AU's Committment not to be second fiddle to anyone

[rockfordpi 91]

So many AU fans seem to be stressed over the current state of AU football. Our arch rival just beat us badly at home and we lost badly to 3 SEC rivals on the road.  We just had a prize recruit switch from us to UAT, and now our arch rival is playing for the NC.

I am not here to say that ANY of the above is good or something of which to be proud. What I am going to do is remind our people that the powers that be at Auburn have made a commitment that AU football is not now nor is it going to be second fiddle to ANYONE.

To understand this, you have to go back to the 1970’s when we lost 9 in a row to UAT. There were a LOT of reasons for this, but one of the main ones was the lack of commitment AU had to its football program.  We, as did most of the major D1 programs, still treated college football as amateur intercollegiate athletics. 

However, UAT was ahead of the curve when it came to investing in their program and moving it from the traditional realm of college athletics into the world of big sports business where all programs are today. They hired more coaches, signed more players, and built better facilities. In fact, many NCAA rules, like scholarship limitations, limited practice time, limited coaching staffs, elimination of athletic dorms and cafeterias, were implemented at least partly because of the excesses at UAT.

At the same time, we were still playing all of our big games 2 hours away in Birmingham (essentially UAT’s home stadium). In the mid to late 70’s,  the powers that be at AU decide they have had enough and they made a commitment that AU was NOT GOING TO BE SECOND FIDDLE TO ANYONE.

They built the upper deck on Jordan Hare Stadium and moved ALL their games home. They offered Vince Dooley 1 million dollars (that was Saban type money in those days) to come home to coach and he turned them down. They then turned to a fiery coach named Pat Dye, a former Bryant Disciple and assistant.

Bryant told Dye before he took the AU job that Dye would not beat him. Dye responded to Bryant “Coach, that may be true, but you ain’t going to be here forever and I may not beat you, but I will beat whoever takes your place”.  I can think of no better words to sum up the beginning of the modern era of AU football. Dye brought in Bo Jackson and built the second upper deck at Jordan Hare Stadium. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, why am I repeating all this ancient history that 95% of the people here already know? To make the point, no matter how stressed some fans are about the state of our program, AU has made a commitment to big time football and not to be second fiddle to UAT, UT, LSU, UGA, or anyone else.

Not only has Auburn made that commitment, they have lived up to it and should have earned our trust by now. We are 17-14 vs UAT since 1981, We have had 3 undefeated seasons, we have won 255 games since 1981 and UAT has won 255 games (unless if you figure vacated wins, but I am not even going to be so petty as to go there).

Our leadership has also done a much better job overall at hiring and managing coaches than those guys across the state. Though they have not been perfect, they have earned my trust in that respect.

Keep in mind that the powers at UAT have always had a strong commitment to their program as well. Those that expect to dominate them and beat them every year and for every recruit are out of touch and are destined to live about 50% of their life disappointed (as are the out of touch Bammers that think the opposite).

We won a NC last year. Nobody is happy with this year’s record. However, we also lost 24 seniors and 2 all world underclassmen to the NFL.  Think about it this way, we signed 25 players last year, we only lose 6 or so seniors this year, and we can still sign 25 players and remain under the 85 limit. What does that say about our roster numbers?

Even so, our record this past year was right about, if not a little better, than what the experts and realistic fans predicted/expected. In my mind, our record was BETTER than our talent level. We did not lose 5 games because of problems with/on our coaching staff, we WON 7 games because our coaching staff was as good as it was.

What we can’t do is allow that minority of unrealistic and out of touch fans bring the rest of us down. We don’t need to fall into that rut that our whole future is tied to one certain OC or DC hire, or one prize recruit. We can’t fall into that mode of wanting to fire a HC, Coordinator, or position coach every time the team does not live up to someone’s unrealistic expectations.

The powers that be at AU have made the commitment, we have the leadership in place, trust them, they have a good track record, we are and will be fine; the future is bright.

War Eagle

[gAUlf 1]

I think i'm going to print this out and handed to some folks I know. War Eagle!

[A.U.ScholarDad 0]

Very well said!  I am exited to watch our upcoming bowl game. I am excited about the next few years. I'm excited to see our young talent mature and become stars. I'm excited for the two coordinators who will come in and mold this talent. I'm excited to be able to overcome this short term blip for the long term success of the program.  I'm excited to be able to say to the doubters and naysayers, "I told you so." I'm excited to be an Auburn fan through thick and thin! I'm excited to say War Eagle!

