Recruiting & coaching

[AU9377 5,070]

8 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Hanging any hat on cupcake wins is a really, really bad argument.  Only thing that matters is what you do against Power 5 teams.

I was explaining the context, not hanging a hat on cupcake wins. 

Ignoring the cupcake wins is even more damning for Harsin.  That would mean that we went from 6 Power 5 wins in 2020 to 3 in 2021 and so far 1 in 2022.

[AU9377 5,070]

2 hours ago, Auburn Tiger said:

Undisciplined players under a coach who preaches discipline. 

Under a coach who is all hat and no cattle.

[Old fan 47 775]

13 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

Scheme doesn't cover up the fact that we have a veteran O-line that has gotten worse every game. Or why our starting WRs outside of an occasional pass to Ja'varrious Johnson have gone MIA. Or why Pappoe and Shenker have regressed.

I push back on the Jimmy's and Joe's argument because we're still playing mostly players recruited by Gus- players we beat Georgia, Alabama and Florida out for. Depth is an issue for sure, but we still have enough talent in this roster not to get embarrassed on the regular that we have for the last month.

The entire potato bunch are simply not used to this level of competition and have shown no proof of concept

Simply put, we have Zero football players on our O Line. Not a single one of them would start anywhere else. Plus, if you haven’t improved after 5 or 6 years, you just aren’t going to. 

[AU9377 5,070]

5 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

I’m sure you know roster management is about the right players and the right amount of players. AU has not recruited correctly for years and it started with Malzahn. You know it and I know it. Harsin is doing the same thing. He can’t manage this team from a people stand point. no matter who’s team this is now. AU has not been truly competitive for a long time due to people. 

When you finish ranked #12 and you beat the #5 team in the country, who happens to be your arch rival and in the midst of an historic dynasty, I consider that being competitive.  It may not be good enough, but it is damn sure competitive.

[JDUBB4AU 5,134]

13 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

When you finish ranked #12 and you beat the #5 team in the country, who happens to be your arch rival and in the midst of an historic dynasty, I consider that being competitive.  It may not be good enough, but it is damn sure competitive.

That’s not good enough . Get up for one game and then s*** the bed the rest of the way???? . Are you kidding me? Lose to UCF? , Northwestern?? Wisconsin? GA beating your eyes in every year. You hang your hat on one game?? What in the actual hell?? 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

20 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

I was explaining the context, not hanging a hat on cupcake wins. 

Ignoring the cupcake wins is even more damning for Harsin.  That would mean that we went from 6 Power 5 wins in 2020 to 3 in 2021 and so far 1 in 2022.

Exactly.  I'm not defending Harsin here.  My point was that we weren't setting the world on fire in 2020 either.

[Auburn Tiger 1,340]

41 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

Under a coach who is all hat and no cattle.

Exactly

[ertrader 206]

6 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

We agree that the coaching, schemes, and development or lack thereof is appalling. But I can count on one hand the number of players we have that we legitimately beat Bama and Georgia on the past few seasons. Even under Gus we end up with decently rated players after UAT, UGA, Clemson and others have filled up with who they wanted. Thus only 1 NFL draft pick last year. 3 draft picks is likely our ceiling this year. Bama, UGA, and LSU are churning NFL talent, and A&M had 4 or 5 freshman 5 stars playing last night.  The talent divide is real and we better hire a coach who can fix it. 

It's been like this for the better part of a decade, at least on the offensive side. Look at the NFL right now - 352 players are starting on offense in the NFL this week - exactly 2 are from Auburn. Two. And what happened to Running Back U? There is not a single Auburn running back on an active NFL roster right now. The next coach is going to have to be a heck of a salesman.

[IronMan70 3,277]

3 hours ago, Auburn Tiger said:

Undisciplined players under a coach who preaches discipline. 

He's got that coach speak down pat doesn't he. Too bad it doesn't mean anything. 

[tsande07 271]

6 hours ago, aubaseball said:

And who is committing the fumbles and penalties?  I’ll hang up and listen.  

It works like any organization. Poor performance by one employee/player is an indictment of that person. Poor performance of many employees/players over a period of time is an indictment of management.

[aubaseball 2,661]

2 hours ago, tsande07 said:

It works like any organization. Poor performance by one employee/player is an indictment of that person. Poor performance of many employees/players over a period of time is an indictment of management.

