Freeze dismisses DC Ron Roberts

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

6 hours ago, WFE12 said:

So I’m hearing this was about the culture. Staff and players had issues with him. Also why crime took a step back. Abusive language and just being disrespectful.

Seems to be the case. Sucks b/c it did a decent job on the field considering the personnel we had. But can't go around disrespecting coaches and players if you're preaching about culture. Doesn't make him a bad guy, just wasn't a good fit for what HF wants. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,754]

2 hours ago, BoogingBarner said:

So all we kept hearing was that Charles Kelly was hired to be safeties coach and co-DC. Then we kept getting told that Ron Roberts raised hell about having to be a co-DC and he still wanted to be the full DC. And now Florida has hired hired Ron Roberts to be linebackers coach and......wait for it.......CO-DC!!!!! So he supposedly doesn't want to be a co-DC and is pissed off here but he goes to Florida to be the co-DC? And it's being spun by Auburn as Hugh Freeze fired Roberts. Why did he wait and fire him nearly 6 weeks after our regular season ended? Makes no sense at all

It truly sounds like Ron Roberts pulled a Derek Mason and jumped off a sinking ship. I think he left on his own because of how this program is being ran just like Derek Mason did. When all that craziness was happening with Harsin after year 1, everybody made 9 million excuses for Harsin and claimed it was all headed in the right direction but we now know it was just BS media spinning stuff so we didn't look bad. This feels exactly the same. 

It feels so good being more aligned from top to bottom than we've ever been and everybody's pulling in the same direction. 🙄 

How about we stop hiring head coaches from Boise and Liberty for a change? Both seemed to be very overwhelmed by this job. Why can't our PTB grow a set and go hire a real coach that's actually proven something at a Power 5 program or NFL program? 

Not rejecting your right to make this post, but about 30-40% of your post is pulling together rumors from supposed insiders and making a narrative based on that.  Timelines rarely make sense if you're taking insiders at their absolute word every time (or most of the time). 

I do agree that there were tons of Harsin excuses (and honestly think it's funny people are behind the reasoning of firing him because of the coarse language to players, when that was praised ad nauseam when we had droves of transfers under Harsin's regime...), but I think it's fair to consider maybe Mason left just because he didn't like Harsin, and whether Auburn went down, up or sideways, that didn't really matter. I don't even see how Auburn appears to be a sinking ship right now 

[AU9377 5,043]

Considering how Harsin left things, Roberts did a great job from an X's and O's standpoint.  He is a good coach.  I hope there is a solid plan in place.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,754]

2 hours ago, gman87 said:

That's not a good average, it's a decent one. We need a great DC.

His recruiting chops are good as it gets, but his recent coaching background as a playcaller is the definition of born on third, and his defenses aren't great when you're watching them against comparable talent IMO. I really don't want to hold Colorado against him too too much with how bad that team was in the trenches, but their personnel usage in the secondary (not using Cormani McClain was a repeat concern, but I believe Deion might've had a hand in that) + how consistently lost their secondary was is a bit weird, to say the least. 

I think he's just someone that tends to be best served as an assistant coach + recruiter. I think it would've almost been tolerable to have immediately hired him as a DC though, if it meant you had any chance at McGriff staying (seems like that bridge has been burned a while though) 

Edited January 9 by Dual-Threat Rigby

[DAG 34,017]

5 hours ago, WarEagle1983 said:

Seems to be the case. Sucks b/c it did a decent job on the field considering the personnel we had. But can't go around disrespecting coaches and players if you're preaching about culture. Doesn't make him a bad guy, just wasn't a good fit for what HF wants. 

My question is how did CHF not know this? It was rumored him and his protégé was not getting along at Baylor, so why did freeze think differently. When people show you who they are, believe them. We need to get the next two hires right. 

[bigbird 60,580]

8 hours ago, BoogingBarner said:

Why did he wait and fire him nearly 6 weeks after our regular season ended? Makes no sense at all

Makes a lot of sense. You just can't think of it under biased constraints. 

[bigbird 60,580]

41 minutes ago, DAG said:

My question is how did CHF not know this? It was rumored him and his protégé was not getting along at Baylor, so why did freeze think differently. When people show you who they are, believe them. We need to get the next two hires right. 

I think we will. Both targets were who he initially wanted on staff so hopefully it pans out. If so, I hate we wasted a year due to poor timing. 

[DAG 34,017]

25 minutes ago, bigbird said:

I think we will. Both targets were who he initially wanted on staff so hopefully it pans out. If so, I hate we wasted a year due to poor timing. 

