a few thoughts from an old timer

[minus200 0]

I am old enough to have played for Vince Dooley. (yes while he was at Auburn) so yes I am old. I have not been active in many years so coming out of the woodwork at this point is a little out of character but I am concerned with what I consider an image problem for the AU athletic program. My 1st real disappointment recently was Marsh leaving and there appeared to be no public reason for his departure even with the public release of information about him and the Olympics. Most would agree there is no way that AU could not have worked around that and let him resume normal coaching duties when he was done with that. You people do understand that this man was the most successful college coach of all time in ANY sport. He FAR outpaced J Wooten of UCLA basketball fame. Swimming is a non-revenue sport but I dont believe for one second that money was the reason for his departure. The only place that I know to look is at the management of the athletic department or alumni with meddling (which I doubt) in his program.

When I take a look at the overall athletic programs, I see nothing but decline. There may be one or two that are doing better but the major sports do not seem to be improving. I have no idea why but that is not my job but like any businessman, I would look at the people in charge. Our facilities appear to be as good as any at any NCAA school overall and better than all but a few so funding does not seem to be the problem. I was never a big fan of the amount of control for one big time banker but he did write large checks and demanded results from the people cashing those checks. At this point I think it is time for the BOD to take a hard look at people running our programs. I don’t claim to have magic answers but the direction of the program might need a course correction. Now for my concern about our image.

Most of this will be about the football program and some of it has to due with a won/loss record but that is mostly a by-product. My 1st question has to do with Cam Newton. Can you imagine even in your wildest dreams that Tommy Tuberville would have recruited him? BE HONEST - most of you are familiar with his history before he arrived at the plains. Take a look at the increase in the number of "thugs" on our football team. Yes I know there have been a lot of "less than perfect" young men enroll in the past but TT and Pat Dye had them shape up or before we knew it - they were gone. The graduation rate under TT was something we could be proud of and if kids ignored warnings and punishment - they were soon no longer AU students. The school was rarely embarrassed by criminal acts or serious misbehavior and we were proud to have most of the young men in our Auburn family. Is that as true today? Next - coaching. I have one simple statement and I said this when our current coach was hired -THERE IS A REASON A COACH HAS A 5-19 RECORD - our responsibility is to find out why. I wish I could hope that things will get better - but I just don’t believe it will. I would bet over the next few years that under current conditions that graduation rates will decline to program threatened status. Discipline and effort are required to graduate and our current group does not seem to have those qualities. My highlight of this year was the effort against LSU even with the loss. I expect effort in the games and on the practice field even if the players lack talent. I am sure we have the nucleus of a fine football team with just a few glaring weak spots. We have few top notch back ups but our won/loss record leaves only one conclusion if our players base is ok. Some of our weakness is at important positions but I have seen no schemes to help “cover” our weakness in these areas so I tend to blame coaching for the disappointing on field performance. What really scares me about all this is we have had several fine recruiting classes and I am having bad feelings about why. Yes I do understand we have some fine recruiting coaches but I hope these people have not strayed from NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Do I have solutions? Probably not, but what I do have are some suggestions. The 1^st ones many here might agree with. JJ needs to retire and we need to revoke Pat Dye’s (God I like that man) parking permit. Since I do not think that GC is a solution to our on AND off field problems we need to begin a search for a new coach. This is where I depart from most people’s idea of whom we need to hire. A model would be a coach like Pat Dye – he won at East Carolina – he won at Wyoming – these schools never had winning programs and he won there and it did not take him long and darn few people had EVER heard of Pat Dye. There are a number of YOUNG coaches that can coach but the pressure cooker of top SEC programs require much more and he must have the ability to “handle” the alumni and especially the big money boys and girls. I think the maximum age should be 35 and our search committee should have the ability and enough interview time with prospects to tell if he can handle the intangibles. There is no need to start this coach at $3-$4 million but once he is hired –it is IMPERATIVE we leave him alone for AT LEAST 5 years. (Yes, I know GC has not been here 5 years but his record would have never qualified him for an interview) Our new coach needs time to develop relationships with high school coaches, the press and the many “friend of the program”. Without the relationships, the program will fail. He will make errors and alienate a few AU people but he must have the character to overcome his mistakes. Twenty years ago nobody ever heard of Frank Beamer and certainly would not worry about a victory over Va Tech. He was coach there for many years before the program became successful and there are examples all over the country where longevity breeds’ success and Auburn will be a lot easier to build a program without the 10+ years required at lesser known schools without a football tradition.