I disagree.  I don’t rewatch the games and I’m just going by what I see on the first go around.   I’m not saying that there is not blame to be placed at the feet of the coaching staff.  But little things like jumping offsides and false starts are not on the coaches.   If you don’t think that stuff is taught from junior high school, you don’t know sports.   A fumble by the qb that had the ball knocked out of his hands by his own leg, is not a lack of coaching.    It goes on and on.   If blame is to be placed on the coaches, then blame them for not going out and getting better players.   I can agree with that and some of the play calls are head scratching.   So blame needs to go all around.   
i watched some NFL today and was scratching my head at some of the calls.   

[tsande07 271]

29 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

I disagree.  I don’t rewatch the games and I’m just going by what I see on the first go around.   I’m not saying that there is not blame to be placed at the feet of the coaching staff.  But little things like jumping offsides and false starts are not on the coaches.   If you don’t think that stuff is taught from junior high school, you don’t know sports.   A fumble by the qb that had the ball knocked out of his hands by his own leg, is not a lack of coaching.    It goes on and on.   If blame is to be placed on the coaches, then blame them for not going out and getting better players.   I can agree with that and some of the play calls are head scratching.   So blame needs to go all around.   
i watched some NFL today and was scratching my head at some of the calls.   

This is my point. You don't blame management for an individual employee underperforming. You do blame them for poor performance of many employees/players over a period of time, as I said.

The coaches are responsible for recruiting players, training them, and preparing them for the games. I don't blame any coach for a specific missed tackle or a specific whiff on a block. 

However, if a offensive lineman misses a block, the coaches ARE responsible for that player being on the field. This coaching staff has had sufficient time to identify issues on the roster and move to improve those roster deficiencies. This should have been declared an all-hands-on-deck recruiting emergency and received corresponding time and effort to remediate the problem. Instead, the issue was allowed to fester. 

[AUx 3,016]

5 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

That’s not good enough . Get up for one game and then s*** the bed the rest of the way???? . Are you kidding me? Lose to UCF? , Northwestern?? Wisconsin? GA beating your eyes in every year. You hang your hat on one game?? What in the actual hell?? 

Housel mentality. Every season has only one game.

[JDUBB4AU 5,134]

16 minutes ago, AUx said:

Housel mentality. Every season has only one game.

Exactly and that’s a problem some AU fans have. That’s a reflection on most of the administration. Instead of chasing gold, they are fine with one win in November every year. Absolutely kills me and has to stop. Pathetic 

[Mikey 16,770]

2 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Exactly and that’s a problem some AU fans have. That’s a reflection on most of the administration. Instead of chasing gold, they are fine with one win in November every year. Absolutely kills me and has to stop. Pathetic 

There never has been a time when AU fans or the administration were fine with one win in November. Until Harsin came along, AU hadn't had a losing season in eight years. While we all wanted better, it's not true that AU football has not been competitive. A winning record for eight consecutive years proves that the team has been competitive..

[AU9377 5,070]

3 hours ago, JDUBB4AU said:

Exactly and that’s a problem some AU fans have. That’s a reflection on most of the administration. Instead of chasing gold, they are fine with one win in November every year. Absolutely kills me and has to stop. Pathetic 

Nobody is fine with that. By the way, that hasn't been the case at Auburn.

[JDUBB4AU 5,134]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

There never has been a time when AU fans or the administration were fine with one win in November. Until Harsin came along, AU hadn't had a losing season in eight years. While we all wanted better, it's not true that AU football has not been competitive. A winning record for eight consecutive years proves that the team has been competitive..

Guys we are missing the point. Mikey you are correct from a record standpoint, but AU has not been competitive on a national level for a long time. AU has not been a threat to make the 4 team playoff in years. Losing 4-6 games every year is not competitive. Ga beating our brains out every single year. Losing every bowl game. That is bull s*** mediocrity. Especially now that players can be paid and a portal is open for immediate roster support. 

[JDUBB4AU 5,134]

1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

Nobody is fine with that. By the way, that hasn't been the case at Auburn.

I know we have been watching the same program. You probably longer than me. AU has not competed for a championship in freaking years . Seriously competed. We have a different opinion on this which is fine. AU has not been a threat in almost a decade. That should bother every AU fan and it does not. 

