Al Borges

[TigerOne 1,153]

in this Thanksgiving time, we are very thankful for our coaching staff.

That turkey sure is going to taste good compared to the crow that bammers will

be having.

Do what it takes to keep Coach Borges on staff CTT.

From the Mobile Register

For his efforts, the affable Borges was awarded a game ball from the Master Coaches Survey on Monday.

"Al Borges is one of the best offensive coordinators I've ever seen," said former Auburn coach Pat Dye, one of the 16 former head coaches who comprise the Master Coaches Survey.

When Borges went down, it looked like every doctor in the packed stadium rushed to his side. Auburn's prayerful players -- and they drop to a knee and pray almost constantly -- immediately formed a circle and prayed at length. It was the closest thing the Tigers had to a crisis.

"I told Al, 'Get up! Get up! Nobody's going to give you mouth-to-mouth here tonight,'" Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville joked later. "I went over there and they're gathered around him -- I thought he was dead. They had 20 doctors around him. I said, 'Y'all let him breathe over here.'

"He got what we call 'slobber-knocked.' I didn't know he'd gotten run over. I went down and Al was flat on his back. I thought he was hurt, but he shook it off. We'll give him a yellow jersey next week when we come back to practice."

What Auburn should give Borges is a fat raise. There should be no higher priority within the Auburn football program than keeping Borges until some program out there wises up and gives the man a chance to be a head coach.

Borges' name popped up in Tennessee last week, though the Volunteers have targeted former UT offensive coordinator and former Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe for months. Cutcliffe could be named the Volunteers' new offensive coordinator as early as this week, though embattled coach Phillip Fulmer might wait and announce Cutcliffe's hiring on Sunday, the day after the Vols' season finale against Kentucky.

That's one bullet dodged, but other programs are going to pursue Borges; that's what happens when someone does his job so expertly. Auburn has shown that it can recover from the loss of three offensive stars to the NFL but Tuberville has had his problems replacing offensive coordinators. He fired Noel Mazzone and hired Bobby Petrino. Hugh Nall was promoted when Petrino left for Louisville. When that didn't work out, he moved Nall back to his offensive line duties and hired Borges. He would be almost impossible to replace.

Tuberville and Auburn should make sure they don't have to worry about it.

Contact Neal McCready at:

nmccready@mobileregister.com

His column appears on Wednesdays in the Register. http://www.al.com/sports/mobileregister/nm...1520.xml&coll=3

[TigerOne 1,153]

in addition, I think we will all agree that when this hire was made we had

no idea who or what Auburn was getting. CTT caught a lot of grief and

abuse when this occured, mainly talk radio. Coach Tuberville should get

the credit for not only hiring him but surrounding himself with capable

coaches and letting them do their job. One of the hardest parts of being the

Head Coach is letting others....coach.

[saniflush 0]

in addition, I think we will all agree that when this hire was made we had

no idea who or what Auburn was getting. CTT caught a lot of grief and

abuse when this occured, mainly talk radio. Coach Tuberville should get

the credit for not only hiring him but surrounding himself with capable

coaches and letting them do their job. One of the hardest parts of being the

Head Coach is letting others....coach.

200837[/snapback]

Well said. I for one will admit when "Big Al" was hired I thought CTT was off his rocker. That again shows why he is a head coach of a top tier Division I program and I am not. "Big Al" was not the media darling of that particular year and much like Florida this year it has been proven that the media bought and sold a bill of goods to everyone else that were fake. Thank goodness CTT had the insightfulness to bring him on board!

[DKW 86 7,451]

GUys, if Borges does leave, Good for him. But look ahead. We have a loaded Offense. Cox, Irons, Taylor, etc. We have a string of OCs taking HC jobs. Any real up and coming OC would be fighting to get our OC job.

BTW, I think if any ASST in the SEC is making more than Borges, it is a crime. I bet that CAB understands that CTT did everything but salvage his career. He was about to die at Indiana. He walks onto the PLains with a team loaded with talent.

And another BTW, Borges has already been a HC. He resigned after ONE DAY on the job. Read it a while back and could not find the link.

[AUloggerhead 2,255]

GUys, if Borges does leave, Good for him. But look ahead. We have a loaded Offense. Cox, Irons, Taylor, etc. We have a string of OCs taking HC jobs. Any real up and coming OC would be fighting to get our OC job.