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

[CJ Bas 0]

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

Excellent. Thanks for that. Very well laid out and of excellent character.

I'm not old enough to have been in school when you were but I am old enough that I may have seen you play on Vince Dooley's freshmen teams when I was in junior high. War Eagle, my friend.

[UAH Tiger 0]

I know a few D-1 players and they would disagree with you. They said our problems are that we have too many good boys on the team and not enough thugs. They said every great team has them and the coaches job is to keep them out of trouble and let them lead on the field. If you had a thug or two starting on the offense you would see better play this year and less quit out of that bunch.

I respectfully disagree with the direction you want to take the coaching leadership. I'm sorry i'm not paying the money i'm asked to pay currently for season tickets and a TUF donation for 8 win seasons. I want an established head coach that can go out and win at least 10 games a season and always be in the race. Auburn is top 14 winning program of all time and it's time we start demanding the results from the coaching staff.

Another thing, kids are not coming to Auburn for the education they are coming for a shot at landing in the pros and having an NFL career. Most kids could care less about graduating early on, the smart ones wake up and come back and finish their degree later on.

[johnnyAU 3,581]

minus2000, I wish we had more fans with your perspective and demeanor.

You can make valid arguments for both approaches for the search for a new HC. Gene Chizik is the right kind of man for the job, but his teams aren't getting it done on the field, off the field or in the classroom. The results tell the whole story.

We all thought after 2010 that the future looked bright at Auburn. Maybe it still does, but who knew it would get this dark first? It's not all about the football team. We spent major $$$ on a new basketball facility a few years back and our BB team is still one of the worst in the league, not to mention the issues with players involved in the whole betting/score fixing deal. Our baseball team hasn't improved significantly either. I went to see them play against Vandy and there was a stark difference in talent in hitting and pitching. They didn't look to be in the same league. I like coaches Barbee and Pawlowski too, but we're not exactly getting it done either.

The issues at Auburn need to be fixed at the root level, and quickly if we expect any real progress.

[PapaWill 0]

I am old enough to have played for Vince Dooley. (yes while he was at Auburn) so yes I am old. I have not been active in many years so coming out of the woodwork at this point is a little out of character but I am concerned with what I consider an image problem for the AU athletic program. My 1st real disappointment recently was Marsh leaving and there appeared to be no public reason for his departure even with the public release of information about him and the Olympics. Most would agree there is no way that AU could not have worked around that and let him resume normal coaching duties when he was done with that. You people do understand that this man was the most successful college coach of all time in ANY sport. He FAR outpaced J Wooten of UCLA basketball fame. Swimming is a non-revenue sport but I dont believe for one second that money was the reason for his departure. The only place that I know to look is at the management of the athletic department or alumni with meddling (which I doubt) in his program.

When I take a look at the overall athletic programs, I see nothing but decline. There may be one or two that are doing better but the major sports do not seem to be improving. I have no idea why but that is not my job but like any businessman, I would look at the people in charge. Our facilities appear to be as good as any at any NCAA school overall and better than all but a few so funding does not seem to be the problem. I was never a big fan of the amount of control for one big time banker but he did write large checks and demanded results from the people cashing those checks. At this point I think it is time for the BOD to take a hard look at people running our programs. I don’t claim to have magic answers but the direction of the program might need a course correction. Now for my concern about our image.

