Right man for the job...

[StatTiger 3,188]

Right Man at the Right Time

Coach Tommy Tuberville has solidified himself as Auburn’s head football coach and he’s headed towards surpassing Pat Dye in terms of victories. Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan will forever be known as the “father” of Auburn football and we’ll probably never see another head football coach walk the sideline of Jordan-Hare for twenty-five years. Shug Jordan arrived at a time when Auburn was in dire need of rebuilding it’s football program. From 1946-1950 (5-years), Auburn compiled a record of 9-35-4, which placed Auburn at 139th (win percentage) in the country out of 142 programs.

In just his first season (1951), Jordan led Auburn to a 5-5-0 record, which was a huge improvement from the 0-10-0 disaster the Tigers registered in 1950. By 1953, Auburn posted it’s first winning record (7-3) since 1942, when Auburn finished the season with a 6-4-1 record. In 1954, Auburn won it’s first bowl game since 1937, defeating Baylor in the Gator Bowl, 33-13. Auburn’s final ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 1954 was 13th and they finished 8th in 1955. The Tigers were voted No.1 in the 1957 AP Poll, crowning Coach Jordan’s remarkable coaching job and Auburn’s turn around as a national power.

In 1981, Coach Pat Dye arrived at a time, when Auburn once again needed a major rebuilding job. The Tigers were 29-25-1 under Coach Doug Barfield, placing Auburn at 52nd in the country in terms of win percentage. Not only was Pat Dye confronted with a major rebuilding job, he had to compete against an Alabama program, which had compiled a blistering 219-54-10 record over the past twenty-five years. During that time period, Auburn was 7-18-0 against Alabama but it would not take long for Dye to turn things around.

In just his second season, Dye led Auburn to a 9-3-0 record, 14th best in the AP Poll and a Tangerine bowl victory over Boston College. The sweetest moment of the season came against Alabama, when Auburn recorded it’s first victory over Alabama since 1972. Pat Dye and Auburn followed up it’s success in 1982 with a 11-1-0 finish in 1983 and a Sugar Bowl victory over Michigan. If not for some very questionable voting, Auburn should have been crowned National Champions that year. Only the New York Times computer poll got it right, recognizing Auburn as the best team in the country for the 1983-1984 season.

In 1999, Coach Tommy Tuberville replaced Terry Bowden as Auburn’s fulltime head football coach. Auburn’s win percentage had slipped to 40th in the nation from 1996-1998, compiling a 21-15-0 record. In just two seasons, Tuberville led Auburn to a 9-2-0 regular season record and a trip to the Southeastern Conference Championship game. By year six, Tuberville stockpiled enough talent and depth to direct Auburn to a 13-0-0 record and a No. 2 finish in the Associated Press Poll.

All three coaches arrived when Auburn was in a time of need and all three were the right men for the job. Coach Jordan had to build the foundation while Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville were responsible for rebuilding the football program when they arrived on the Plains.

Record (Seven year comparison):

1951-1957: 47-24-2 (.657) 26th in the nation

1981-1987: 61-21-2 (.738 ) 10th in the nation

1999-2005: 60-27-0 (.689) 20th in the nation

Pat Dye was able to turn Auburn around to a top ten program within his first seven years, winning two conference titles along the way. He would later capture two more in 1988 and 1989.

Strength of Schedule:

1951-1957: (.571)

1981-1987: (.570)

1999-2005: (.572)

All three coaches basically faced the same level of competition based on their overall strength of schedule.

Margin of victory:

1951-1957: 7.1 pts

1981-1987: 10.9 pts

1999-2005: 8.9 pts

Record against opponents with at least a .636 win Percentage:

Jordan……..… 11-17-2 (.400)

Dye………...… 17-16-2 (.514)

Tuberville….. 18-22-0 (.450)

Record against opponents with at least a .750 win percentage:

Jordan……..…. 4-9-0 (.308 )

Dye………...…. 8-12-2 (.409)

Tuiberville….. 10-16-0 (.384)

Record against top ten teams:

Jordan…….…. 3-6-1 (.350)

Dye………..…. 10-10-1 (.500)

Tuberville…… 12-10-0 (.545)

Over the last three years, Tuberville’s teams have amassed a 30-8-0 record, which is 8th best in the country during that time period. Jordan’s teams were 25-5-1 during his fifth through seventh season, which was the 7th highest win percentage in the country from 1955 through 1958. Pat Dye’s Auburn teams were 27-7-2 from 1985 through 1987, which was the 10th highest win percentage in the country. Shug Jordan’s teams continued to have success after his seventh year, posting a 36-12-2 record (.740) over the next five years (1958-1962). Pat Dye went onto win two more conference titles during his last five years, compiling a 38-18-2 record from 1988 to 1992.

Coach Tuberville clearly has assembled enough talent and a solid coaching staff to have very successful seasons in 2006 and 2007. Unless disaster strikes, Auburn should be poised to string together back-to-back 9-10 win seasons over the next two years. Should Tuberville average 9-wins over the next five years, he will surpass Pat Dye’s 99 career victories at Auburn. Like his former predecessors, Tuberville is a strong leader with a plan in place to make Auburn very successful. To his credit, Tuberville has made his players successful on and off the field, which is very difficult during an age of “what have you done for me lately”.

Auburn University has experienced some harsh times over the last five decades but the decision to bring these three great coaches to Auburn should never be questioned. Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan was a gentleman and his players were devoted to him. Unfortunately, he was at Auburn during a time period, when the playing field was not equal within the state. Pat Dye’s philosophy of “hitting back harder” is what Auburn needed to even the playing field in 1981 and he gave us the grandest gift of all, the 1989 Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare. As Pat Dye once stated about the 1989 Alabama game, “We won it before the game was played”. It wasn’t about playing the game but more importantly, it was where the game would be played. Tommy Tuberville has been a combination of both Jordan and Dye. He realized Auburn would have to work twice as hard to compete against the major powers in the conference but he hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped since.