The word on the Search

[AUbritt 611]

-Final decision expected on Wednesday

-One trusted sources strongly believes it will be Petrino while another trusted source says it will not be Petrino.

-Reality is if Petrino is not interviewed today or officially contacted today for an interview tomorrow then his chances will go down dramatically.

-Interviews with Smart and Gus both went very well.

-Clemson OC Chad Morris will interview today.

As with all these kind of matters things can change at a moments notice but I just wanted to take a few minutes to provide the best update I could. WAR EAGLE!

I'd be very happy with Gus, Smart or Morris. All are fresh faces with a lot of up-side. Auburn is one of the top ten programs in the country. We can get a good coach without the humiliation of hiring a hooligan such as Petrino.

I think I'd be happier with Smart or Gus than with Morris, though. If they do want a spread offense, then Gus seems like a no-brainer. On the other hand, Smart is kind of a "Boom" hire, insofar as he is vaguely comparable to Muschamp (without the 'head coach in waiting' tag).

[Eustace Conway 8]

-Final decision expected on Wednesday

-One trusted sources strongly believes it will be Petrino while another trusted source says it will not be Petrino.

-Reality is if Petrino is not interviewed today or officially contacted today for an interview tomorrow then his chances will go down dramatically.

-Interviews with Smart and Gus both went very well.

-Clemson OC Chad Morris will interview today.

As with all these kind of matters things can change at a moments notice but I just wanted to take a few minutes to provide the best update I could. WAR EAGLE!

I'd be very happy with Gus, Smart or Morris. All are fresh faces with a lot of up-side. Auburn is one of the top ten programs in the country. We can get a good coach without the humiliation of hiring a hooligan such as Petrino.

If we are truly a top 10 program why would we have to settle for Gus, Smart or Morris?

[icanthearyou 4,462]

The Chad Morris interview throws up some red flags for me. here is a guy whose name was never thrown around and all of a sudden he's interviewed? I'm worried this might mean malzahn somehow said no but recommended a friend. Why would we go after the protege when we think the teacher is avaliable? I doubt we get Patterson, doesn't seem like he's ready to tear out of TCU and TCU has said they'll keep him at even the highest cost. Today TOSs reported the Petrino might get the last interview but that he is starting to "cool". Regardless of his faults if JJ's plan was to go get the proven head coach why wouldn't we had started with petrino? I'm concerned that our leadership (shocker) doesn't have the balls to get petrino and take the heat for it, asked malzahn but got rejected, and knowing patterson is unlikely won't try too hard to get him (sounds very JJ like), and so know we are left with coordinators with no HC experince to lead us at a time when we are falling fast to maybe the bottom 4 of the entire SEC. I have a feeling this is the disaster we all felt might happen with JJ still involved. Why would we contact Morris when we have the more experienced, "master" version in talks with us? I think it can only mean Malzahn said no and we are screwed.

Scares me that Malzahn may have turned us down. If he did, it may be an indication that problems go much deeper than just Chizik.

[JMassie11 1,610]

At the moment we aren't a top 10 program

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Aight E...

IF we settle for on of the "unprovens" (and that's a big IF), would you think that K. Smart would be the better candidate? I sure as heck would...!!!

I do because I trust Coach Dye's opinion on coaches. He looks at Smart to Saban a lot like him under Bear Bryant. When we hired Chiz in 2008 Dye wanted Muschamp , which we now see would have been a great choice, but Jacobs wanted Chizik. When Jacobs picked Chiz Dye backed Jacobs for support.

I respect Coach Dye - but why does his opinion or support matter at all? And what about all the new blood among the boosters and ptb, what input if any are they having on the search, I would expect a lot of them would like to see AU move away from the old guard of Dye and many others.....

[AU-24 3,087]

Rivals is reporting Gus is on the rise and Petrino has fallen (kind of like his pants)

I was wondering if anyone had any scoop on this. Only the free stuff is below:

http://auburn.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=1429902&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=

[Tiger4life25 74]

-Final decision expected on Wednesday

-One trusted sources strongly believes it will be Petrino while another trusted source says it will not be Petrino.

-Reality is if Petrino is not interviewed today or officially contacted today for an interview tomorrow then his chances will go down dramatically.

-Interviews with Smart and Gus both went very well.

-Clemson OC Chad Morris will interview today.

As with all these kind of matters things can change at a moments notice but I just wanted to take a few minutes to provide the best update I could. WAR EAGLE!

I'd be very happy with Gus, Smart or Morris. All are fresh faces with a lot of up-side. Auburn is one of the top ten programs in the country. We can get a good coach without the humiliation of hiring a hooligan such as Petrino.

If we are truly a top 10 program why would we have to settle for Gus, Smart or Morris?

Good question but there is a deep down mind set that we are not a top 10 program and never will be or want to be, some how the mind set of some has to be changed.

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

I could get on board with Smart. I hope whoever thr hire is they can get us back to the defense that I grew up watching. I know the game has changed but I will never come to terms with someone scoring 30-50 pts against us, even if we win.

You play to win the game...Saban just gave up over 30 to UGA....would you prefer to play good defense and win lose 7-3?

[PoetTiger 1,896]

My problem is neither Smart nor Malzahn are proven head coaches! This is not the time to gamble with unprovens!

It appears most proven guys are holding steady at their jobs....am

[Tiger4life25 74]

Patterson is not my first choice but this hire if it could be him would go along way to pulling us together and a great PR move. We need a coach that the media respects and likes.

I hope there is truth to this

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

The infamous AES Beechcraft from Tallassee has been in Fort Worth for 4 hours........just saying. I searched back four months and Alabama to Fort Worth has not been a route over the last four months until last week.