Chris Kiffin I heard was one. Just wondering how that would look with the browns going to the playoffs. Of course probably a big reason we got Coach Kelly. I’m not upset CRR is gone as I wanted Kelly from the get go but we need someone Hugh Freeze really trust in this role. The last two hires somewhat seemed out of left field.  

[bigbird 60,580]

25 minutes ago, DAG said:

Chris Kiffin I heard was one. Just wondering how that would look with the browns going to the playoffs. Of course probably a big reason we got Coach Kelly. I’m not upset CRR is gone as I wanted Kelly from the get go but we need someone Hugh Freeze really trust in this role. The last two hires somewhat seemed out of left field.  

He's coaching LBs at Houston now but issue remains the same.  I believe, with The Kelly hire, we can afford to wait on Kiffen this time.  We had to get a DC last time to help save the class. 

I agree with your trust comment and think he fills that role very well. 

 

If this came to fruition... 

Kiffen

Kelly

Zac

Aldridge

Garrett 

 

Our D staff would be an absolute recruiting juggernaut.

[aubaseball 2,652]

17 minutes ago, bigbird said:

He's coaching LBs at Houston now but issue remains the same.  I believe, with The Kelly hire, we can afford to wait on Kiffen this time.  We had to get a DC last time to help save the class. 

I agree with your trust comment and think he fills that role very well. 

 

If this came to fruition... 

Kiffen

Kelly

Zac

Aldridge

Garrett 

 

Our D staff would be an absolute recruiting juggernaut.

Recruiting juggernaut…. but what about X’s and O’s?   Play calling? Would like to hear your thoughts on this.  

[Tiger Refuge 6,674]

20 minutes ago, aubaseball said:

Recruiting juggernaut…. but what about X’s and O’s?   Play calling? Would like to hear your thoughts on this.  

I’m wondering the same thing. This year was a prime example of clearly needing a good balance and what a lack of it can potentially result.

[Mims44 1,890]

13 hours ago, RunInRed said:

Florida is expected to hire Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts as executive head coach for defense, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach per 247Sports.

 

13 hours ago, GreenTiger said:

I’m not sure what to make of all this. So much for consistency 

This^

Ron Roberts (and all coaches) need to be given 3 years at least to instill their ways of coaching.

 

Right guys?

Or is that only a Harsin/Freeze argument? And all other coaches it becomes a "The league moves fast nowadays, get it done in 1 year or get out"?

I just wanna make sure I'm on the same page as all you big brained folk.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

10 hours ago, BoogingBarner said:

So all we kept hearing was that Charles Kelly was hired to be safeties coach and co-DC. Then we kept getting told that Ron Roberts raised hell about having to be a co-DC and he still wanted to be the full DC. And now Florida has hired hired Ron Roberts to be linebackers coach and......wait for it.......CO-DC!!!!! So he supposedly doesn't want to be a co-DC and is pissed off here but he goes to Florida to be the co-DC? And it's being spun by Auburn as Hugh Freeze fired Roberts. Why did he wait and fire him nearly 6 weeks after our regular season ended? Makes no sense at all

It truly sounds like Ron Roberts pulled a Derek Mason and jumped off a sinking ship. I think he left on his own because of how this program is being ran just like Derek Mason did. When all that craziness was happening with Harsin after year 1, everybody made 9 million excuses for Harsin and claimed it was all headed in the right direction but we now know it was just BS media spinning stuff so we didn't look bad. This feels exactly the same. 

It feels so good being more aligned from top to bottom than we've ever been and everybody's pulling in the same direction. 🙄 

How about we stop hiring head coaches from Boise and Liberty for a change? Both seemed to be very overwhelmed by this job. Why can't our PTB grow a set and go hire a real coach that's actually proven something at a Power 5 program or NFL program? 

roe tahd

[TitanTiger 20,511]

5 minutes ago, Mims44 said:

This^

Ron Roberts (and all coaches) need to be given 3 years at least to instill their ways of coaching.

 

Right guys?

Or is that only a Harsin/Freeze argument? And all other coaches it becomes a "The league moves fast nowadays, get it done in 1 year or get out"?

I just wanna make sure I'm on the same page as all you big brained folk.

The main impetus for this was not what happened on the field on Saturdays.

[Mims44 1,890]

3 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

The main impetus for this was not what happened on the field on Saturdays.

The 'mean talk'

I figured that was just another rumor, cause how does that work?

If it's just tough talk tell the others not to be so soft.

If it's actually demeaning/demoralizing/debased why let him continue to do it for the entire season?

