South Bend Tribune: Why not Tuberville?

[RunInRed 16,996]

Not gonna happen. Still, some interesting comments from xCTT ...

Notre Dame football: Why not Tuberville at ND?

By ERIC HANSEN

Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND - We all know how these things usually end. Unless Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick has a refreshingly candid, politically incorrect script, Notre Dame will unveil its successor to discarded head football coach Charlie Weis in the coming days - perhaps hours - spun as the school's first choice all along.

Even if it turns out to be a guy named Edsall.

According to sources involved in the search process, both Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly and the aforementioned Edsall, as in Randy from Connecticut, met with Notre Dame officials Wednesday about the coaching vacancy.

Hopefully, Swarbrick wasn't the only one asking the questions in the meetings.

The questions start with the litany of some in-your-face reality: It's been 16 years since the program sniffed a No. 1 ranking. ... The last three head coaches have all left with bulges in their wallets and stains on their résumés. ... The national media has been more motivated to write about the train wrecks sprinkled through the past three regimes than the triumphs.

So in other words, Notre Dame had some 'splaining to do to both Kelly and Edsall.

If you're either of these men, it figures that you would want to know why Florida's Urban Meyer pushed his “dream job” away the last time it came open.

It figures they'd want to know why Swarbrick thinks the last three coaches fell through a trap door with almost identically pedestrian winning percentages.

It figures they'd want to know if Swarbrick was actually going to be their boss for the long term or if the rumors he may be aligning himself to be the next NCAA grand poobah have legs?

It figures Kelly and Edsall would have questions about the relationship between the admissions office and the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, even though Weis himself had nothing but praise about his relationship with it during his parting interview last Saturday.

And if you're anyone but Kelly and Edsall, wouldn't you want to know why Tommy Tuberville isn't in this snapshot?

Sources close to the search process and some powerful alumni with heavy checkbooks have tried to introduce the former Auburn head coach into the core of the search, but so far he sits on the periphery.

Tuberville, when reached at his home in Auburn, Ala. on Wednesday afternoon, acknowledged as much, but would welcome the process taking an 11th-hour, wide left turn in his direction.

“I don't think there's any doubt Notre Dame can win and win big again,” said Tuberville, whose last trip to South Bend came last spring when he spoke at a Notre Dame coaches clinic at Weis' request.

“I just think they need to find the right guy with the right philosophy.”

Now, former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, for one, was quoted as having said he would have listened if Notre Dame had come calling. The difference is the 55-year-old Tuberville's blueprint for ND looks like the one Swarbrick idyllically threw on the table on Nov. 30 on the night he finally acknowledged Weis had slipped into Notre Dame's past.

Tuberville not only believes a strong running game and defense are the cornerstones to reviving ND for good, he's lived it.

During his 10-year run at Auburn (1999-2008), Tuberville fashioned an 85-40 record. That included a 13-0 run in 2004, when the Tigers got shut out of the BCS national title game, and handing Florida's Urban Meyer two of his 10 losses since he arrived at Florida in 2005. That includes the Gators' only blemish during its 2006 national championship season.

Tuberville's first Auburn team, the one that started the climb back from the NCAA violation-infested mess Terry Bowden left behind, ranked 55th nationally in total defense. That turned out to be his worst defense. Notre Dame's ranked 87th this season.

In Tuberville's final seven seasons at Auburn, the Tigers ranked 26th, fifth, fifth, 19th, 19th, sixth and 29th, respectively.

And as far as the running game goes, Tuberville's first Auburn team ranked 112th in rushing. His second squad ranked 15th.

There are questions Tuberville would have to explain, too, among them why the overall decline of his offenses in his last three seasons and why he pushed himself away from the job after the 2008 season.

To his credit, he didn't spend 2009 completely away from football. When Tuberville wasn't part-timing for ESPN, he traveled coast to coast to learn from the elite college coaches and the not-so elite about how he could be a better coach when he gets his second wind.

Wherever that may be.