[bikeriderga 134]

So many AU fans seem to be stressed over the current state of AU football. Our arch rival just beat us badly at home and we lost badly to 3 SEC rivals on the road.  We just had a prize recruit switch from us to UAT, and now our arch rival is playing for the NC.

I am not here to say that ANY of the above is good or something of which to be proud. What I am going to do is remind our people that the powers that be at Auburn have made a commitment that AU football is not now nor is it going to be second fiddle to ANYONE.

To understand this, you have to go back to the 1970’s when we lost 9 in a row to UAT. There were a LOT of reasons for this, but one of the main ones was the lack of commitment AU had to its football program.  We, as did most of the major D1 programs, still treated college football as amateur intercollegiate athletics. 

However, UAT was ahead of the curve when it came to investing in their program and moving it from the traditional realm of college athletics into the world of big sports business where all programs are today. They hired more coaches, signed more players, and built better facilities. In fact, many NCAA rules, like scholarship limitations, limited practice time, limited coaching staffs, elimination of athletic dorms and cafeterias, were implemented at least partly because of the excesses at UAT.

At the same time, we were still playing all of our big games 2 hours away in Birmingham (essentially UAT’s home stadium). In the mid to late 70’s,  the powers that be at AU decide they have had enough and they made a commitment that AU was NOT GOING TO BE SECOND FIDDLE TO ANYONE.

They built the upper deck on Jordan Hare Stadium and moved ALL their games home. They offered Vince Dooley 1 million dollars (that was Saban type money in those days) to come home to coach and he turned them down. They then turned to a fiery coach named Pat Dye, a former Bryant Disciple and assistant.

Bryant told Dye before he took the AU job that Dye would not beat him. Dye responded to Bryant “Coach, that may be true, but you ain’t going to be here forever and I may not beat you, but I will beat whoever takes your place”.  I can think of no better words to sum up the beginning of the modern era of AU football. Dye brought in Bo Jackson and built the second upper deck at Jordan Hare Stadium. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, why am I repeating all this ancient history that 95% of the people here already know? To make the point, no matter how stressed some fans are about the state of our program, AU has made a commitment to big time football and not to be second fiddle to UAT, UT, LSU, UGA, or anyone else.

Not only has Auburn made that commitment, they have lived up to it and should have earned our trust by now. We are 17-14 vs UAT since 1981, We have had 3 undefeated seasons, we have won 255 games since 1981 and UAT has won 255 games (unless if you figure vacated wins, but I am not even going to be so petty as to go there).

Our leadership has also done a much better job overall at hiring and managing coaches than those guys across the state. Though they have not been perfect, they have earned my trust in that respect.

Keep in mind that the powers at UAT have always had a strong commitment to their program as well. Those that expect to dominate them and beat them every year and for every recruit are out of touch and are destined to live about 50% of their life disappointed (as are the out of touch Bammers that think the opposite).

We won a NC last year. Nobody is happy with this year’s record. However, we also lost 24 seniors and 2 all world underclassmen to the NFL.  Think about it this way, we signed 25 players last year, we only lose 6 or so seniors this year, and we can still sign 25 players and remain under the 85 limit. What does that say about our roster numbers?

Even so, our record this past year was right about, if not a little better, than what the experts and realistic fans predicted/expected. In my mind, our record was BETTER than our talent level. We did not lose 5 games because of problems with/on our coaching staff, we WON 7 games because our coaching staff was as good as it was.

What we can’t do is allow that minority of unrealistic and out of touch fans bring the rest of us down. We don’t need to fall into that rut that our whole future is tied to one certain OC or DC hire, or one prize recruit. We can’t fall into that mode of wanting to fire a HC, Coordinator, or position coach every time the team does not live up to someone’s unrealistic expectations.

The powers that be at AU have made the commitment, we have the leadership in place, trust them, they have a good track record, we are and will be fine; the future is bright.

War Eagle

Only one word I can use to comment on this post,

AMEN!!!

[Chaotic_zx 1,051]

They hired more coaches, hired more players, and built better facilities.

I would only change one word.