BTW, I think if any ASST in the SEC is making more than Borges, it is a crime. I bet that CAB understands that CTT did everything but salvage his career. He was about to die at Indiana. He walks onto the PLains with a team loaded with talent.

And another BTW, Borges has already been a HC. He resigned after ONE DAY on the job. Read it a while back and could not find the link.

200864[/snapback]

Agreed. I believe I read somewhere that Jimbo Fisher is the highest paid asst coach in the SEC. Even if Borges is made the highest paid asst coach, it will never equal the amount a HC can make. He has aspirations of becoming a HC (as any asst coach worth a damn should.)

Borges leaving for a HC position somewhere in the future is a given. I just hope it's not at another SEC school. {Shudders at the thought of him at UT with their recruiting.}

[DCWarEagle 0]

Y'all are right that CTT really dug deep to find CAB. CAB was not doing well at Indiana, and good for Tub to recognize the talent. I would hope that Big Al knows this and will show some loyalty. I agree that he should harbor head coaching aspirations, and if he gets the right opportunity to be the boss-man, he should take it. However, I also hope that he will not leave for the same position somewhere else (ala Chizik).

I think we will have him through next season, and maybe as long as 2008, but by then surely someone will snap him up.

When you hire top talent it is inevitable that they will get the chance to be the head coach somewhere else, I just hope that Tub can continue to make good hires and avoid disasters like Nall's promotion (though I of course agree that Nall is excellent in his current position).

[Raven_tiger 5]

I was one of the biggest critics of the CAB hire, especially after the Nallsminger debacle. Thankfully, I was wrong. CAB has been, and will hopefully continue to be, an outstanding hire for the Auburn football program. I wish him and his family the very best.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

[tigerdude 0]

A follow-up comment on Coach Nall. Major respect to him for not being selfish, egotistical, etc when Tubbs hired Borges. Without all the existing coaches putting heart and soul into executing the plan, it wouldnt fly.

[AUloggerhead 2,255]

Speak of the Devil: Link

Why not Al Borges? 

  By Randy Moore

Date: Nov 16, 2005

Tennessee’s football team appears likely to limp home 6-5 after being ranked No. 3 nationally in preseason. The offense has underachieved. Erratic play by quarterback Erik Ainge and his receivers has kept the passing game from being productive. 

Is a quick fix possible? Sure. Al Borges inherited a virtually identical situation at Auburn two years ago and turned things around in one season. Consider:

The 2003 Tigers limped home 8-5 after being ranked No. 3 nationally in preseason. Their offense underachieved. Erratic play by quarterback Jason Campbell and his receivers kept the passing game from being productive.

In Borges’ first year as offensive coordinator Campbell went from weak link to first-round NFL Draft pick and Auburn went from 8-5 to 13-0.

Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said this week that his first priority in selecting a coordinator for 2006 is finding someone who is a great quarterbacks coach. Borges certainly qualifies on that score. In his one season playing for Borges, Campbell doubled his touchdown pass total from 10 to 20, completed 69.6 percent of his throws for 2,700 yards and threw just seven interceptions.

Borges is no one-year wonder, though. After losing running backs Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams within the first five picks of last April’s NFL Draft and losing Campbell later in the round, Auburn's offense was supposed to fall off the face of the Earth this season. It hasn’t. Instead, it has flourished. The Tigers lead the SEC in scoring offense (33.4 points per game), rushing offense (206 yards per game) and total offense (436 yards per game).

Brandon Cox, Campbell’s successor, is leading the Southeastern Conference in passing efficiency and ranks second in passing yards at 222 per game. Kenny Irons, the successor to Brown and Williams, leads the SEC in rushing at 119.7 yads per game.

There is no doubt that David Cutcliffe is the frontrunner to be Tennessee’s offensive coordinator in 2006. Obviously, Cutcliffe’s familiarity with Fulmer, his philosophy, his system and his terminology make him an excellent fit. I just think Al Borges might be an even better fit.

Like Fulmer, Borges believes in the running game. Like Fulmer, he strives for offensive balance. Philosophically, they’re a good match. The obvious question: Would Borges leave Auburn to coach at Tennessee next year?

I don’t know. But I wouldn’t hire anyone else until I found out.