Admittedly, his résumé has some interesting speckles on it that might make Notre Dame fans a little suspicious.

Two of his mentors are Dennis Erickson and Jimmy Johnson. He also once was Bob Davie's successor - as the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M in 1994. The next season Tuberville landed his first head coaching job, at Ole Miss.

Tuberville has coached against Notre Dame four times, all four times as a defensive assistant at Miami. That includes the epic 1988 game at Notre Dame Stadium in which a 31-30 Irish upset gave ND the inside track to the 1988 national title. Tuberville was the linebackers coach for that Miami team.

Tuberville even has a template for recruiting at Notre Dame. He would still recruit nationally, but not get too spread out. The Midwest would be his top priority. He would supplement that with players from the Northeast corridor, Texas, Florida and Georgia. (Ummm ... xCTT is a national recruiter ... since when?)

“The best advice I ever got about recruiting was from (former UCLA coach) Terry Donahue,” Tuberville said. “He told me not to recruit out of magazines and don't worry about the five stars and the four stars. Form your own relationships with the high school coaches and trust your own evaluations. It's always worked out great for me. (See: diamonds in the rough and stuff )

“I think Notre Dame needs to get back to being more physical. They need more and better defensive linemen. They need quarterbacks who can beat you with their arm and their legs. (Hmmm) They're not that far away from where they want to be.”

If Notre Dame ends up with Kelly or Edsall, which is the direction it appears to be headed, the school could very well have the first coach to reach year six of his contract since Holtz.

But it is fair to say those who are now writing the checks for Weis' buyout were expecting a perceptual home run, not a roll of the dice.

There still may be one left out there.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20091209/SPORTS13/912099912/-1/googleNews

[autigeremt 6,970]

It would be interesting to see him at ND. I think ND should go with a young guy, but xCTT may be a good fit for them.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

RuninRed...I'm curious why you feel the need to continue to take little potshots at Tubs.

He's not a national recruiter? Sure he didn't get too many guys from all over the country. Didn't need to. But where are players like Tate, Tilley, Burns, Ziemba, etc., from? With limited schollys, no Auburn coach is going to sign too many outside the southeast.

Frankly, I think that has been one of ND's problems. They get hotshots from all over the country but they can't play as a team. They are after individual recognition that ND can give.

[rtftiger 40]

Tuberville will not coach again.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

Ridiculous statement. If Terry Bowden got back into the game, Tuberville will.

He wasn't a national recruiter at Auburn because 1) you don't have to recruit nationally in the deep South and 2) Auburn isn't a national program. Spreading yourself out just for the sake of spreading yourself out is silly. Dye wasn't a national recruiter. Garner (under Bowden) wasn't a national recruiter. Tubs wasn't either. At Auburn, you cherry pick a guy here or there from other places, but you earn your living on the backs of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi (not necessarily in that order).

Notre Dame is different. If you build a team around Indiana... you won't compete for titles. That's just true. Ohio? Tough because OSU gets everyone they want first (kind of like Louisiana). Michigan? Not great high school ball. Same for Iowa and Minnesota. So you have to go national at ND, and it's easy. It's (still) the biggest brand name in college football. So yeah, he (or anyone else at ND) could recruit nationally from that platform.

He'd be interesting there. He loves the media (and outside of F-bomb they love him right back) so that part would be a home run. He's a great defensive mind so that would improve. He has tons of connections in the coaching biz so his staff would fill out nicely. At the same time, his style isn't sexy... which can be a problem for a team with a national TV contract. Plus he's never coached North of Jonesboro, Arkansas (and that was 25 years ago). He'd be a home run in some gigs; this would be a risk for him and ND.

[RunInRed 16,996]

@PT - As I've stated numerous times before, I'm a big fan of xCTT - both as a person and out of immense respect for what he did for Auburn. However, I also refuse to put blinders on. And the bottom line is, he left the football program in a pretty big mess.