Most of this will be about the football program and some of it has to due with a won/loss record but that is mostly a by-product. My 1st question has to do with Cam Newton. Can you imagine even in your wildest dreams that Tommy Tuberville would have recruited him? BE HONEST - most of you are familiar with his history before he arrived at the plains. Take a look at the increase in the number of "thugs" on our football team. Yes I know there have been a lot of "less than perfect" young men enroll in the past but TT and Pat Dye had them shape up or before we knew it - they were gone. The graduation rate under TT was something we could be proud of and if kids ignored warnings and punishment - they were soon no longer AU students. The school was rarely embarrassed by criminal acts or serious misbehavior and we were proud to have most of the young men in our Auburn family. Is that as true today? Next - coaching. I have one simple statement and I said this when our current coach was hired -THERE IS A REASON A COACH HAS A 5-19 RECORD - our responsibility is to find out why. I wish I could hope that things will get better - but I just don’t believe it will. I would bet over the next few years that under current conditions that graduation rates will decline to program threatened status. Discipline and effort are required to graduate and our current group does not seem to have those qualities. My highlight of this year was the effort against LSU even with the loss. I expect effort in the games and on the practice field even if the players lack talent. I am sure we have the nucleus of a fine football team with just a few glaring weak spots. We have few top notch back ups but our won/loss record leaves only one conclusion if our players base is ok. Some of our weakness is at important positions but I have seen no schemes to help “cover” our weakness in these areas so I tend to blame coaching for the disappointing on field performance. What really scares me about all this is we have had several fine recruiting classes and I am having bad feelings about why. Yes I do understand we have some fine recruiting coaches but I hope these people have not strayed from NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Do I have solutions? Probably not, but what I do have are some suggestions. The 1^st ones many here might agree with. JJ needs to retire and we need to revoke Pat Dye’s (God I like that man) parking permit. Since I do not think that GC is a solution to our on AND off field problems we need to begin a search for a new coach. This is where I depart from most people’s idea of whom we need to hire. A model would be a coach like Pat Dye – he won at East Carolina – he won at Wyoming – these schools never had winning programs and he won there and it did not take him long and darn few people had EVER heard of Pat Dye. There are a number of YOUNG coaches that can coach but the pressure cooker of top SEC programs require much more and he must have the ability to “handle” the alumni and especially the big money boys and girls. I think the maximum age should be 35 and our search committee should have the ability and enough interview time with prospects to tell if he can handle the intangibles. There is no need to start this coach at $3-$4 million but once he is hired –it is IMPERATIVE we leave him alone for AT LEAST 5 years. (Yes, I know GC has not been here 5 years but his record would have never qualified him for an interview) Our new coach needs time to develop relationships with high school coaches, the press and the many “friend of the program”. Without the relationships, the program will fail. He will make errors and alienate a few AU people but he must have the character to overcome his mistakes. Twenty years ago nobody ever heard of Frank Beamer and certainly would not worry about a victory over Va Tech. He was coach there for many years before the program became successful and there are examples all over the country where longevity breeds’ success and Auburn will be a lot easier to build a program without the 10+ years required at lesser known schools without a football tradition.

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

More need to read your post.......thanks!

[tbone4jc 2,129]

I agree with 100% of what is posted in the opening statement however, other than what you stated, my main concern is that there seems to be absolutely no passion with Coach Chizik . I wish there were a way to have a coach who could teach like Tuberville and recruit like Chizik. I

[WarAJEagle 5]

One of the best posts on this forum....ever. War Eagle sir.

[AUBourne 425]

Like your post overall. However I would have Cam over to my house any time he wanted. He bought a stolen laptop. I forgive him. As for why AU competes in foootball the goal should be to have a top 5 program that competes for titles every season. If 8 wins a year is a goal then they should stop charging for tickets. But striving for mediocrity is not the AU way.

[au78ua88 0]

I am a generation removed from PapaWill, but share many of his beliefs. I hate to hire a new coach, as it almost guarentees two or three years of pain, but the current staff is not getting it done. We have heard its not the X's and O's but the Jimmys and Joes, well looks like we can put that to bed as talent is NOT the issue. It is possible a new coach could turn this team around quickly ala Zook/Meyer. I would hope so.

WHAT WE DO NOT NEED is Petreno. Remember character DOES count. CGC may have too much but we know CBP has way too little. I agree with Papa.we need to find a young rising star and give them the chance to grow and the time to overcome, but first we need replace the current leadership (JJ). Let the new AD conduct the search.

I love to win but not at all cost.

I think CGC is a great human being but he has proven to be a below average head coach and it is time to move on. I fully expected to lose a number if games this season BUT I expected to see moments of brilliance and a slightly better team each week. We are seeing nether. With the talent we have that can only mean poor coaching. Only one way to fix poor coaching.

[tigertill 0]

War Eagle Sir. Thanks for your post.

[AuMarine 1,355]

Being an oldtimer myself, I agree with you. I thought when JJ let Marsh get away.. it was really telling. I also was shocked beyond belief when I heard Chizik would be our new HC.. We actually interviewed someone with a 5-19 record. You are correct, he should not have been given consideration but that all goes back on our current AD. We have great players who are not being coached up to their potential. IMO the only way we can get back to greatness is to clean house. I am not under the opinion that it will set us back 3 to 4 years. I do believe there are coaches out there that can come in and take the talent we have and win. However, if we do not make a change at AD, then yes I would never trust him to make a decision on who our next HC should be and you are right about the setback.. it would be huge.

