he is trying to build. Play the lazy but talented player, damage chances at having long term success because everyone else will think they won't have to work... Players would potentially think, "Practice won't matter if I am gifted. Coach will play me anyways." Once one person starts thinking that, it becomes a cancer that is impossible to kill.

"This isn't a math test" I love that part.

That about sums up my feelings as well

That's fair. For the record, Saban tried to bring some of his staff but they did not want to leave the north. My main point is that it should not matter how many people he brings over. In terms of recruiting, parents are more interested in how a program is going to help develop their son. Importance is placed on having a system that lays out a road map for that development. That is one of the main reasons Saban is a great recruiter (as well as Meyer). They brought in processes that were well defined. Parents and HS coaches are both attracted to highly organized programs. They are selling value over substance. The past decade plus at Auburn on the other hand, probably over relied on how awesome Auburn is. We have seen College recruiting's equivalent of "used car salesmen" pitching how amazing Auburn is, without a solid plan on how the program and the Creed are used to benefit a promising recruit. Now we have a coach who seems to have a solid plan that he can back up with the Auburn Experience. A better example probably would have been Urban Meyer, who brought most of his staff from Utah to Florida. There were a couple of people with SEC experience (Charlie Strong), but most of them did not have SEC experience.

That is what I see as well. I don't think Harsin really cares about what other people think. He has a crystal clear vision of what he wants to build, has set a standard of acceptable behavior that he feels are necessary for the program to get there, and is cutting through obstacles to accomplishment. Hopefully it all works out.

Not the point of what I was trying to say, but that's ok.

LOL. Point taken. Good points about echo chambers and "yes men".

I find it intriguing when people say he is trying to turn AU into "Boise South". Some of the people seem skeptical of Harsin, thinking perhaps that the way he did things in Boise will not translate to the SEC. I wonder if people at LSU thought Nick Saban was not going to make it because he was bringing the Michigan State way to the south? I sometimes think coaching in the south has suffered due to the level of play offered by superior players. If you have awesome players, then the level of coaching does not really need to be as high as it is in another place where the players are not as athletic. After all, we had a guy like Gus who did very little to develop people yet still won because of putting the ball in the hands of superior athletes. We won a National Championship and competed for a 2nd due to having a lot of coaches who could recruit but not really coach (Trooper Taylor). Because the SEC has been so dominant, we tend to think we have the best coaches. While I think the SEC does have some good coaches, I don't think they have all of the best ones. I think Auburn got a very good one- for the first time since Coach Dye (Tubbs was solid, but prospered under a weak Alabama). I think there are going to be a lot of growing pains and fans are going to continue to be angry this season. It may be because for the first time in the players lives (the majority of them), they are receiving real developmental coaching. Bad habits have to be broken. Players got away with a lot of bad technique because they were superior athletes. They seem to be all over the place right now because they are trying to do the right thing, but old habits tend to rear their ugly head when stressful situations come about. The new ways have not been ingrained enough to become instinctual. That is probably why TJ looked better than Bo in the last game. TJ had better coaching at LSU than Bo had under Gus- he had fewer bad habits to hold him back. Maturity is still a very real issue. Can they develop enough so there is no drop off after a great performance (like in the 2nd game), or can they stay focused enough to not "look ahead" (as in last weeks game). People are going to see all the mistakes and think it is because of lack of coaching, when in reality it is because they are getting quality coaching for the first time. It will be a lot easier to see this when we are able to look at the improvement that happens over a whole season. Of course, there is always the possibility of the rails coming off but I am pretty confident that will not happen.

Quite possibly. It seems like it is coming up way too often.

From my understanding, it was a move that needed to be made and could be done right now due to Kiesau being on staff. C-Will, while a good coach and a great recruiter, came from a rather simple offensive system that used speed and simplicity to throw off defenses. It is entirely possible that while he is a promising young coach, he was out of his depth. That does not make him a bad person or a bad coach, just a bad fit. Bottom line- everything about the offense is struggling right now, but the WR's have been really abysmal. Kiesau is not only an outstanding WR coach, but a great OC as well. That means another set of eyes in addition to Bobo and Harsin, but this time he has more of a seat at the table. I also expect we will have the better players on the field more and way more accountability in the WR room.

I think it is valid to question if anyone can win a championship, until they do. He is absolutely the right man for the job right now. The problem we will see for a lot of people is are they willing to keep their emotions in check while he does what he needs to do. Like Harsin asked on Christmas Eve (AKA "Santa Claus time"): Do you want it done now, or do you want it done right?

Hard to think this was not the case. Normally this would lead to a potential upset. Couple that with coaches not being on the same page and you have the potential for an unmitigated disaster. As you pointed out, Alabama saw that when they played ULM in Saban's first year. Frankly, I am pleased AU came out with a win. It showed a lot of character. It also showed a lot of character from Harsin to hone in on (from his perspective) a major source of issue, and then deal with it swiftly.

