next Head Coach

[DAG 34,002]

15 hours ago, bigbird said:

If BB is the hang up, how about Kirk Ferentz?  .596 overall record in 19 years. Pretty comparable to TT's .618 in 21 years

 

Either way, they are average coaches.

I agree with this. We have had average to above average coaches at AU. No idea why people want to stick with this process for fear of what to come in the future.

[DyeCampAlum 335]

I think a good argument can be made for Strong. I'm not suggesting he's better than other possible options, but I see his Texas issues as being about that particular environment. Otherwise, his head coaching record is terrific. He took over a Louisville program that had just imploded and led them to the highest level they've ever achieved. (It's been matched but not bettered.) And what's going on now at USF is exactly what we'd want to see from him at Auburn: taking talent and winning with it.

So I'm assuming that others know something about his time at Texas that I don't. Because Texas is one weird environment.

[bigbird 60,577]

11 minutes ago, DyeCampAlum said:

I think a good argument can be made for Strong. I'm not suggesting he's better than other possible options, but I see his Texas issues as being about that particular environment. Otherwise, his head coaching record is terrific. He took over a Louisville program that had just imploded and led them to the highest level they've ever achieved. (It's been matched but not bettered.) And what's going on now at USF is exactly what we'd want to see from him at Auburn: taking talent and winning with it.

So I'm assuming that others know something about his time at Texas that I don't. Because Texas is one weird environment.

Strong failed miserably to build relationships with the Texas HS coaches and failed to communicate with them even worse.  That was his biggest problem. He eventually had to hire Jeff Traylor from Gilmer to kind of be a go between between his staff and the HS coaches. I've worked with Traylor a little and he said he didn't like the position Strong put him in, but when UT comes calling you don't turn them down.

[wdefromtx 3,159]

21 minutes ago, DyeCampAlum said:

I think a good argument can be made for Strong. I'm not suggesting he's better than other possible options, but I see his Texas issues as being about that particular environment. Otherwise, his head coaching record is terrific. He took over a Louisville program that had just imploded and led them to the highest level they've ever achieved. (It's been matched but not bettered.) And what's going on now at USF is exactly what we'd want to see from him at Auburn: taking talent and winning with it.

So I'm assuming that others know something about his time at Texas that I don't. Because Texas is one weird environment.

Nope just Austin.....

[LKEEL75 2,566]

37 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Strong failed miserably to build relationships with the Texas HS coaches and failed to communicate with them even worse.  That was his biggest problem. He eventually had to hire Jeff Traylor from Gilmer to kind of be a go between between his staff and the HS coaches. I've worked with Traylor a little and he said he didn't like the position Strong put him in, but when UT comes calling you don't turn them down.

This brings up an interesting couple of points:

1) Someone mentioned in the latest briefing with CGM that we had not been recruiting from TX high schools.  He mentioned that we just didn't have the relationships built with those coaches.  (If CGM &  staff stayed) Why would you not be trying to tap into that hot bed of talent?  It seems silly not to hire someone with those ties on your staff to help you.

2) Would the fact that Strong could not build a relationship with TX coaches be a detriment to him at most P5 schools?  I mean seems to me that TX is in the top 3-4 states of talent year in and year out.  Wouldn't you want a coach who could go in there and pull a couple of kids each year?

[steeleagle 2,945]

17 hours ago, bigbird said:

If BB is the hang up, how about Kirk Ferentz?  .596 overall record in 19 years. Pretty comparable to TT's .618 in 21 years

 

Either way, they are average coaches.

I only care how these coaches stood in the SEC, which is where we have always lived. CTT had a 68% winning. CBB had 47% winning. CBB is below avg in the SEC and CTT is above avg. 

Every coach has had stinkers of a loss on their resume. Even COach Dye. So i'm not going to judge them on 1 game a year. If we had a chance to play for the NC in 04, and won, Would you not give CTT credit? 

[bigbird 60,577]

9 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

I only care how these coaches stood in the SEC, which is where we have always lived. CTT had a 68% winning. CBB had 47% winning. CBB is below avg in the SEC and CTT is above avg. 

Every coach has had stinkers of a loss on their resume. Even COach Dye. So i'm not going to judge them on 1 game a year. If we had a chance to play for the NC in 04, and won, Would you not give CTT credit? 

So you would use a snapshot of their career?  To me, a coach's overall record is more indicative of their caliber of coaching. If TT was such a good coach, then why did he underperform at places where it is, generally the consensus, easier to win?  

Also, if you're offended by the comparison I chose, I ammended it to another in a later post. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

57 minutes ago, bigbird said:

So you would use a snapshot of their career?  To me, a coach's overall record is more indicative of their caliber of coaching. If TT was such a good coach, then why did he underperform at places where it is, generally the consensus, easier to win?  