[around4ever 4,136]

Agree about JJ. I do think the men's basketball program is on the upswing if we can hold on to Coach Barbee. The Mens and Womens Swimming team is still very good. The Mens and Womens Golf program is better than average but not great. Mens and Womens Soccer are average. The rest of the Athletics Program is in a downward spiral. I know Jay Jacobs is an Auburn man and I know he loves Auburn University. I just am not sure he is qualified to run an Athletic Department as large as Auburn and with a budget as large as Auburn. It is time to bring in an outsider with a successful track record as an Athletic Director at the D1 level. Jacobs is too close to the football program and is not seeing it clearly or sees it clearly but is too close to do anything about it.

[war_eagle80 0]

I really appreciate your post... finally a great deal of logic wrapped around love for AU. I think I was starting to fall into the "dependency of a national championship" (e.g. we owe Chiz syndrome) until your post woke me up... Thank you.

[NCTiger 0]

Agree on JJ and our sports programs under his management.

Agree on Chizik, needing to make a move.

Disagree strongly on 8-9 wins being acceptable. I simply don't understand why I get the vibe from so many Auburn fans that to consistently compete for the SECC & NC and WIN THEM we have to throw the CREED out the window.

War Eagle !

[jj3jordan 1,906]

I am old enough to have played for Vince Dooley. (yes while he was at Auburn) so yes I am old. I have not been active in many years so coming out of the woodwork at this point is a little out of character but I am concerned with what I consider an image problem for the AU athletic program. My 1st real disappointment recently was Marsh leaving and there appeared to be no public reason for his departure even with the public release of information about him and the Olympics. Most would agree there is no way that AU could not have worked around that and let him resume normal coaching duties when he was done with that. You people do understand that this man was the most successful college coach of all time in ANY sport. He FAR outpaced J Wooten of UCLA basketball fame. Swimming is a non-revenue sport but I dont believe for one second that money was the reason for his departure. The only place that I know to look is at the management of the athletic department or alumni with meddling (which I doubt) in his program.

When I take a look at the overall athletic programs, I see nothing but decline. There may be one or two that are doing better but the major sports do not seem to be improving. I have no idea why but that is not my job but like any businessman, I would look at the people in charge. Our facilities appear to be as good as any at any NCAA school overall and better than all but a few so funding does not seem to be the problem. I was never a big fan of the amount of control for one big time banker but he did write large checks and demanded results from the people cashing those checks. At this point I think it is time for the BOD to take a hard look at people running our programs. I don’t claim to have magic answers but the direction of the program might need a course correction. Now for my concern about our image.