Just my opinion ... if I'm still allowed to have one of those these days.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

Just a question. If Tubs left us in a "pretty big mess" and we were in good enough shape to win 7 or 8 games, make a New Year's Day bowl, and have multiple first team All-SEC players... how do you describe the way Bowden (from a personnel/attitude stand point) and Dye (from a probation stand point) left us? Clusterf***? Car crash? Tiger Woods' marriage? I'm just wondering.

[RunInRed 16,996]

Justifying poor performance by pointing to other performance? Ok.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

@PT - As I've stated numerous times before, I'm a big fan of xCTT - both as a person and out of immense respect for what he did for Auburn. However, I also refuse to put blinders on. And the bottom line is, he left the football program in a pretty big mess.

Just my opinion ... if I'm still allowed to have one of those these days.

I respect your opinion but why keep on with the Tubs potshots. The article was interesting, your annotaions were unneccessary. Tubs left the program in a mess but it wasn't all his doing. The mess was created by JJ and the PTB and the firing of Tubs. Just my opinion.

[quietfan 233]

Not gonna happen. Still, some interesting comments from xCTT ...

Notre Dame football: Why not Tuberville at ND?

By ERIC HANSEN

Tribune Staff Writer

Tuberville's first Auburn team, the one that started the climb back from the NCAA violation-infested mess Terry Bowden left behind, ranked 55th nationally in total defense. That turned out to be his worst defense. Notre Dame's ranked 87th this season.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20091209/SPORTS13/912099912/-1/googleNews

Am I suffering from amnesia? Did I forget something? Bowden was the one who started the climb back from NCAA sanctions. He left us in a mess, but it wasn't NCAA-related.

I don't think Tuberville is seriously in the mix for Notre Dame, but I would love it if the Irish actually went for ex-CTT ahead of Meyers or Saban!

[ECEstudentUA 9]

Tuberville at ND....hmm, interesting.

If that happens, I hope Auburn and ND schedule a home and home match up.

Also, I think he could easily turn that program around.

[mcgufcm 4,107]

That was short-lived.

Oh and RIR, I wasn't justifying bad performance. I think the "state of program" nonsense has been greatly overstated. I think if Al Borges was our OC last year, we would've won 9 games. I wasn't agreeing with you. I was just pointing out that he left us much better off that Dye or Bowden... so if this is a big mess, I can't imagine what you said about those guys.

[Duder 238]

Tuberville would have been the closest thing to a marquee name available to Notre Dame this go round. I honestly think he would've been a better choice than Brian Kelley.

[RunInRed 16,996]

@PT - As I've stated numerous times before, I'm a big fan of xCTT - both as a person and out of immense respect for what he did for Auburn. However, I also refuse to put blinders on. And the bottom line is, he left the football program in a pretty big mess.

Just my opinion ... if I'm still allowed to have one of those these days.

I respect your opinion but why keep on with the Tubs potshots. The article was interesting, your annotaions were unneccessary. Tubs left the program in a mess but it wasn't all his doing. The mess was created by JJ and the PTB and the firing of Tubs. Just my opinion.

Not really potshots ... more a correction of the record: he wasn't known as a national recruiter, we never had a stock of QBs who could beat opposing teams with both their arms and legs and we certainly didn't have blue-chip talent across the board during his waning years - despite his "evaluations."

My biggest beef with xCTT is that since he has departed, he constantly paints a picture that does not match reality. I know some of this is CYA-talk but it is just disingenuous to act like our depth and talent issues don't exists. And you can call our situation whatever you wish ... I call having only 74 scholarship players on a top-tier SEC roster a complete mess.

Why won't he just man up and speak the truth: he got beat for the best players, made too many bad decisions (including one fatal one) and otherwise over saw a football program that was on the down swing after the 2004 peak - when the opposite should have been the case. If he wants to pull the curtain back on the internal riffs that existed, well, that would be OK too. But enough with all the nonsense.