 

Or are you implying something happened off the field that has not/can not be spoken about at the current time? 🤔

🤷‍♂️

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Just now, Mims44 said:

The 'mean talk'

I figured that was just another rumor, cause how does that work?

If it's just tough talk tell the others not to be so soft.

If it's actually demeaning/demoralizing/debased why let him continue to do it for the entire season?

 

Or are you implying something happened off the field that has not/can not be spoken about at the current time? 🤔

🤷‍♂️

I'm saying, that while there were some issues with defensive strategy in certain games and situations this year, Roberts being encouraged to find a new home wasn't primarily about that.  There was a lot of drama on that side of the ball this year, most of it due to Roberts abrasive nature.  Now, a lot of coaches have an edge to them and can piss players and assistants off at times.  But there's a line beyond which it causes a breakdown in team chemistry and ability to work together and Roberts crossed that line.  

McGriff is not a difficult person to work with.  For him to refuse to continue coaching under Roberts and then leaving when it wasn't certain Roberts would be replaced is telling.  You can read what you will into all the drama with various secondary players considering hitting the portal.

Of course you'd like to get everyone to reconcile and back on the same team, but that's not always possible and you deal with it when the seasons over.  This is dealing with it.  It's messy because the people involved made it messy.

[gravejd 3,271]

Just hope this football program can find some stability at some point. It’s going to be a struggle until that’s gets figured out. Can’t be changing coordinator’s every year and expect progress to be made. I thought Robert’s did a solid job with what he has but losing him isn’t the big concern. It’s the lack of consistency in the program. Need a coach that can identify and hold on to quality coaches. Hopefully freeze gets it right on the second try.  

[EagleEye67 1,945]

12 hours ago, imaolgatiger said:

Dumbest fans in all of sports!

There is some pretty stiff competition 

[CR 2,446]

16 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

I'm saying, that while there were some issues with defensive strategy in certain games and situations this year, Roberts being encouraged to find a new home wasn't primarily about that.  There was a lot of drama on that side of the ball this year, most of it due to Roberts abrasive nature.  Now, a lot of coaches have an edge to them and can piss players and assistants off at times.  But there's a line beyond which it causes a breakdown in team chemistry and ability to work together and Roberts crossed that line.  

McGriff is not a difficult person to work with.  For him to refuse to continue coaching under Roberts and then leaving when it wasn't certain Roberts would be replaced is telling.  You can read what you will into all the drama with various secondary players considering hitting the portal.

Of course you'd like to get everyone to reconcile and back on the same team, but that's not always possible and you deal with it when the seasons over.  This is dealing with it.  It's messy because the people involved made it messy.

In your opinion, would Mcgriff have stayed if it was clear that Roberts would be out? This is the really frustrating part to me.

[im4au 44]

We showed up to play mighty Maryland without a defensive plan and were out of the game before we knew what to do.  The defense didn't show up to play NMS at all - blown out by NMS?!?!!  Wow!  And 4th and 31 speaks for itself.  Roberts had to be removed.

Roberts was known to be abrasive when Freeze hired him.  Montgomery didn't even have the same offensive philosophy as Freeze and yet was hired to take over the offense.  I hope CHF does a better job this time - he's used his  mulligan.

 

[TitanTiger 20,511]

21 minutes ago, CR said:

In your opinion, would Mcgriff have stayed if it was clear that Roberts would be out? This is the really frustrating part to me.

I cannot say for sure, but my belief is he would have stayed.  

[AlaskanFAN 1,666]

48 minutes ago, CR said:

In your opinion, would Mcgriff have stayed if it was clear that Roberts would be out? This is the really frustrating part to me.

Crime dog never sold his house in Auburn after he left the first time, his family stayed behind in Auburn and has been here ever since. He  loves Auburn area and people. I know I lived 2 house down from him. 

[aubiefifty 16,913]

50 minutes ago, CR said:

In your opinion, would Mcgriff have stayed if it was clear that Roberts would be out? This is the really frustrating part to me.

i was just going to ask this myself. i think we had a highly rated secondary? why would you not retain crimedog?

[AUcivE09 582]

As much as I want a guy that is good with X's and O's.....We need the Jimmy's and Joe's first. No one here is arguing we do not have a talent gap with our biggest rivals. Good (as opposed to great) coaching and bringing in the guys who are difference makers, IMO, is going to make this team better than anyone could have made us this past season. 

[aubiefifty 16,913]

so i read scott is staying. then he is leaving. now i heard on  a pod he is coming back. does anyone know for a fact he is coming back? we sure need him!