Perspective

[Carnell 592]

11 hours ago, Old fan 47 said:

And that is apparently the AU way. Hire an inferior coach, give him 2 or 3 years to underperform and buy him out for a large amount! When will this cycle end? AU football is so much less enjoyable than AU Basketball, baseball, softball, gymnastics and hell, even swimming. Now a bottom tier SEC team. 

Nobody was more against hiring this bird than me.  But he is here and I think he should stay at least as long as it takes to get gus off the payroll no matter how bad it gets.

[DAG 34,016]

6 minutes ago, creed said:

I respectfully disagree.

That’s fair. Probably an exaggeration on my part but nevertheless it was an avoidable loss. Oh well. Learn from it.

[Gowebb11 9,364]

14 hours ago, LPTiger said:

So let's have an adult coversation.   If you were in control how do you fix it...  Do you fire CHF after 11 games and go try to hire someone else?    Who do you know you can hire?   Do you shut the football program down and focus on baseball and basketball.   What do you do?

Most of the fans right now are rightfully confusing their well deserved disgust and embarrassment of last night with being able to do anything to change it. It happened and it sucks really bad. All that matters to now is how we respond. 

[ScotsAU 1,343]

15 hours ago, LPTiger said:

So while ya'll were watching this game I was celebrating the life of a larger than life cousin who graduated from AU in '79 with a BS in Forestry.  It was in Monroeville, AL and the fried chicken from the Pig in Monroeville is something to behold.  There was plenty of it available to all after the memorial.   If Steve had not died his way earlier in the week, one of either this game or some of the comments on this board would have surely killed him in a worse way.

Maybe it is because I didn't get to watch it, I don't know.   But, some of the reactions here are like we just lost to a middle cchool coached by Sister Teresa --- by a hundred.   Obviously, nothing good happened today, and I know we were like a 75 point favorite, but New Mexico State didn't look at the odds and they have somehow won 9 ball games.   We should never lose to New Mexico State anytime anywhere, but it just happened. Now, because of that loss, Hugh Freeze is a fraud.  He is a mediocre coach and should have never been hired in the first place.   Indeed, we should have just kept Gus Malzhan.   Come on folks.   This is a terribly flawed football program r/n.   Our best wide receiver is 5'6".   We haven't had a 100 yard receiver in 11 games.   We don't have a legit pass rusher.  We have 40% of our OL playing pretty good and the other 60%, well when they aren't getting flagged, they are getting beat.   This is where we are TODAY.

And, we aren't coaching well.   But, better players make for better coaching.  Here is an example.  3rd and goal from the 17, we call a blitz and man up the receivers (instead of not blitzing and trying to keep everything 17 yards in front of the goal line).   Larry Nixon is the only non-db not blitzing.  Instead, he fakes the blitz for 2 steps and then drops into coverage.   But, herein lies the player problem.    Nixon HAS to cover the back out of the backfield.   The back lines up to the QB's left near the left hash.   Guess where Larry limes up and fakes his blitz from -- the opposite hash.   The back releases, and he is wide open because Larry is 10 yards to the back's right.   As much as I hate the blitz call (I assume we were trying to push them out of field goal range) all 4 of the Db's had really good coverage on the play but Nixon had zero chance because of where he lined up.   If he lines up on the hash that the back is near, there is no TD.   I feel pretty confident Larry wasn't coached to line up as far away as possible from the back you need to cover. 

@Didba has made a post about us averaging nearly 8 yards per pass play in this game and under 3 per rush.  Yet, we rushed it 9 more times than we threw it (and we only had 45 snaps I think).   The OC has to have better in game awareness.   This was a big problem during the 4 game losing streak.   It got much better during the 3 game win streak.  In any event it is unacceptable.   I strongly suspect a change will be made here heading into next year. 

At the end of the day, this was a horrible game in a year that we all knew was going to be horrible.   We weren't 38 points better than Arkansas anymore than we were just 7 points worse than UGA.    This is a rebuild project.  It will not be easy or fast.       

I’m glad to finally see someone being sensible. I’ve been fighting my own impulses since about halfway through the game, often times very poorly.
 