And let me just add, the reason there is so much hope and optimism around our program now is because Chizik has already addressed the vast majority of these issues. Consistency will be key but if he continues to do what he's been doing, the results are going to be some thing for which we will all be thankful.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

@PT - As I've stated numerous times before, I'm a big fan of xCTT - both as a person and out of immense respect for what he did for Auburn. However, I also refuse to put blinders on. And the bottom line is, he left the football program in a pretty big mess.

Just my opinion ... if I'm still allowed to have one of those these days.

I respect your opinion but why keep on with the Tubs potshots. The article was interesting, your annotaions were unneccessary. Tubs left the program in a mess but it wasn't all his doing. The mess was created by JJ and the PTB and the firing of Tubs. Just my opinion.

Not really potshots ... more a correction of the record: he wasn't known as a national recruiter, we never had a stock of QBs who could beat opposing teams with both their arms and legs and we certainly didn't have blue-chip talent across the board during his waning years - despite his "evaluations."

My biggest beef with xCTT is that since he has departed, he constantly paints a picture that does not match reality. I know some of this is CYA-talk but it is just disingenuous to act like our depth and talent issues don't exists. And you can call our situation whatever you wish ... I call having only 74 scholarship players on a top-tier SEC roster a complete mess.

Why won't he just man up and speak the truth: he got beat for the best players, made too many bad decisions (including one fatal one) and otherwise over saw a football program that was on the down swing after the 2004 peak - when the opposite should have been the case. If he wants to pull the curtain back on the internal riffs that existed, well, that would be OK too. But enough with all the nonsense.

And let me just add, the reason there is so much hope and optimism around our program now is because Chizik has already addressed the vast majority of these issues. Consistency will be key but if he continues to do what he's been doing, the results are going to be some thing for which we will all be thankful.

You have your opinion, I have mine. The real mess at Auburn is JJ and the PTB. In SPITE of all the messes he endured, you may want to note that Tubs has the best 10 year record of any Auburn coach, including winning records against Saban and Myers, one that Chizik will probably not match. I hope he does but I wouldn't bet on it.

[vatz22au 142]

@PT - As I've stated numerous times before, I'm a big fan of xCTT - both as a person and out of immense respect for what he did for Auburn. However, I also refuse to put blinders on. And the bottom line is, he left the football program in a pretty big mess.

Just my opinion ... if I'm still allowed to have one of those these days.

I respect your opinion but why keep on with the Tubs potshots. The article was interesting, your annotaions were unneccessary. Tubs left the program in a mess but it wasn't all his doing. The mess was created by JJ and the PTB and the firing of Tubs. Just my opinion.

Not really potshots ... more a correction of the record: he wasn't known as a national recruiter, we never had a stock of QBs who could beat opposing teams with both their arms and legs and we certainly didn't have blue-chip talent across the board during his waning years - despite his "evaluations."

My biggest beef with xCTT is that since he has departed, he constantly paints a picture that does not match reality. I know some of this is CYA-talk but it is just disingenuous to act like our depth and talent issues don't exists. And you can call our situation whatever you wish ... I call having only 74 scholarship players on a top-tier SEC roster a complete mess.

Why won't he just man up and speak the truth: he got beat for the best players, made too many bad decisions (including one fatal one) and otherwise over saw a football program that was on the down swing after the 2004 peak - when the opposite should have been the case. If he wants to pull the curtain back on the internal riffs that existed, well, that would be OK too. But enough with all the nonsense.

And let me just add, the reason there is so much hope and optimism around our program now is because Chizik has already addressed the vast majority of these issues. Consistency will be key but if he continues to do what he's been doing, the results are going to be some thing for which we will all be thankful.

You have your opinion, I have mine. The real mess at Auburn is JJ and the PTB. In SPITE of all the messes he endured, you may want to note that Tubs has the best 10 year record of any Auburn coach, including winning records against Saban and Myers, one that Chizik will probably not match. I hope he does but I wouldn't bet on it.

I've been and still am a fan of xCTT but the question begs to be asked.... what is your obvious obsession of all things Tuberville?