Most of this will be about the football program and some of it has to due with a won/loss record but that is mostly a by-product. My 1st question has to do with Cam Newton. Can you imagine even in your wildest dreams that Tommy Tuberville would have recruited him? BE HONEST - most of you are familiar with his history before he arrived at the plains. Take a look at the increase in the number of "thugs" on our football team. Yes I know there have been a lot of "less than perfect" young men enroll in the past but TT and Pat Dye had them shape up or before we knew it - they were gone. The graduation rate under TT was something we could be proud of and if kids ignored warnings and punishment - they were soon no longer AU students. The school was rarely embarrassed by criminal acts or serious misbehavior and we were proud to have most of the young men in our Auburn family. Is that as true today? Next - coaching. I have one simple statement and I said this when our current coach was hired -THERE IS A REASON A COACH HAS A 5-19 RECORD - our responsibility is to find out why. I wish I could hope that things will get better - but I just don’t believe it will. I would bet over the next few years that under current conditions that graduation rates will decline to program threatened status. Discipline and effort are required to graduate and our current group does not seem to have those qualities. My highlight of this year was the effort against LSU even with the loss. I expect effort in the games and on the practice field even if the players lack talent. I am sure we have the nucleus of a fine football team with just a few glaring weak spots. We have few top notch back ups but our won/loss record leaves only one conclusion if our players base is ok. Some of our weakness is at important positions but I have seen no schemes to help “cover” our weakness in these areas so I tend to blame coaching for the disappointing on field performance. What really scares me about all this is we have had several fine recruiting classes and I am having bad feelings about why. Yes I do understand we have some fine recruiting coaches but I hope these people have not strayed from NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Do I have solutions? Probably not, but what I do have are some suggestions. The 1^st ones many here might agree with. JJ needs to retire and we need to revoke Pat Dye’s (God I like that man) parking permit. Since I do not think that GC is a solution to our on AND off field problems we need to begin a search for a new coach. This is where I depart from most people’s idea of whom we need to hire. A model would be a coach like Pat Dye – he won at East Carolina – he won at Wyoming – these schools never had winning programs and he won there and it did not take him long and darn few people had EVER heard of Pat Dye. There are a number of YOUNG coaches that can coach but the pressure cooker of top SEC programs require much more and he must have the ability to “handle” the alumni and especially the big money boys and girls. I think the maximum age should be 35 and our search committee should have the ability and enough interview time with prospects to tell if he can handle the intangibles. There is no need to start this coach at $3-$4 million but once he is hired –it is IMPERATIVE we leave him alone for AT LEAST 5 years. (Yes, I know GC has not been here 5 years but his record would have never qualified him for an interview) Our new coach needs time to develop relationships with high school coaches, the press and the many “friend of the program”. Without the relationships, the program will fail. He will make errors and alienate a few AU people but he must have the character to overcome his mistakes. Twenty years ago nobody ever heard of Frank Beamer and certainly would not worry about a victory over Va Tech. He was coach there for many years before the program became successful and there are examples all over the country where longevity breeds’ success and Auburn will be a lot easier to build a program without the 10+ years required at lesser known schools without a football tradition.

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

I may not have the timing exactly correct about who was recruiting Cam Newton, but I am pretty sure we recruited Cam heavily out of high school. We just lost the battle to Florida and Urban Meyer. TT may not have recruited him but I thought he was still here when Cam was a junior/senior in HS.

[NCTiger 0]

I am old enough to have played for Vince Dooley. (yes while he was at Auburn) so yes I am old. I have not been active in many years so coming out of the woodwork at this point is a little out of character but I am concerned with what I consider an image problem for the AU athletic program. My 1st real disappointment recently was Marsh leaving and there appeared to be no public reason for his departure even with the public release of information about him and the Olympics. Most would agree there is no way that AU could not have worked around that and let him resume normal coaching duties when he was done with that. You people do understand that this man was the most successful college coach of all time in ANY sport. He FAR outpaced J Wooten of UCLA basketball fame. Swimming is a non-revenue sport but I dont believe for one second that money was the reason for his departure. The only place that I know to look is at the management of the athletic department or alumni with meddling (which I doubt) in his program.

When I take a look at the overall athletic programs, I see nothing but decline. There may be one or two that are doing better but the major sports do not seem to be improving. I have no idea why but that is not my job but like any businessman, I would look at the people in charge. Our facilities appear to be as good as any at any NCAA school overall and better than all but a few so funding does not seem to be the problem. I was never a big fan of the amount of control for one big time banker but he did write large checks and demanded results from the people cashing those checks. At this point I think it is time for the BOD to take a hard look at people running our programs. I don’t claim to have magic answers but the direction of the program might need a course correction. Now for my concern about our image.