That was an abysmal showing. We didn’t get good officiating in the first quarter, and that could’ve made a difference in the game. But it shouldn’t have even been close.
That said, there’s entirely too much overreaction to this game.  it says very little about Hugh Freeze and says more about what Harsin did to this roster both talent wise and just mentality wise. These players don’t know what a win streak feels like. We haven’t had a 3 game in conference win streak since 2020. Very few of these players were on that team, and that was a weird year anyway because Covid.
 

Some folks have been shrugging off the ULM comparison for Saban’s first year and the Vandy loss in Kirby’s. But I think those games are very relevant. Those coaches replaced guys that could recruit but that did not know how to instill fight or a winning mentality in their players. They had to change the culture of the locker room, and there were growing pains along the way. Freeze has an even bigger challenge because the players aren’t even there. Harsin left a bare locker room, and the folks that are left don’t have a clue how to handle ups and downs in a season. I’m an industrial psychologist. Cultural change takes time and often some turnover. Put another way, it’s going to take more than one off-season to erase the poor locker room culture Harsin created.

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

1 minute ago, ScotsAU said:

I’m glad to finally see someone being sensible. I’ve been fighting my own impulses since about halfway through the game, often times very poorly.
 

That was an abysmal showing. We didn’t get good officiating in the first quarter, and that could’ve made a difference in the game. But it shouldn’t have even been close.
That said, there’s entirely too much overreaction to this game.  it says very little about Hugh Freeze and says more about what Harsin did to this roster both talent wise and just mentality wise. These players don’t know what a win streak feels like. We haven’t had a 3 game in conference win streak since 2020. Very few of these players were on that team, and that was a weird year anyway because Covid.
 

Some folks have been shrugging off the ULM comparison for Saban’s first year and the Vandy loss in Kirby’s. But I think those games are very relevant. Those coaches replaced guys that could recruit but that did not know how to instill fight or a winning mentality in their players. They had to change the culture of the locker room, and there were growing pains along the way. Freeze has an even bigger challenge because the players aren’t even there. Harsin left a bare locker room, and the folks that are left don’t have a clue how to handle ups and downs in a season. I’m an industrial psychologist. Cultural change takes time and often some turnover. Put another way, it’s going to take more than one off-season to erase the poor locker room culture Harsin created.

Finally a voice of reason. 

[DAG 34,016]

Yes the Saban comparison. So I can't wait for the #1 recruiting class this next cycle and the next, the SEC championship game next year and a national championship the year after. 

Edited November 19, 2023 by DAG

[e808 3,028]

Wish I had the time to look up the Saban success story and gather a bigger sample size. I would go on record and same that’s an anomaly and not the norm.  Even using Norvell the job still isn’t done. Moving forward only time will tell .

[Gowebb11 9,364]

14 minutes ago, e808 said:

Wish I had the time to look up the Saban success story and gather a bigger sample size. I would go on record and same that’s an anomaly and not the norm.  Even using Norvell the job still isn’t done. Moving forward only time will tell .

Saban and LaMonroe is the one everyone remembers but his first LSU team lost a homecoming game to UAB who was in just their 5th year as an FBS program. Other examples: ranked Michigan loses to FCS Appy St, FCS James Madison(before they were good)  beat ranked VATech coached by Beamer, GaSouthern beat Florida, Citadel beat South Carolina, UCF beat Bama in their 4th year in the FBS when few had heard of them. JSU as an FCS beat Ole Miss and FSU. All of those teams moved forward and we will too. We have no choice. It sucks.   

Auburn didn’t prepare, didn’t execute, didn’t play with heart, and were poorly coached. Do that now and you can be beat. 

[e808 3,028]

15 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Saban and LaMonroe is the one everyone remembers but his first LSU team lost a homecoming game to UAB who was in just their 5th year as an FBS program. Other examples: ranked Michigan loses to FCS Appy St, FCS James Madison(before they were good)  beat ranked VATech coached by Beamer, GaSouthern beat Florida, Citadel beat South Carolina, UCF beat Bama in their 4th year in the FBS when few had heard of them. JSU as an FCS beat Ole Miss and FSU. All of those teams moved forward and we will too. We have no choice. It sucks.   