I love the fact that Caddy and Ethridge are on staff. They are Auburn Men. Ethridge is one of my favorite players of all time. The leadership he showed coming back from his injury was instrumental to the championship season. That being said, it is a business. If they end up not being a fit in the end, then they are not fits. It would suck, but it is what it is. I would say that they have very high football IQs, so it probably won't be an issue. Zach played in pretty sophisticated defenses and Caddy played in pretty sophisticated offenses (he played for Chucky, who runs one of the most complicated offenses in the NFL). We do have to remember one thing- I don't think Harsin cares about anyone's feelings. He was hired to win and I think he is obsessed with doing that. Probably a good meme- "Harsin does not care about your feelings!"

I don't think we will ever know, but the possibility exists that the systems/programs he was involved in were not as hardcore into attention to detail like the program Harsin is trying to build. Sometimes people that are high achievers go into situations where everyone is a high achiever and you have to run full speed just to keep up. Think about any past comments for people who have worked for Saban or Belichick. Most coaches learned a ton working for those guys. Quite a few said they were miserable while doing it. Saban himself said working for Belichick was the worst four years of his life. The standards are very high. Some make it, some don't. Doesn't make them horrible people or coaches- just not the right culture fit.

Based on what I have heard from interviews and podcasts, the following seems like it is the most likely scenario: 1. Harsin wants his OC (Eric Kiesau) to follow him but Kiesau wanted to see if he would either be in contention for the HC or OC position in Boise (I can understand this- moving is horrible and why take a demotion when you can be the guy calling plays). 2. When neither position materialized, Kiesau joined the staff in February as an analyst (after all the positions had been filled). 3. A few other WR coaches did not pan out so Harsin hired a talented young receivers coach (C-Will) that had a history of coaching productive WR’s and had a great reputation among high school coaches in the SE. 4. C-Will served as WR coach for two no-huddle spread offensive “Guru’s” (Neal Brown and Chip Lindsey). 5. The two offenses, while a little more sophisticated than Malzahn’s offense, are no where near as sophisticated as the multiple pro set offenses employed by Harsin/Bobo. 6. It is a distinct possibility that C-Will may have had issues himself adjusting to the new offense (total conjecture) 7. What has been said is that the WR room was not held to a high enough standard for knowing the game plan week in and week out. 8. It has also been said that the WR room was not held to a high enough standard for enforcing attention to detail when it came to specific technique. 9. Obviously there were issues with the WR rotation during games, as well as ensuring the proper players were out there for the specific offensive packages. 10. There has also been mention of receivers running wrong routes because they are not proficient at reading coverages. 11. Once the problems with attention to detail became overwhelming, Harsin made the change. It is entirely possible that while C-Will is a great guy he may have been out of his element and not ready for the jump he was being asked to make. I think a lot of leeway may have been made just because of his reputation as a recruiter. There is a saying- Hire slow, fire fast. I don’t think this move happens if Kiesau is not already in Auburn. I think the hiring may have been Harsin taking a chance on a young stud with great recruiting credentials. I don’t think anything horrible or back handed happened. Just a case of someone not being able to carry out their responsibilities. Bottom Line- I don’t know if we will ever find out the real story. I certainly don’t know.

I was listened to the entire presser. He did kind of a run on sentence- he was not referring to just special teams. Obviously we all saw one play when it was on offense.

I just saw that he did not join AU until mid February, so that would explain why he was not in line for the WR position originally. I had heard he was waiting on a couple of other opportunities, but they did not pan out. He should be an upgrade, but it is hard to tell how much an impact he will be able to make and how fast he can make it.

He was actually a very good OC. The last couple of offenses he coordinated averaged over 400 yds per game and 30 PPG. That being said, he is a way better WR coach.

What I would like to see: Run up the score as fast as possible, THEN- put as many people in the critical need spots as possible (OL/WR) to see if there is someone in those groups who performs only "so-so" in practice but turns it on in an actual game. While I am a big believer that how you practice translates into how you perform the field, I do recognize that there are those who may not do well in practice but go "lights out" in front of a crowd.

This is the most interesting thread I have seen in my very short time on this board. Part "Days", Part "Master Chef", Part ESPN.

I would have been surprised if the PSU fans and AU fans did not get along. In the 2 years I lived in central PA, I met a lot of wonderful people. PSU and AU are very similar in a lot of respects (from a fan base perspective). Despite the issues the school and the athletics program had, the fan base has always prided itself in being very high character (like AU).

As I was- ball was catchable. Thanks for the clarification. In your opinion was it mainly Hudson not getting a clean release?

Ball looks uncatchable. Was Hudson held? His body positioning is confusing to me... did he fall down or was he "helped" down? (Wish I knew the rules better... maybe someone can enlighten me) Shenker and Tank were pretty open.