[Budapesttiger 2]

I'm so happy you posted this. I was thinking about something very similar the last few days. But, this is a great way to look at the state of AU football.

I would add one thing - college football moves in cycles.

2008 - rough year, lost a lot of games, coaching change;

2009 - rough year, new coaches getting feet on the ground, new head coach hired excellent assistants, felt the energy building, finished with superb recruiting class;

2010 - Nick, Cam, senior heavy roster, great coaching, finished with superb recruiting class

2011 - rough year, underclassman heavy roster, assistant coaching changes, new head coach looking for excellent assistant coaches, will finish with third superb recruiting class in a row

2012, 13, 14 - excellent recruiting classes begin to bear fruit, excellent assistant coaches come to Auburn, recruiting remains superb

The current state of affairs is part of the growing pains but in no way means Auburn has lost any ground. We're still gaining ground. The record of 2011 was just part of the cycle. Now that recruiting and coaching are both in sync it's likely we see much better AU football teams in the near future.

Thanks Rockfordpi for the great post

[ww 0]

Thanks, that is one of the best posts I have read in a very long time.  War Eagle

[around4ever 4,139]

Nice job rockford!! 

[AUBourne 425]

I don't usually read your posts because 99% of them are only to defend bammer (I read this one before I realized who posted).  Your OP danced around the fact that uat built their program on corruption but the over all point was still valid and well reasoned.  Which is support the AU leadership while they attempt to do things right. And I do so because I think we do things the honorable way and that one day the NCAA, or out of state media will eventually catch the REC and bring them down.

BTW Saban and bammer vacated wins because they cheated to get them, so no, they do not count. 

[auburntiger77 0]

TAKEN FROM ANOTHER SITE: does ot include 2011 (30 year period)

Very critical info for bama lurkers and/or AU fans giving bama's program too much credit.

This info has been posted many times, but if you doubt its validity, feel free to check it yourself:

National Titles since 1981

Auburn: 1 (2010)

Alabama: 2 (1992, 2009)

SEC Titles since 1981

Auburn: 6 (1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2004, 2010)

Alabama: 5 (1981, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2009)

Undefeated Seasons

Auburn: 3 (1993, 2004, 2010)

Alabama: 2 (1992, 2009)

Iron Bowl Wins

Auburn: 17 (1982, 1983 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010)

Alabama: 13 (1981, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009)

Wins since 1981

Auburn: 254 (11 nationally)

Alabama: 226 (22nd nationally)

SEC Wins Since 1981

Auburn: 141

Alabama: 129

Bowls Since 1981

Auburn: 22 (15-6-1)

Alabama: 19 (12-7)

Heisman Trophy Winners since 1981

Auburn: 2

Alabama: 1

NCAA Probations since 1981

Auburn: 1

Alabama: 3

[bigbird 60,596]

Thank you, Rock!

[aujess07 4]

One of the best posts I've read in a long, long time. 

[NA Tiger 0]

OUTSTANDING POST, sir !!!! Thank you, it helped ME put some things back in perspective.

[au75 75]

Great post ROCK.  How everyone is ALL IN. 

[AU64 10,122]

Good job Rock....you rock 

[T1GEREYES 10]

[Cat4AU 0]

Great post. Thanks you !    :wedance:

[DyeEraTiger 0]

Thanks for reminding us Rockford. We need to remember that the program is in good hands now. Things don't happen as fast as most of us would like but I think CGC is looking for  longer term solutions--which I like.

[Barkchevious 75]

Good stuff.  Great timing for the post.

[SumterAubie 3,033]

The OP is excellent.

[fourthvision 0]

AUsome post rock! Great stats 77!

[doc4aday 1,887]

I could not agree more!!!!  I am pissed that we lost a prize recruit to bammer....I mean really pissed. CGC & staff needs to send a message to the nasty little halfling that we are coming after your top prize recruits with a force that you have never seen before. We will get back our prize recruit and will take at least 2 other prize recruits from you. We will re-write the book on how to get the top prized recruits in Alabama. If we have to do this every year, then so be it. If Auburn makes life hard enough on Saban to the point of absolute misery, he will retire and leave bammer in  a place that they were at before Saban came to UAT. Now that is what we should go for!

[im4aual 489]

I couldn't agree more.  Great post