Auburn didn’t prepare, didn’t execute, didn’t play with heart, and were poorly coached. Do that now and you can be beat. 

Thanks for the information. The point is how many of those programs with the coaches that had said losses accomplish what Saban did

Edited November 19, 2023 by e808

[Dwayne Pride 379]

3 minutes ago, e808 said:

Thanks for the information. The point is how many of those programs with the coaches that had said losses accomplish what Saban did

Correlation does not equal causation.  
 

[Gowebb11 9,364]

Just now, e808 said:

Thanks for the information. The point is how many of those programs with the coaches that had said losses accomplish with Saban did

Few in CFB history have did anything on the level Saban has in any context. I just think today’s athletes are all well trained and big, strong, and fast. A fumble here, a penalty there, and bad things can happen. We are certainly not the first team to overlook and underestimate an opponent and pay for it, and wont be the last. This coaching staff has a monumental task ahead of it in regaining the positive momentum that was taken away last night. Some of the coaches in my example like Beamer and Lloyd Carr remained successful. Some like Muschamp ended up fired. 

[e808 3,028]

8 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

Few in CFB history have did anything on the level Saban has in any context. I just think today’s athletes are all well trained and big, strong, and fast. A fumble here, a penalty there, and bad things can happen. We are certainly not the first team to overlook and underestimate an opponent and pay for it, and wont be the last. This coaching staff has a monumental task ahead of it in regaining the positive momentum that was taken away last night. Some of the coaches in my example like Beamer and Lloyd Carr remained successful. Some like Muschamp ended up fired. 

To me the constant use of Saban would make the bar pretty bar. Like u mention above have to move forward but a lot of work has to be done. No one likes to be on the wrong side of history

[Old fan 47 775]

17 hours ago, DAG said:

You do none of that, but you acknowledge this was a bad loss and we DO HAVE MORE TALENT THAN NMSU. With that being said, I don't think freeze particularly cares for this group and it shows. I think his main focus is getting his recruited high school players in as soon as possible. That is where most of his energy is spent.

There in lies a large problem. You can of course want to get the recruits you believe in, but as HC, you don’t ignore the current group, some of which will stick around and some won’t. With the way the portal works now, he can grab  a number of 5 star players, but if the staff doesn’t coach them well and put them in situations where they have a chance at success, they won’t stick around for years 2 or 3. He’s shown he can recruit well, but I have seen no evidence of him being a good enough coach that can get AU out of the basement. Can only hope next year is much better with “his recruits”. 

[Dwayne Pride 379]

11 minutes ago, Old fan 47 said:

With the way the portal works now, he can grab  a number of 5 star players, 

Those are few and far between…5 stars that transfer usually come with baggage.  Not always.

[Old fan 47 775]

8 minutes ago, Dwayne Pride said:

Those are few and far between…5 stars that transfer usually come with baggage.  Not always.

I misspoke on that. I meant he can grab plenty of 5 stars out of HS, but if they aren’t coached up and put in successful situations, they will use the portal and be gone. Apologies for my incorrect text. 

[toddc 13,194]

The way CHF was talking about this game last week I think he saw this coming and still couldn’t get the players to see it. He knew what this nmsu team was capable of. Hopefully it’s the players he inherited that are part of the problem with this year. Having said that the majority of the blame falls on coaches for not getting the buy-in from the team to focus on the task at hand. I believe this was a wake-up call for everyone involved and I pray it gets fixed real soon. I still believe in CHF and I truly believe this game is an outlier. War Eagle 🦅 and thank goodness it’s b-ball season.

[Carnell 592]

2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

Saban and LaMonroe is the one everyone remembers but his first LSU team lost a homecoming game to UAB who was in just their 5th year as an FBS program. Other examples: ranked Michigan loses to FCS Appy St, FCS James Madison(before they were good)  beat ranked VATech coached by Beamer, GaSouthern beat Florida, Citadel beat South Carolina, UCF beat Bama in their 4th year in the FBS when few had heard of them. JSU as an FCS beat Ole Miss and FSU. All of those teams moved forward and we will too. We have no choice. It sucks.   

