Has Lebo turned into another Tuberville?

[auburn4ever 1,266]

People keep saying give him another year. Seems like I heard the very same thing from people when it came to Tuberville. Look where that got us in the end. HORRIBLE coaching and recruiting.

[bird36 5]

Lebo dreams of a career like Tuberville.   

[BeatBama 0]

Funny... in 2003 Tuberville got the extra year and I thought it panned out well.

When did Tuberville get an "extra" year? In 2007 he had a decent team. He went 9-4. I didn't realize there was a huge uproar about his job status back then. In 08 he had one bad season (Lebo has had MANY) and he got let go. So where did Tuberville getting an extra ever hurt Auburn? I admit Tubs recruiting went down the last few years, but there wasn't a demand for his resignation in 07 when he beat Saban.

FWIW, I want Lebo gone. I just don't understand your argument.

[wareagle987 0]

Tub should have been fired in 2003. One SEC championship in 10 years is not doing well IMHO. However, if tub had won two or three NC's along with a few SEC championships, I could say he was a good coach.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Remember when TT named Nall & Esnminger were co-OC's? The first time was in 03 (I think) and then he did it again in 08 after he fired Franklin.

[Guest War Eagle 29]

No, CJL was never even close to becoming CTT! CTT actually won championships during his tenure at Auburn and should have won it all in 2004. Sorry, but comparing CJL to CTT is like comparing apples to oranges.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

TT lasted too long. Now JL has been here too long.

[Guest War Eagle 29]

TT lasted too long. Now JL has been here too long.

That may be true, but CTT's career at Auburn was light years ahead of Lebo's.

Regardless, like CTT in December 2008, it is now time for CJL to go.

[fourthvision 0]

they appear to be headed to the same fate

[WarEagle10 77]

You can't compare the two. Coach Tub had a lot of success for us, Lebo hasn't had any. I have heard Lebo is a great person, and I wish him the best of everything.  He has had time to turn a mediocre Auburn program around, and he hasn't come close to doing that. We are opening up a stae-of-the-art facility next year, and you can't polish a turd. It's time to take our bball program in a new direction IMO.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

In 10 long years, Tommy Tuberville won the SEC out right only 1 time. How many times has Jeff Lebo won the SEC in his 6 long years? ZERO.

[kingofhill1 2]

Has Jeff Lebo turned into another Tuberville? Not by a long shot. Tubbs is an outstanding coach. Lebo barely qualifies as a coach.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

TT should have been shown the door after the 2005 season but he wasn't. They kept him 3 years to long.

[kingofhill1 2]

Ok, shown the door one year after going 13 - 0.

Shown the door after a season in which you lose 2 games during the regular season.

I'm glad you are not the one that makes the decisions.

[NOLATiger 0]

Honestly not sure why this has become a Tuberville thread, but given that it has: I cannot abide listening to folks say that Tommy "should have been fired in 2003" ... or after 2005 ... or after 2008 for that matter.

Now, in hindsight, we do see how much recruiting had suffered. And I think it's fair to say that Tommy was both tired and that Coach Chizik and his staff have disproven the Tubervillian theory that Auburn can't land the top-rated recruits consistently.

All that said, it's simply disingenuous and lazy not to acknowledge how successful Tommy was and, perhaps even more important to any analysis of his tenure, how complicated his relationship with Auburn's top brass was for the last, oh, 8 years of his tenure. You don't even have to take a side in that fight to recognize how much of a fight it really was. Sure, Tommy Tuberville was well compensated "to put up with it." Sure, the university and its fans have a right to expect a strong product from such a well-paid football executive. But let's not kid ourselves: That whole give-and-take is a lot easier, and I'd argue, more productive, when the chain of command is clear and the coach doesn't feel like he's living on the pages of Julius Caesar.

That was Tommy's life from the Monday after the 2001 Alabama game, when he relented and fired two coordinators on orders from a trustee. Just like it was Terry's life from the time he fired Wayne Hall, a favorite of the luxury suite brass.

The bottom line is that Auburn has a complicated political sports history. And any judgment of our head football coaches has to take that into account.

As an aside: If your standard of success in a 10-year period is "two or three national championships," then you seriously need to check yourself. We should expect Auburn to compete for conference championships on a regular basis, understanding that there will be down years every now and then. Perhaps every second cycle, a top season will involve being in the national championship discussion. That is how any school defines a successful program, no matter what their boisterous fans might spew.

[Tiger Growlin 0]

Speaking of former coaches. I listened to a radio interview with Sonny Smith last week and he was asked about Lebo. He said earlier in the season he thought it was time for a change but changed his mind because of the way the team was playing down the stretch. He said he asked Lebo about recruiting and Lebo said the new arena made a big difference and made recruiting a lot easier. He also said that we should give Lebo a chance to see what he can do with better facilities. He also said that maybe the change should come with some staff members and not necessarily Lebo.

[TigerPaw1 0]

Honestly not sure why this has become a Tuberville thread, but given that it has: I cannot abide listening to folks say that Tommy "should have been fired in 2003" ... or after 2005 ... or after 2008 for that matter.

Now, in hindsight, we do see how much recruiting had suffered. And I think it's fair to say that Tommy was both tired and that Coach Chizik and his staff have disproven the Tubervillian theory that Auburn can't land the top-rated recruits consistently.

All that said, it's simply disingenuous and lazy not to acknowledge how successful Tommy was and, perhaps even more important to any analysis of his tenure, how complicated his relationship with Auburn's top brass was for the last, oh, 8 years of his tenure. You don't even have to take a side in that fight to recognize how much of a fight it really was. Sure, Tommy Tuberville was well compensated "to put up with it." Sure, the university and its fans have a right to expect a strong product from such a well-paid football executive. But let's not kid ourselves: That whole give-and-take is a lot easier, and I'd argue, more productive, when the chain of command is clear and the coach doesn't feel like he's living on the pages of Julius Caesar.

That was Tommy's life from the Monday after the 2001 Alabama game, when he relented and fired two coordinators on orders from a trustee. Just like it was Terry's life from the time he fired Wayne Hall, a favorite of the luxury suite brass.

The bottom line is that Auburn has a complicated political sports history. And any judgment of our head football coaches has to take that into account.

As an aside: If your standard of success in a 10-year period is "two or three national championships," then you seriously need to check yourself. We should expect Auburn to compete for conference championships on a regular basis, understanding that there will be down years every now and then. Perhaps every second cycle, a top season will involve being in the national championship discussion. That is how any school defines a successful program, no matter what their boisterous fans might spew.

AMEN!!! This thread is ridiculous. I have ranted many times about how sick I am of us throwing Tubbs under the bus. We were a top 4 SEC team this past decade which I call a success. Could we have been better? Sure but so could every team in the country. Some people need to grow up and move on

[Mikey 16,733]

Coach Tuberville is an outstanding coach. If he'd had the support of the administration there's no telling what more he would have accomplished. As it is, he presided over the most successful 8-year run in Auburn football history.

Tuberville's next to last recruiting class, 2007, finished in the top ten nationally and had the #1 OL class. They'll be seniors this year.

The '08 team was picked to win the SEC West. We all know the Franklin experiment was a tragic mistake on Tuberville's part, but that's about all that can be said bad about him.

There's no comparison between Lebo and Tuberville and to claim that there is is silly.

[wrdmegle 0]

I think we'd all be ELATED if Lebo were another Tuberville.  As it is, he's more like a Doug Barfield.