Also, if you're offended by the comparison I chose, I ammended it to another in a later post. 

offended? Never. That's what this forum is for. Discussion, disagreement, different views, frustration relieving...etc..))

I just don't think CTT was avg. Some coaches do better in certain scenarios. He may have peaked at Auburn. I see it a little different. Believe me, I was there at every home game he should have won but didnt. But he also could get our teams up for the big games over many of those years. 

If overall record was an indicator, who would have wanted Saban, after 5 years at MSU (34-24, never won the conf in 5 years). 

But i can see how you think too. 

[bigbird 60,577]

8 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

offended? Never. That's what this forum is for. Discussion, disagreement, different views, frustration relieving...etc..))

I just don't think CTT was avg. Some coaches do better in certain scenarios. He may have peaked at Auburn. I see it a little different. Believe me, I was there at every home game he should have won but didnt. But he also could get our teams up for the big games over many of those years. 

If overall record was an indicator, who would have wanted Saban, after 5 years at MSU (34-24, never won the conf in 5 years). 

But i can see how you think too. 

Saban was great defensive coach and average HC until he got the REC behind him.

[gr82be 14,452]

On 10/31/2017 at 11:27 AM, The Freak said:

I'm still laughing about the tuscaloosa waterfall, lol.

Who'd have thought Saban was into Fung Shui?

[BJCrawford 1,568]

I happen to think we got Malzahn too soon (see Saban s first ten years as a D1 coach). I, of course, blame that on Jacobs. Unlike many,  I think he will  be a good coach somewhere else after his on the job training at AU.  AU is simply too big of a job for a newbie. It’s why I wish he would figure it out this year (unlikely).   I would love some stability. 

[AUwent 3,760]

Not sure who goes where, but I think Arky, us, Florida, Tennessee and A&M get 5 of Chip Kelly, Les Miles, Scott Frost, Mike Norvell, Chad Morris and yes, Joey Freshwater. This could be a very incorrect hunch, but I kinda feel like Odom will save his job over the next month. Florida, Tennessee, and Vandy (Mizzou’s next three opponents) appear to have mailed it in, and who knows with Arky.

[bigbird 60,577]

I wouldn't be opposed to Kiffin. I understand I am most likely in the extreme minority on that, but nonetheless he is one of the best schemers and playcallers I've seen. 

[corchjay 5,311]

2 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I wouldn't be opposed to Kiffin. I understand I am most likely in the extreme minority on that, but nonetheless he is one of the best schemers and playcallers I've seen. 

Good playcaller horrible example of a representative of a university 

[bigbird 60,577]

1 minute ago, corchjay said:

Good playcaller horrible example of a representative of a university 

He has been previously for sure. Who really knows what he has learned. That said, I could see him being a lot like a young Spurrier. 

[DAG 34,002]

6 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I wouldn't be opposed to Kiffin. I understand I am most likely in the extreme minority on that, but nonetheless he is one of the best schemers and playcallers I've seen. 

I have kind of been open to Kiff too especially if he bought along his OC. Get over people. His offense seems to continue to do work . Of course , others would have to vehemently said no .

[corchjay 5,311]

Gus is a good “schemer” like a lot of potential good coaches. 

I’ve come to the realization that Gus is horrible at game management.  The small things like knowing when to play safe on 4th down defense.  When to go for it on 4th and 1 on offense.  When to onside kick.  When to run trick plays.  When to be bold and when to play it safe.  Seems to worry way to much about how he is perceived in the public.    Also is not good in time management in 5 minute situations closing the half and game.  If he could figure all those out he would increase his win by about 2 games a year.  I just don’t think it’s a focus of his.  He lives and dies on every snap of the football.

[corchjay 5,311]

To add to my last statement how many times on 1st and 10 or 2nd and 4 have we used a timeout on offense to get the “right” play called.  Geez just hand the ball off and see what happens.  

With a very good defense late in the half or end of the game it’s be nice if when the opponent reaches the 40 to call a timeout, settle the defense down, re-enforce the defensive game plan, and be able to rest your best for a minute or 2.   But that 1st down play on the 3rd series of the game was so important that you followed the timeout with a zone-read give up the middle for 4 yards after a timeout

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

23 hours ago, bigbird said:

If BB is the hang up, how about Kirk Ferentz?  .596 overall record in 19 years. Pretty comparable to TT's .618 in 21 years

 

Either way, they are average coaches.