Most of this will be about the football program and some of it has to due with a won/loss record but that is mostly a by-product. My 1st question has to do with Cam Newton. Can you imagine even in your wildest dreams that Tommy Tuberville would have recruited him? BE HONEST - most of you are familiar with his history before he arrived at the plains. Take a look at the increase in the number of "thugs" on our football team. Yes I know there have been a lot of "less than perfect" young men enroll in the past but TT and Pat Dye had them shape up or before we knew it - they were gone. The graduation rate under TT was something we could be proud of and if kids ignored warnings and punishment - they were soon no longer AU students. The school was rarely embarrassed by criminal acts or serious misbehavior and we were proud to have most of the young men in our Auburn family. Is that as true today? Next - coaching. I have one simple statement and I said this when our current coach was hired -THERE IS A REASON A COACH HAS A 5-19 RECORD - our responsibility is to find out why. I wish I could hope that things will get better - but I just don’t believe it will. I would bet over the next few years that under current conditions that graduation rates will decline to program threatened status. Discipline and effort are required to graduate and our current group does not seem to have those qualities. My highlight of this year was the effort against LSU even with the loss. I expect effort in the games and on the practice field even if the players lack talent. I am sure we have the nucleus of a fine football team with just a few glaring weak spots. We have few top notch back ups but our won/loss record leaves only one conclusion if our players base is ok. Some of our weakness is at important positions but I have seen no schemes to help “cover” our weakness in these areas so I tend to blame coaching for the disappointing on field performance. What really scares me about all this is we have had several fine recruiting classes and I am having bad feelings about why. Yes I do understand we have some fine recruiting coaches but I hope these people have not strayed from NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Do I have solutions? Probably not, but what I do have are some suggestions. The 1^st ones many here might agree with. JJ needs to retire and we need to revoke Pat Dye’s (God I like that man) parking permit. Since I do not think that GC is a solution to our on AND off field problems we need to begin a search for a new coach. This is where I depart from most people’s idea of whom we need to hire. A model would be a coach like Pat Dye – he won at East Carolina – he won at Wyoming – these schools never had winning programs and he won there and it did not take him long and darn few people had EVER heard of Pat Dye. There are a number of YOUNG coaches that can coach but the pressure cooker of top SEC programs require much more and he must have the ability to “handle” the alumni and especially the big money boys and girls. I think the maximum age should be 35 and our search committee should have the ability and enough interview time with prospects to tell if he can handle the intangibles. There is no need to start this coach at $3-$4 million but once he is hired –it is IMPERATIVE we leave him alone for AT LEAST 5 years. (Yes, I know GC has not been here 5 years but his record would have never qualified him for an interview) Our new coach needs time to develop relationships with high school coaches, the press and the many “friend of the program”. Without the relationships, the program will fail. He will make errors and alienate a few AU people but he must have the character to overcome his mistakes. Twenty years ago nobody ever heard of Frank Beamer and certainly would not worry about a victory over Va Tech. He was coach there for many years before the program became successful and there are examples all over the country where longevity breeds’ success and Auburn will be a lot easier to build a program without the 10+ years required at lesser known schools without a football tradition.

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

I may not have the timing exactly correct about who was recruiting Cam Newton, but I am pretty sure we recruited Cam heavily out of high school. We just lost the battle to Florida and Urban Meyer. TT may not have recruited him but I thought he was still here when Cam was a junior/senior in HS.

Cam was very interested in Auburn, but Tubs told him Burns was going to be our QB. Meyer did not take him from us. Tubs also turned down Phillip Rivers because he had an awkward throwing motion they did not think would work out at the collegiate level. Interesting how these situations worked out.

[gulftiger66 161]

I don' buy into the "sky is falling" school of thought where the prevailing ideas would have Auburn make wholesale changes to the Athletic Dept and coaching staff to right the ship.

I certainly would not want to be a frequent visitor to this or other forums during the aforementioned change process, if it in fact it takes place. I remember well the Petrinogate affair and the support for Turner Gill (who would have been a disaster). My thought is that meaningful change usually comes through evolutionary change, not revolutionary change. I also know that the evolutionary process is much too slow for most Internet posters who want instant gratification. I say keep up the strong recruiting and work harder to make the changes necessary to overcome execution mistakes that are currently being made. I don't like our present season anymore than any other AU fan but I see the turmoil of wholesale changes as being chaotic and very detrimental to the program for the next few years.

War Eagle.

[alexava 6,946]

if the sky is not falling it never will.

[alexava 6,946]

minus200, you would make a perfect Vanderbilt fan. you would fit in fine with the other 15000 of them.

[johnnyAU 3,581]

I don' buy into the "sky is falling" school of thought where the prevailing ideas would have Auburn make wholesale changes to the Athletic Dept and coaching staff to right the ship.

I certainly would not want to be a frequent visitor to this or other forums during the aforementioned change process, if it in fact it takes place. I remember well the Petrinogate affair and the support for Turner Gill (who would have been a disaster). My thought is that meaningful change usually comes through evolutionary change, not revolutionary change. I also know that the evolutionary process is much too slow for most Internet posters who want instant gratification. I say keep up the strong recruiting and work harder to make the changes necessary to overcome execution mistakes that are currently being made. I don't like our present season anymore than any other AU fan but I see the turmoil of wholesale changes as being chaotic and very detrimental to the program for the next few years.

War Eagle.