Auburn didn’t prepare, didn’t execute, didn’t play with heart, and were poorly coached. Do that now and you can be beat. 

Those games losses were a result of turnovers.  While it is a loss, the fix is very correctable.   However, the loss yesterday is  big problem.  This loss was due to poor coaching which is tougher to overcome.

[Old fan 47 775]

9 minutes ago, toddc said:

The way CHF was talking about this game last week I think he saw this coming and still couldn’t get the players to see it. He knew what this nmsu team was capable of. Hopefully it’s the players he inherited that are part of the problem with this year. Having said that the majority of the blame falls on coaches for not getting the buy-in from the team to focus on the task at hand. I believe this was a wake-up call for everyone involved and I pray it gets fixed real soon. I still believe in CHF and I truly believe this game is an outlier. War Eagle 🦅 and thank goodness it’s b-ball season.

Good take. It’s on the coaches to rein any overconfidence by players in. You know it’s happened to UGA over the last three seasons. That’s part of a coaches job. I honestly think we have barely any chance of beating Bama, which means we will need to show up for the bowl game to avoid a 3rd losing season in a row. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,144]

18 hours ago, passthebiscuits said:

Yeah football in the grand scheme of things is  no big deal. But in the scheme of college football…this was as bad as it gets.

 

dang even Gus made it past Mercer and JSU…barely. Chiz beat Utah State. 

I’ll say that neither of those coaches followed two lazy-ass recruiters. Hugh deserves the criticism for losing yesterday, but let’s not pretend the previous two staffs left anything to build a foundation on. 

[e808 3,028]

8 minutes ago, Swamp Eagle said:

I’ll say that neither of those coaches followed two lazy-ass recruiters. Hugh deserves the criticism for losing yesterday, but let’s not pretend the previous two staffs left anything to build a foundation on. 

Gus is hard to gauge because his thing was getting guys in space . Wide receiver screens jet sweeps. Yes 2013 was because of great line play but on average he most likely to win 8 games. Even with not ideal lineman the skill positions were pretty good along with the defense. What he did probably works for him but something different needed for other coaches. 

[Tigger1985 812]

We don’t have more talent at every position. We have one OL that’s good and he’s a freshman. We’re patch work at the rest Ol and DLine. Our linebackers can’t cover any tightend see the Ga game. We have a few holes in the D backfield. Wide receivers are terrible, can’t catch a cold. BUT we are going to get better with the influx of talent coming.

[e808 3,028]

This is where the hindsight 20/20 reference can come in as I saw someone post this early. Was it time for Gus to go but did it have to happen within a year with unusual circumstances. One more year Auburn saves money and probably attract better coaches . Oh well it is what it is at this point

[keesler 5,928]

7 hours ago, ScotsAU said:

They had to change the culture of the locker room, and there were growing pains along the way. Freeze has an even bigger challenge because the players aren’t even there. Harsin left a bare locker room, and the folks that are left don’t have a clue how to handle ups and downs in a season. I’m an industrial psychologist. Cultural change takes time and often some turnover. Put another way, it’s going to take more than one off-season to erase the poor locker room culture Harsin created.

Since you’re a psychologist, what does it say to the locker room when the HC constantly tells anyone that will listen that his players are weak and inferior?  How does the locker room react when the HC is basically MIA and is consumed with recruiting  rather than getting involved and coach his existing roster?  How should the players react when their coach is treating this as a throw away season?

[Headland Tiger 40]

13 minutes ago, keesler said:

Since you’re a psychologist, what does it say to the locker room when the HC constantly tells anyone that will listen that his players are weak and inferior?  How does the locker room react when the HC is basically MIA and is consumed with recruiting  rather than getting involved and coach his existing roster?  How should the players react when their coach is treating this as a throw away season?

Good points all around 

[AU9377 5,035]

The day was a perfect day for football.  The stadium was surprisingly full.  Tiger walk was packed and everyone was feeling great about the upcoming two weeks.  Then our team played like they simply didn't care if they were there or not.  I have been to a lot of games, but this one really took the air out of people.