A Word from Jay Jacobs - December 2015

[RunInRed 19,612]

Turning the calendar to 2016 is an opportune time for a quick look ahead and some brief reflection about where we’ve been.

It’s also a time for me to thank the Auburn Family.

We are working hard every day to make Auburn University the best school for the best athletes in the nation. That takes a serious commitment to hire and support the best coaches. It also requires a significant investment in world-class facilities and cutting-edge support resources to create the best student-athlete experience anywhere.

Smart planning and an outstanding staff are vitally important, but you are the key.

Your generous financial support and presence at athletic events is critical. You are the reason we are able to support our coaches at the highest level. You are the reason we are able to give our student-athletes every opportunity to grow, develop and compete on the field and the courts, in the pool and in the classroom. My goal is to help our students succeed in college – and in life.

With your continued help and financial support, Auburn will be the best university for the best athletes in the nation. This will continue to be my commitment as Director of Athletics.

So thank you for helping us make Auburn a special place for those who represent us.

Looking ahead

In January, I will give a speech in which I announce my goals for 2016. Winning and providing the best student-athlete experience anywhere will continue to be our focus, among other goals. I look forward to sharing more goals and specifics with the Auburn Family in those remarks.

While we are never complacent, overall I’m pleased with where we are. This is why:

• We have arguably the best group of coaches overall we’ve ever had at Auburn. They are proven winners who understand our goal is to be consistent and compete for championships.
  
• We have a record number of student-athletes with a 3.0 or higher GPA.
  
• Financially, Auburn Athletics is on very solid ground. We finished the most recent Fiscal Year with record revenues and an operating surplus of $6.9 million.
  
• Our new apparel contract with Under Armour ranks among the top five apparel deals in the nation, and we look forward to announcing a ground-breaking multimedia rights deal soon.
  
• We have sold out of football season tickets two years in a row, and basketball season tickets sold out once again this year.
  
• Auburn is currently in the longest stretch in school history with no major NCAA violations. We are committed to a culture of compliance, but it takes daily vigilance and all of us are committed to that.
  

Potential JHS renovation

You are likely aware of preliminary plans for a potential renovation in the North End Zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium. As we said in a recent release about a survey shared with some of our season ticket holders, the findings will ultimately determine whether a major renovation can move forward.

The feasibility phase must show significant interest and financial support for the project to happen. The renovation is designed to improve amenities and the flow in the stadium for all fans while also creating more premium seating options and club-style amenities in high demand. You can read more about the plans and the survey HERE.

Because of your support and thoughtful strategic planning by a talented staff, we now have outstanding facilities and the best support personnel and resources anywhere. There are too many to mention here, but our significant investment in the student-athlete experience is paying off for recruiting and for our current student-athletes, who work hard at two full-time jobs as students and athletes.

A few of the areas we’ve invested in include mentoring and academic support, a $6.5 million Wellness Kitchen and a cutting-edge nutrition program. Over the past few years, we have renovated or built new strength and conditioning facilities overseen by outstanding staff, we have expanded our sports medicine support and we have recently added and continue to expand resources such as a team psychologist to make sure we are taking care of our athletes’ overall well-being.

On the right track

While the 2015 football season fell short of expectations, Auburn football is in capable hands and is being supported at the highest level. Coach Malzahn is building the program the right way, and the goal is to get to a level where we can win with consistency, which has been a challenge throughout the history of Auburn football.

We have 21 sports, and most are thriving or on the way up. We had 17 of 21 teams make postseason play last year. Soccer enjoyed the best year in school history this fall. Both of our basketball programs are on the rise, with Coach Pearl’s team taking on the toughest preseason schedule in memory in preparation for conference play. Coach Flo’s team has been playing at a high level as they also gear up for SEC action.

Tickets are sold out for softball, and we are working on short and long-term actions to accommodate the remarkable surge in interest in one of the most exciting sports on campus. Of course our gymnastics team had one of its best seasons in history last year, and we look forward to watching a younger team compete in Auburn Arena in 2016.

In good hands

Auburn baseball is in good hands with Coach Butch Thompson, who is the right man at the right time to lead our program. Coach Thompson is one of the best recruiters in the country with a proven track record of developing the talent he attracts. Our baseball staff now includes the last two national assistant coaches of the year. Auburn baseball will be fun to watch the next few years as Butch leads our program back to prominence.

Our men’s golf team is ranked #1 in the nation and our outstanding equestrian team has also been ranked #1 in the country recently.

Our swimming and diving teams are also off to a great start. Volleyball improved again this year and had several program-defining wins. We are making investments to ensure it gets the resources coaches and student-athletes deserve. Those are just a few of our sports performing well.

Auburn being Auburn

My hope is you and your family enjoyed the holidays. If you did not get a chance to watch the new War Eagle Productions video of Schmid Elementary School’s Auburn experience and how it changed both of us, it would be worth your time. You can see it

.

The video reminds me that giving back and making a difference for future generations is what’s really important. We will continue to love and support the Schmid scholars even as we plan new ways to reach more schools in the coming years. I believe community service is an integral part of the student-athlete experience. It will continue to be an important part of what we do because it is who we are.

I hope to see many of you at the Birmingham Bowl on Wednesday. I appreciate the many fine leaders and volunteers who have been great ambassadors for the Magic City and wonderful hosts for our team.

Thanks again for making the financial sacrifices to support our programs. We could not do it without you.

Happy New Year, God Bless and War Eagle!

Jay

[augolf1716 22,478]

Have to highlight this

Our men’s golf team is ranked #1 in the nation

[aujeff11 6,243]

Waiting for A4E's response since he is the president of Anti-Jay Jacobs forumite club.