The problem is that the program is evolving in wrong direction, and the AD is the one choosing the path.

[BARNER 3]

Great post, didn't find anything in there that makes you a "Vanderbilt fan", more of a concerned Auburn fan that wants more for AU.

Also agree that a coach who has a track record of success in building programs but not job hopping would be great.

War Eagle!

[FHeal 4]

I am old enough to have played for Vince Dooley. (yes while he was at Auburn) so yes I am old. I have not been active in many years so coming out of the woodwork at this point is a little out of character but I am concerned with what I consider an image problem for the AU athletic program. My 1st real disappointment recently was Marsh leaving and there appeared to be no public reason for his departure even with the public release of information about him and the Olympics. Most would agree there is no way that AU could not have worked around that and let him resume normal coaching duties when he was done with that. You people do understand that this man was the most successful college coach of all time in ANY sport. He FAR outpaced J Wooten of UCLA basketball fame. Swimming is a non-revenue sport but I dont believe for one second that money was the reason for his departure. The only place that I know to look is at the management of the athletic department or alumni with meddling (which I doubt) in his program.

When I take a look at the overall athletic programs, I see nothing but decline. There may be one or two that are doing better but the major sports do not seem to be improving. I have no idea why but that is not my job but like any businessman, I would look at the people in charge. Our facilities appear to be as good as any at any NCAA school overall and better than all but a few so funding does not seem to be the problem. I was never a big fan of the amount of control for one big time banker but he did write large checks and demanded results from the people cashing those checks. At this point I think it is time for the BOD to take a hard look at people running our programs. I don’t claim to have magic answers but the direction of the program might need a course correction. Now for my concern about our image.

Most of this will be about the football program and some of it has to due with a won/loss record but that is mostly a by-product. My 1st question has to do with Cam Newton. Can you imagine even in your wildest dreams that Tommy Tuberville would have recruited him? BE HONEST - most of you are familiar with his history before he arrived at the plains. Take a look at the increase in the number of "thugs" on our football team. Yes I know there have been a lot of "less than perfect" young men enroll in the past but TT and Pat Dye had them shape up or before we knew it - they were gone. The graduation rate under TT was something we could be proud of and if kids ignored warnings and punishment - they were soon no longer AU students. The school was rarely embarrassed by criminal acts or serious misbehavior and we were proud to have most of the young men in our Auburn family. Is that as true today? Next - coaching. I have one simple statement and I said this when our current coach was hired -THERE IS A REASON A COACH HAS A 5-19 RECORD - our responsibility is to find out why. I wish I could hope that things will get better - but I just don’t believe it will. I would bet over the next few years that under current conditions that graduation rates will decline to program threatened status. Discipline and effort are required to graduate and our current group does not seem to have those qualities. My highlight of this year was the effort against LSU even with the loss. I expect effort in the games and on the practice field even if the players lack talent. I am sure we have the nucleus of a fine football team with just a few glaring weak spots. We have few top notch back ups but our won/loss record leaves only one conclusion if our players base is ok. Some of our weakness is at important positions but I have seen no schemes to help “cover” our weakness in these areas so I tend to blame coaching for the disappointing on field performance. What really scares me about all this is we have had several fine recruiting classes and I am having bad feelings about why. Yes I do understand we have some fine recruiting coaches but I hope these people have not strayed from NCAA recruiting guidelines.

Do I have solutions? Probably not, but what I do have are some suggestions. The 1^st ones many here might agree with. JJ needs to retire and we need to revoke Pat Dye’s (God I like that man) parking permit. Since I do not think that GC is a solution to our on AND off field problems we need to begin a search for a new coach. This is where I depart from most people’s idea of whom we need to hire. A model would be a coach like Pat Dye – he won at East Carolina – he won at Wyoming – these schools never had winning programs and he won there and it did not take him long and darn few people had EVER heard of Pat Dye. There are a number of YOUNG coaches that can coach but the pressure cooker of top SEC programs require much more and he must have the ability to “handle” the alumni and especially the big money boys and girls. I think the maximum age should be 35 and our search committee should have the ability and enough interview time with prospects to tell if he can handle the intangibles. There is no need to start this coach at $3-$4 million but once he is hired –it is IMPERATIVE we leave him alone for AT LEAST 5 years. (Yes, I know GC has not been here 5 years but his record would have never qualified him for an interview) Our new coach needs time to develop relationships with high school coaches, the press and the many “friend of the program”. Without the relationships, the program will fail. He will make errors and alienate a few AU people but he must have the character to overcome his mistakes. Twenty years ago nobody ever heard of Frank Beamer and certainly would not worry about a victory over Va Tech. He was coach there for many years before the program became successful and there are examples all over the country where longevity breeds’ success and Auburn will be a lot easier to build a program without the 10+ years required at lesser known schools without a football tradition.

