Trooper is gone

[TheBlueVue 177]

I think this comes down to a couple of things.

1. Gus thinks he can do better at the WR coach position. If that's the case, Troop would have to be at least bumped to another coaching position on the team.

2. There are whispers that Troop (but not him alone) was part of the discipline problem. He sometimes wanted to be the players' friend more than their coach or disciplinarian.

I have also heard that Gus and Troop didn't always see eye to eye back when he was here the last time in terms of philosophy. If that's the case, or even partly the case, Gus made the decision he had to make. Will it hurt recruiting? Probably. Hopefully Gus can replace him with a coach or coaches that can make up ground in that respect but balance it with holding kids accountable on and off the field.

Love the by-line BTW. But, I think all this concern over recuritng worries could be a little exaggerated. Auburn will be fine w/o Troop..JMO

[TheBlueVue 177]

I wish Trooper well. He has done well for himself and will continue to do well. I just hope he doesn't end up in the SEC but I am pretty confident that he will.

I am hoping that Gus will at least try and maybe pull D Craig from FSU? I don't know though seeing as how Gus will more than likely be coaching the QB's for the most part.

How would Gus know Craig? Just like in most businesses, networking is a big part of career moves. I dont see any connection with between DC and GM which does not mean he wont get him but, for fairly obvious reasons, I just doubt it happens

[auburnpride99 6]

I hope CGM gets another recruiter in place that is on the same level as TT.

Good luck with that. This is a mistake.

[vincem123 0]

I think this comes down to a couple of things.

1. Gus thinks he can do better at the WR coach position. If that's the case, Troop would have to be at least bumped to another coaching position on the team.

2. There are whispers that Troop (but not him alone) was part of the discipline problem. He sometimes wanted to be the players' friend more than their coach or disciplinarian.

I have also heard that Gus and Troop didn't always see eye to eye back when he was here the last time in terms of philosophy. If that's the case, or even partly the case, Gus made the decision he had to make. Will it hurt recruiting? Probably. Hopefully Gus can replace him with a coach or coaches that can make up ground in that respect but balance it with holding kids accountable on and off the field.

^^^^^^This. I dont care how many 5 star kids he could recruit. The majority of them didnt pan out once they arrived at auburn. Do we really want a team that has so much talent but never respected the coaching staff? As we have learned by this past season, with the off the field problems, security firm to enforce a curfew, arrests, shooting's.........its time to clean house.Not to mention the ncaa lurking once again. Good move by CGM. I support it.

[AUgrad00 7]

Ultimately I dont know more then Gus he is getting paid millions I am sideline quarterback so what the hell do I know but I am suprised honestly some of the staff was not retained. In particular Troop, Lup, Yox, Boulware and Grimes I though all those guys were good coaches.

[AU alum 2]

I wish he could get Craig away from FSU.

I was just thinking the same thing.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

We need someone like Craig who is a top recruiter & coach.

[AUWALT 10]

Ultimately I dont know more then Gus he is getting paid millions I am sideline quarterback so what the hell do I know but I am suprised honestly some of the staff was not retained. In particular Troop, Lup, Yox, Boulware and Grimes I though all those guys were good coaches.

Some could still be retained. I would rather have a good recruiter hired or retained before letting Trooper go. The recruits might bolt between Trooper leaving and new Or existing one announced staying.

[Wrights_Mill_Road 2]

TT was a great recruiter but poor developer. also, i never liked where he stepped in-between chizik and a player earlier this season nor his non-professional behavior on the field.

[kickerman97 3]

I wish Trooper well. He has done well for himself and will continue to do well. I just hope he doesn't end up in the SEC but I am pretty confident that he will.

I am hoping that Gus will at least try and maybe pull D Craig from FSU? I don't know though seeing as how Gus will more than likely be coaching the QB's for the most part.