[AU-24 3,109]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:12 PM, AU9377 said:

What has happened is on Harsin and Harsin alone.  In the Spring of 2020, Auburn signed the #7 recruiting class in the country.  We also signed transfer OL players, in addition to Tate Johnson and two other linemen.  OL recruiting was an issue, but it didn't prevent the prior staff from developing game plans that kept us competitive.

We finished the 2019 season ranked #12 and beat #5 bama in the final regular season game.  From there to where we are now is a the feet of this staff, not the prior.  I am sick of coddling the bs that revises history to fit their narrative.

We finished the 2019 season ranked #12 and beat #5 bama in the final regular season game.

Preach on! Some of your negative responses are from people that refuse to believe what their eyes see and their ears hear.

Edited October 10, 2022 by AU-24

[AU-24 3,109]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:56 PM, Brad_ATX said:

We went 6-5 in the fall of 2020.  Bryan Harsin and his staff were still in Boise.

Yes, Covid season, all SEC schedule and that negates 2019?

Then in 2021 Harsin and staff were not in Boise, they were in Auburn losing five games in a row to include a bowl game over Houston in Birmingham.

Edited October 10, 2022 by AU-24

[aubaseball 2,661]

22 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

We finished the 2019 season ranked #12 and beat #5 bama in the final regular season game.

Preach on! Some of your negative responses are from people that refuse to believe what their eyes see and their ears hear.

That’s a smoke and mirrors win.  Bama without their 1st round QB and only the 2nd start for the next 1st rounder.   Two pick sixes, one being 100 yard interception off the back of the running and then the 12 men on the field penalty at the end.   If that is your vision of a dominant, championship challenging team, then so be it.   I will give Gus credit in the fact that he did have Auburn competitive against Alabama at home.   He was never competitive with Alabama on the road and save one game, Georgia.   

[AU-24 3,109]

5 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

That’s a smoke and mirrors win.  Bama without their 1st round QB and only the 2nd start for the next 1st rounder.   Two pick sixes, one being 100 yard interception off the back of the running and then the 12 men on the field penalty at the end.   If that is your vision of a dominant, championship challenging team, then so be it.   I will give Gus credit in the fact that he did have Auburn competitive against Alabama at home.   He was never competitive with Alabama on the road and save one game, Georgia.   

He beat lil nickie 4 times, once as a coordinator and three times as a head coach. What other head coach and coordinator have done that? I’ll save you the time… no one!

[AU-24 3,109]

Just now, AU-24 said:

He beat lil nickie 4 times, once as a coordinator and three times as a head coach. What other head coach and coordinator have done that? I’ll save you the time… no one!

On a sidenote: Brian Kelly, Jimbo Fisher, Brian Harsin, Burt Billiema (sp) and many others all say: life in the SEC West is really hard! Eight years in the SEC west, Gus was the second best coach in our conference. 

[aubaseball 2,661]

3 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

He beat lil nickie 4 times, once as a coordinator and three times as a head coach. What other head coach and coordinator have done that? I’ll save you the time… no one!

So, should we give Rhett, Chip and whoever was OC in 2019 credit too?   And by the way, I said he was competitive with Alabama at home.   I didn’t mention 2010 because he wasn’t HC.   2013, took three missed field goals and a once in a lifetime play at the end to win.  2017, Auburn actually was the better team on the field and won the game straight up.   I don’t look at wins and loses and determine what kind of team auburn has.   For example,  this years Missouri game.   Scoreboard says win but AU shouldn’t have won.   That’s called being objective in looking at wins and loses.  

[aubaseball 2,661]

8 minutes ago, AU-24 said:

On a sidenote: Brian Kelly, Jimbo Fisher, Brian Harsin, Burt Billiema (sp) and many others all say: life in the SEC West is really hard! Eight years in the SEC west, Gus was the second best coach in our conference. 

You’re talking to yourself.  I’ve been watching football for a long time.   I know what the SEC is like.   Gus didn’t take advantage of taking a team to the national championship game and parlaying that into a top 5 program.  He actually took a better team the following year and made them worse.   If he were actually what you say he was, he would have turned success into something along the lines of what Clemson built.   Georgia wasn’t Georgia when Gus got the job.   If he was so good, why didn’t he establish recruiting in Georgia and Alabama?   Gus was an average coach and his 8-4 records bears that out.  If that is was what you wanted on average, then Gus was your guy.  
 

I hope you don’t think that I am fan of Harsin.   Believe me, I’m not.  I believed that auburn could have gotten better coaches in the last four coaching hires.