If we only win 8-9 (not my goal) games a years with a high graduation rate and young men that you would be happy to have come into your home – then I can live with that. I would like to beat Alabama and Georgia regularly and win some SEC and National championships but I don’t care to do it at a cost that downgrades AU. I hope we never take the attitude that so many fans of the school across the state that we MUST WIN AT ANY COST. Win and lose with class and never have the win at all cost fans that embarrass our school like we see regularly from another school in this state

War Eagle

While I may not totally agree with everything you wrote, there seems to be a volume of truth in your words.

Thanks, for the mighty fine effort. This was something well thought out, articulate, and spoken without hatred or malice. Will be looking forward to any more post. Such level headedness should be heard from, and it was appreciated.

[IronMan70 3,271]

minus200

I am 64 and an Auburn Alum, here is my perspective. Several of your points I agree with some I do not.

I disagree that we would not have recruited Cam. If we did it would have been a mistake. He kept his nose clean at Blinn College for a year, earning him a second chance. That was validated by the fact that Cam demonstrated nothing but exemplary behavior the entire time he was at Auburn. Enough with that issue.

I also don't agree that 8 wins should be the goal for Auburn football. The goal should be SEC Championships, National Championships and 10 win seasons. I could write a book on that but I will leave it there.

I do agree that the talent is on the team, the players are not the problem. Coaching is the problem on everything from fundamentals to putting players in position to take advantage of their talents. I think evidence of that is the willingness to allow Auburn football to set all time high defensive scoring records for the program 3 years in a row. At least BVG has been brought in and with him an attitude that is beginning to show some movement towards the Auburn defenses of old. We better not let him get away from us.

I would also agree that a change in HC is warranted. With regard to that, I think part of being an Auburn man is doing what is best for Auburn. To that end if GC is an Auburn man he should recognize the reality of the situation and do what is best for Auburn. He should step aside at this time because of the current state of the program. But, I also think that once a person recognizes that he is not doing what is best for Auburn in his present job, I believe his talents should be utilized to benefit Auburn.

An effort should be made to retain him in some capacity such as recruiting or as an Asst. to the AD. He is very good at recruiting and certain administrative tasks. This would allow for a smoother transition without all the angst. Then, BVG should be appointed the interim HC for the rest of the year. This allows less upheaval for the players, gives BVG a try out period, enables the program to be run by an aggressive no nonsense coach and gives Auburn the best chance to keep these '13 defensive recruits he has worked so hard to put together. He might even surprise us by doing a great job while he gets people focused on the future.

I feel the same way about JJ. He is a good Auburn man but he also needs to recognize that he needs to do what is best for Auburn, step aside, but be retained in some position at Auburn that is advantageous for the University. My overall feeling is that there is no need for upheaval over all of this as long as all parties involved put the interests of Auburn first. We expect players to suck it up and do what is best for Auburn if they get demoted. Coaches and ADs should do no less IF they are true Auburn men. If they are not, then we must deal with that reality.

[oldman 23]

I know a few D-1 players and they would disagree with you. They said our problems are that we have too many good boys on the team and not enough thugs. They said every great team has them and the coaches job is to keep them out of trouble and let them lead on the field. If you had a thug or two starting on the offense you would see better play this year and less quit out of that bunch.

I respectfully disagree with the direction you want to take the coaching leadership. I'm sorry i'm not paying the money i'm asked to pay currently for season tickets and a TUF donation for 8 win seasons. I want an established head coach that can go out and win at least 10 games a season and always be in the race. Auburn is top 14 winning program of all time and it's time we start demanding the results from the coaching staff.

Another thing, kids are not coming to Auburn for the education they are coming for a shot at landing in the pros and having an NFL career. Most kids could care less about graduating early on, the smart ones wake up and come back and finish their degree later on.

and I disagree with everything you say

[jordanharehaint 16]

Very well said, IronMan.