How would Gus know Craig? Just like in most businesses, networking is a big part of career moves. I dont see any connection with between DC and GM which does not mean he wont get him but, for fairly obvious reasons, I just doubt it happens

College football is its own network. I would imagine that tons of these coaches know each other from recruiting against each other. It's like different companies calling on the same clients. You run into them most of the time. It certainly seems that Gus has a plan and if I had a guess, DC isn't part of it. It would be nice to get a former AU great who is a great recruiter. I'm just not confident on his QB developing ability. Like Troop or not, his departure will be felt in recruiting. I don't for one second believe he was not part of the problem though and his WR's have underachieved in my eyes the whole time. While we do need a WR coach now, the recruiting void left by Troop will be vast at least at first.

[aucanucktiger 1,794]

I understand this firing but it opens a couple huge questions. See the recruiting board for exact quotes but some of our biggest verbal commitments said things like "I love Auburn and hope Trooper stays". Do THEY stay w/ us now.

Bigger long term question: the life blood in successful college ball is recruiting. Horrible game day coaches (e.g. Frank Beamer, Phillip Fulmer, Larry Coker) win big and good ones (e.g. Tator Tot, Tyrone Willingham) crash & burn based on recruiting. I'm more interested in who will lead the Auburn recruiting charge than I was in this DC pick. (fwiw, Joker Phillips is a proven southern recruiter and very good position coach, notwithstanding his KY stint).

[chimesAU 89]

I'm really torn on this one. On one hand, I've heard(as Titan alluded to) that Troop was a large part of the discipline problem and our receiving corp has been less-than-stellar during Troop's time here. On the other hand, Trooper is one of the best recruiters in the country and has been pulling TOP talent in for years. I know the talent doesn't mean much if you don't develop it, but now we have "better" coaches in place to build on that raw talent, right? Guys like Foster, Lawson, Montravious Adams, Liner, etc are the types of players that you can build a program around. These guys make coaches look like geniuses ...a la bammer. Everyone says saban is a genius but look what the guy has to work with- He recruits the best players at their respective positions and simply doesn't "mess them up".

I realize there are plenty of other players out there and that no player should choose a school based on a particular assistant coach(especially one who isn't their position coach), but I hope we aren't kicking ourselves in a couple years when a couple of these guys turn out to be All-Americans.

[bird36 5]

I predict that half of the players that de-commit in the next few days will end up playing for Auburn. It will not be as bad as it seems today.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

I remember in the 80s we went through a bad season and coach Dye cleaned house. He got rid of a lot and in the end, it paid off. We won 2 SEC Championship and were co-champs in another one in the late 80s.

[muxi87 148]

All of the "holier than thou" crowd is getting their wish...

Just hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the arse. Mark me down for one that thinks it will.

I bet most of those wanting to clean house were also raising hell that Auburn couldn't get those "stars" during the Tuberville era.

Look at all the top dog recruiting schools: they al have a Garner, or Craig, or TT. You guys want a disciplinarian, but the fact is we're recruiting 16-18 year old KIDS. They want to feel like they're buddies with their recruiting coord. Heck, they want to stay at the "friend with the cool parents' house" after prom.

I'm all for discipline, but fact is, the teams that win in the SEC are the teams that are loaded with 4 and 5 * talent.

So next is the rebuttal that they're only as good as the coaching/development. Well, what's better: a coached up 5* or a coaches up 3*...? Not all pan out, but when you have a roster full of 4/5* guys, the odds are with you.

I'll admit, I was super excited to see what new coaches could do with the talent TT can bring in. I fear that we will see a huge downtick in recruiting unless we get someone to directly replace TT...and quickly.

[muxi87 148]

I predict that half of the players that de-commit in the next few days will end up playing for Auburn. It will not be as bad as it seems today.

I predict you are wrong. Just my $.02

[Chaotic_zx 1,046]

Auburn needed a culture change. I think it got one. A lot of us have been saying it but now we're seeing it. They did awesome things for AU but it is time to thank them and send them off into the sunset.