[EagleReedle 17]

I like Jay Jacobs, I respect him. here comes the lambasting.

[PUB78 1,523]

I like Jay, too, but our major sports, football (Yoyo) , basketball, baseball, women's BB haven't been up to par during his tenure. Softball has finally turned around thanks to the new coach.

[AU-HANDLEY-TIGER 205]

I saw one figure that assured me he is doing a great job a 6.9 million dollar surplus.

[Elephant Tipper 431]

Have to highlight this

Our men’s golf team is ranked #1 in the nation

Assuming these are the end of season rankings:

http://rankings.golfweek.com/rankings/default.asp?T=mt

Rank Name Rating Events Sked (Rank) W L T W L T W L T W L T 1 Auburn 68.97 4 71.10 (8) 18 3 1 28 3 1 41 3 1 44 3 1 2 Illinois 69.06 4 71.78 (30) 12 4 0 24 4 0 31 4 0 47 4 0 3 Wake Forest 69.26 5 71.42 (18) 21 3 1 33 3 1 54 3 1 62 3 1 4 Florida State 69.45 4 70.79 (3) 18 8 0 32 8 0 42 8 0 44 8 0 5 Stanford 69.73 4 70.96 (5) 14 11 2 27 12 2 40 12 2 44 12 2 6 North Carolina 69.89 4 71.53 (21) 4 11 1 10 12 1 25 13 1 34 13 1 7 Alabama 69.94 5 71.09 (7) 8 15 0 23 18 1 39 18 1 45 18 1 8 Southern California 69.97 3 71.35 (16) 11 8 1 14 10 1 25 11 1 31 11 1 9 Oklahoma 69.99 5 71.34 (15) 8 16 1 21 17 1 37 17 1 49 17 1 10 Texas 70.07 3 70.69 (2) 10 13 2 17 15 2 25 15 2 27 15 2

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Yada Yada Yada

[logan adams 333]

The survey for the stadium renovation was sent out to a few people out of a very large pool. When, and if, will this survey become public? I would definitely donate money, but I can't show my support for the project without taking the survey.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

[augolf1716 22,478]

lol

[cooltigger21 0]

Things aren't perfect but it's not the disaster that many want to make it out to be. That 6.9 million dollar surplus is no insignificant matter.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Things aren't perfect but it's not the disaster that many want to make it out to be. That 6.9 million dollar surplus is no insignificant matter.

The buck starts and stops with football & to a degree basketball. Lets see what happens next year before we all hold hands and recite the creed.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

I've met Jay and he's a fine person, but that in no way makes him good AD

[doc4aday 1,887]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

[cooltigger21 0]

Things aren't perfect but it's not the disaster that many want to make it out to be. That 6.9 million dollar surplus is no insignificant matter.

The buck starts and stops with football & to a degree basketball. Lets see what happens next year before we all hold hands and recite the creed.

Fire everyone. Tear it down and start over

[wdefromtx 4,222]

Things aren't perfect but it's not the disaster that many want to make it out to be. That 6.9 million dollar surplus is no insignificant matter.

The buck starts and stops with football & to a degree basketball. Lets see what happens next year before we all hold hands and recite the creed.

Fire everyone. Tear it down and start over

[DAG 36,505]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

There is not one single DC in the college ranks worth that much and that includes WMC.

[AU64 10,122]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

There is not one single DC in the college ranks worth that much and that includes WMC.

That's especially true if it's your (or my) money that being paid out....on the other hand....the athletic department money is "free" and if fans want to hire someone, the $$$ should be no issue......and if the hiree does not turn out well, just fire him and look for someone else.

Looking more and more like the only reason to take job at AU is get an immediate and huge jump in pay....and if they fire you after a year or two you can cry all the way to the bank with the contract buyout.

[wdefromtx 4,222]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

There is not one single DC in the college ranks worth that much and that includes WMC.

That's especially true if it's your (or my) money that being paid out....on the other hand....the athletic department money is "free" and if fans want to hire someone, the $$$ should be no issue......and if the hiree does not turn out well, just fire him and look for someone else.

Looking more and more like the only reason to take job at AU is get an immediate and huge jump in pay....and if they fire you after a year or two you can cry all the way to the bank with the contract buyout.

[PUB78 1,523]

Yes, our Athletic Department does seem to richly reward failure and underachievement very well.

[keesler 6,037]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

Doc, you posted a list of DC candidates the other day.....Pray tell, which of those candidates do YOU feel like is worth $1.6 million?

[wdefromtx 4,222]

We could have better or we could have worse. On a 1-10 scale, I would give Jay a 7. I think this is a fair enough rating. I do hope he has conferred with Gus and has told him to hire the best DC out there, and will allow up to 1.6 million for the coach Gus hires.

Money talks and can do wonderful things with regard to hiring the best DC we can get, whoever Gus chooses.

Doc, you posted a list of DC candidates the other day.....Pray tell, which of those candidates do YOU feel like is worth $1.6 million?

I am not on the list....but I could be a DC for 1.6 Million. Where do I sign and how big is my buyout when I fail?

[AUIH1 1,515]

Pretty much and the chances that Jay Jacobs actually wrote that tripe himself is less than 10%.

wde

[CJBas 4]

Things aren't perfect but it's not the disaster that many want to make it out to be. That 6.9 million dollar surplus is no insignificant matter.

The buck starts and stops with football & to a degree basketball. Lets see what happens next year before we all hold hands and recite the creed.

As of now it looks like next year will be a disaster.