Tuberville is by far better than Kirk Ferentz. Tuberville coached in a tougher league in the SEC. The Big 10 didn't used to have a conference championship game. It's not really an apples to apples comparison when Tuberville had to win the SEC West just to have a chance to win the SEC title. Kirk Ferentz in 2002 won a share of the Big 10 title but didn't have to play Ohio State who won the BCS NC that year.

Tubs also inherited a probation laden Ole Miss team and managed to pull off some winning seasons. Who else in the last 40 years besides Hugh Freeze has done anything at Ole Miss without Eli Manning as QB? And Tuberville had to coach there while under severe  sanctions. The 1995 Ole Miss team is the last team to have their games banned from television. 

I think you're overlooking that the SEC West was actually pretty decent in the early 2000's. Nick Saban won the NC in 2003. Ole Miss had Eli Manning and were a threat. Arkansas had back to back 9 wins seasons in 2002 and 2003. They were no slouch. Yes, Alabama was down but I don't remember the other SEC teams beating Alabama 6 years in a row at the same time Tuberville was doing it at Auburn. I remember Urban Meyer's 1st year at Florida in 2005 when they got thumped 31-3 against Alabama under Mike Shula.

I'm not saying Tuberville was a great coach but he was still pretty good. My only disappointment under Tuberville would be the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons. At least 1 of those seasons should have produced  1 SEC title  considering how good those teams were. And in each of those 3 seasons we were always one game short of winning the West. 

Tuberville's best coaching jobs were at Ole Miss and Auburn. His Texas Tech and Cincinnati records were Tuberville just coaching to earn a paycheck and stay in coaching until he didn't want to coach anymore. Tuberville took those jobs because he knew he wasn't going to get another big time coaching gig again. He was just coasting until he retired. You could tell he didn't look very happy at either Texas Tech or Cincinnati 

 Tuberville lost some of his fire when he left Auburn. Do you disagree with that?

[OnthePlains 2,014]

33 minutes ago, bigbird said:

He has been previously for sure. Who really knows what he has learned. That said, I could see him being a lot like a young Spurrier. 

I’m sold. Make the call bird.

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

7 hours ago, DyeCampAlum said:

I think a good argument can be made for Strong. I'm not suggesting he's better than other possible options, but I see his Texas issues as being about that particular environment. Otherwise, his head coaching record is terrific. He took over a Louisville program that had just imploded and led them to the highest level they've ever achieved. (It's been matched but not bettered.) And what's going on now at USF is exactly what we'd want to see from him at Auburn: taking talent and winning with it.

So I'm assuming that others know something about his time at Texas that I don't. Because Texas is one weird environment.

In his time at UL they played in arguably the worst conference in recent memory (Big East). Even in that weak conference, his team still managed to lose to Syracuse and UConn in 2012, and UCF in 2013 (first year in the American conference). At USF, first team they play this year with a winning record and they lose, not to mention almost blowing a 27 point second half lead against tulane. As some said before “He would get eaten alive in the SEC”

This is on your, Strong took them to heights they had never achieved point:

Petrino had two 9 win seasons, 11, and 12 ( lost to # 3 Miami and #14 Rutgers, regular season, by a combined 6 points in the 10+ win seasons)

41-9 in 4 seasons, 2-2 bowl record  AP rank highs of 3,6 and 9. 4-2 vs Top 15 teams in the 2 seasons he won 10+

 

 

Strong had two 7 win seasons, 11, and 12.

37-15 in 4 seasons,  3-1 bowl record, AP rank highs of 7 and 11. 1-0 vs top 15 teams in the two seasons he won 10+. Florida was the only ranked team, at the time of the game, throughout those entire two seasons

[aubaseball 2,642]

I believe kiffin would be the only guy out there that would publicly say what it would take to beat bama on a consistent basis.   I would say that kiffin would be the best football hire auburn would have made since Dye.    I think he is a better coach than TB, TT, GC and GM

[CR 2,446]

Kiffin would bring some good things to the table, but I think he would struggle with the fishbowl existence living in a small town like Auburn. I agree on the playcalling though, he's one of the better ones I've seen.

[Beaker 2,457]

Can Kiffin recruit?  Honest question.   You can't use bama as an example because they are turning away great talent over there. How did he do at  UT?  USC?  FAU?  IDK - just asking.

Is he respected enough in the community to keep or attract top coaches?  That's one I really question.  

I will stick with B Venables and his coaching tree.  The man is a 90% lock to be a great HC.  Kiffin has flamed out twice.

 

 

[Mikey 16,668]

Kiffin's combined record at USC, Tenn and Fl. Atlantic is 40-24. Plus his baggage. If you like Lame Kiffin as AU's head coach you should love keeping Gus for another five years.