Disclaimer: I know nothing of the Auburn situation. Just my own experiences in health care.

I think a angle that hasn't been explored is the supervisor one. One of the most difficult things I had to deal with when I started supervising was the insubordination by the incumbents that I worked along with as peers. It's human nature to see them as equal. It could have been that I was 24 but it is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to deal within my career. A clear path of command had to be set for the sake of prosperity. For that reason alone, I feel it was best.

[WarAJEagle 5]

I won't be surprised if Georgia or Alabama hire TT, and he takes half the recruits that said they are "Committed to Coach Troop" with him. But regardless, it was a change that was needed.

[BayouMetoTiger 0]

Thanks for all your hard work and good luck Trooper.

[Charleston Tiger 134]

All of the "holier than thou" crowd is getting their wish...

Just hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the arse. Mark me down for one that thinks it will.

I bet most of those wanting to clean house were also raising hell that Auburn couldn't get those "stars" during the Tuberville era.

Look at all the top dog recruiting schools: they al have a Garner, or Craig, or TT. You guys want a disciplinarian, but the fact is we're recruiting 16-18 year old KIDS. They want to feel like they're buddies with their recruiting coord. Heck, they want to stay at the "friend with the cool parents' house" after prom.

I'm all for discipline, but fact is, the teams that win in the SEC are the teams that are loaded with 4 and 5 * talent.

So next is the rebuttal that they're only as good as the coaching/development. Well, what's better: a coached up 5* or a coaches up 3*...? Not all pan out, but when you have a roster full of 4/5* guys, the odds are with you.

I'll admit, I was super excited to see what new coaches could do with the talent TT can bring in. I fear that we will see a huge downtick in recruiting unless we get someone to directly replace TT...and quickly.

Don't we have to actually coach up the 5* talent to make this comparison? We haven't seen that yet...

[chimesAU 89]

People say that no player is "bigger than Auburn" and that "we'll be fine without them", but , in all seriousness, do y'all really think 2010 would've happened without Cam Newton? Or what if we'd had Cam but not Nick Nasty making all those big plays to bail out our D? Pushing the envelope a little farther...how would we have fared without a running threat like Dyer in 2010? I'd argue that without any of these 3 players we wouldn't have gone undefeated and therefor not been in the National Championship hunt. We would've been a very solid team, but not National Champions.

Recruiting means more than many would like to admit and we just fired one of the top recruiters in the country with nobody in place to fill the void....

[LegalEagle 22]

I understand this firing but it opens a couple huge questions. See the recruiting board for exact quotes but some of our biggest verbal commitments said things like "I love Auburn and hope Trooper stays". Do THEY stay w/ us now.

Bigger long term question: the life blood in successful college ball is recruiting. Horrible game day coaches (e.g. Frank Beamer, Phillip Fulmer, Larry Coker) win big and good ones (e.g. Tator Tot, Tyrone Willingham) crash & burn based on recruiting. I'm more interested in who will lead the Auburn recruiting charge than I was in this DC pick. (fwiw, Joker Phillips is a proven southern recruiter and very good position coach, notwithstanding his KY stint).

I like the fact that Gus is not letting recruits dictate his coaching staff.

[IronMan70 3,277]

Well then I guess we will see how many recruits want to come to Auburn and contribute to making the football team as good as it can be. Quite frankly, when a defensive player is more concerned whether an offensive coach will or will not be at Auburn, the priorities are skewed. There is no confusion about that now and its obvious that Gus is creating a no nonsense football program at Auburn.

[AUTigers001 0]

Maybe Gus knows something we don't... about Taylor or about who he plans to have recruitng. I'm on record here as saying that I was underwhelmed by the Malzahn hire, but I am very impressed with how he is going about business so far.

WDE!

[madkat7 233]

IMHO, Gus is clearly in charge, for better or worse. That is something we wanted is it not?