[AUbritt 611]

"We will move as quickly as possible in our search for a new Head Coach, guided by the benchmarks President Gogue and I expect. Those benchmarks are a track record as a proven winner, a commitment to playing within the rules and student-athlete academic success." - Jay Jacobs

Gus Malzahn

Kirby Smart

Chad Morris

Bobby Petrino

SMH @ Jay Jacobs....

I think some folks are misreading "a track record as a proven winner" as "a track record as a proven head coach." Now, maybe that's what we need; but that's not what the criteria say.

Personally, I'd be happiest with Patterson. But both Gus and Kirby have track records as proven winners and so fit that criterion.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Do you really think he would mess up again? Really? If we let someone else hire him then we are behind another team especially if he kid hired inside the SEC.

Maybe...but we don't know what skeletons are in his closet and can't trust him to tell the truth

[PoetTiger 1,896]

The Chad Morris interview throws up some red flags for me. here is a guy whose name was never thrown around and all of a sudden he's interviewed? I'm worried this might mean malzahn somehow said no but recommended a friend. Why would we go after the protege when we think the teacher is avaliable? I doubt we get Patterson, doesn't seem like he's ready to tear out of TCU and TCU has said they'll keep him at even the highest cost. Today TOSs reported the Petrino might get the last interview but that he is starting to "cool". Regardless of his faults if JJ's plan was to go get the proven head coach why wouldn't we had started with petrino? I'm concerned that our leadership (shocker) doesn't have the balls to get petrino and take the heat for it, asked malzahn but got rejected, and knowing patterson is unlikely won't try too hard to get him (sounds very JJ like), and so know we are left with coordinators with no HC experince to lead us at a time when we are falling fast to maybe the bottom 4 of the entire SEC. I have a feeling this is the disaster we all felt might happen with JJ still involved. Why would we contact Morris when we have the more experienced, "master" version in talks with us? I think it can only mean Malzahn said no and we are screwed.

Scares me that Malzahn may have turned us down. If he did, it may be an indication that problems go much deeper than just Chizik.

^^^^^^^

[JMassie11 1,610]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

The infamous AES Beechcraft from Tallassee has been in Fort Worth for 4 hours........just saying. I searched back four months and Alabama to Fort Worth has not been a route over the last four months until last week.

STALKER

[wdefromtx 3,159]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

The infamous AES Beechcraft from Tallassee has been in Fort Worth for 4 hours........just saying. I searched back four months and Alabama to Fort Worth has not been a route over the last four months until last week.

STALKER

Somebody has to do it!LOL

[DyeHardAllTheWay 0]

TCU fans claim there is a huge raise and extension in place for Patterson and he'll accept it. Starting to gain traction in the circle of TCU's sports writers.

[AU-24 3,087]

Of course, as with every candidate, Patterson certainly has his cons. As much of a disciplinarian he is on the field, Patterson's discipline off the field has proved to be quite lax. Earlier this year, four TCU football players were arrested for their involvement in a drug ring on the Fort Worth campus -- the players were caught selling marijuana to undercover police officers. With the off-field issues Auburn has dealt with in recent years, the idea of hiring a guy with off-field issues of his own isn't exactly comforting.

If you like Patterson, you probably shouldn't get your hopes up, and if you don't like him, you can probably rest easy. This really feels like a smokescreen. Patterson interviewed for the Auburn job in 2008, and it is believed that talks with athletics director Jay Jacobs didn't go well. With Jacobs still in the AD position at Auburn, it's unlikely Patterson would entertain an offer this time around. Plus, there is a lot of money in the pockets of TCU boosters, and with Patterson being incredibly popular, they would be willing to pony up whatever would be needed to keep him. Frankly, Patterson is a god in Fort Worth, and it's tough to pry a god away from a program.

In addition to Patterson's rumored issues with Jacobs and TCU's significant coffers, the latest rumor on Texas message boards is Mack Brown could be out as Longhorns head coach ($), and if that's true, Patterson may be the desired replacement. It's almost unfathomable that Patterson, with his deep roots in Texas, would turn down the Longhorns in favor of the Tigers. Even if all that is false, we still wouldn't bet on Patterson moving to the Plains.

Who knows, maybe there is credibility to this rumor, but we're awfully skeptical at this point.

[AU-24 3,087]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

Any links to this?

[beagle34 72]

I think Gus would be the biggest BOOM hire of them all. He is the only one who can accomplish all the objectives we seek.

Gus all the way

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

This thread has really disapponted me. Typical........ The more this drags out the more sick I get about it.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

TCU fans claim there is a huge raise and extension in place for Patterson and he'll accept it. Starting to gain traction in the circle of TCU's sports writers.

Well hopefully that plane is there to negotiate with his agent, before the official flight arrives to pick him up! One could hope.

[blueridge 29]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

The infamous AES Beechcraft from Tallassee has been in Fort Worth for 4 hours........just saying. I searched back four months and Alabama to Fort Worth has not been a route over the last four months until last week.

This may just mean that Patterson is being interviewed in Ft Worth. It may mean nothing. Fans of Arky and Tennessee are being tormented by similar rumors concerning other "big name" coaches, e.g., Petersen, Gruden, and Charlie Strong, who have allegedly been signed, sealed, and not delivered. When it turns out that there is no truth to the story, they flip out and curse their school's administration for being fools and incompetents. Most people recognize these rumors for what they are, but seem to forget this when the rumor is something they really want to hear. If Patterson gets the job-great. But I wouldn't bank on it.

[imsoauburn 0]

Scouts premium board claiming that Patterson was hired. A lot of tweets blowing up too that the AU plane is headed back down to Fort Worth.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BE TRUE!

From everything else I have seen it would be a GREAT surprise. Apparently, Auburn wants to run the spread and we haven't even hired a coach yet! HIRE A FREAKING COACH AND LET HIM DECIDE IDIOTS!