Auburn's Bobby Lowder: Coming to the End of the Road

For Auburn fans, this is both an exciting and troublesome time.  They are starting the 2009 football season without the coach who has given them both the wins over their arch-rival and the stability they have enjoyed during his 10 years on the Plains.

It's exciting because they start a new chapter of their history with an energetic staff and hope for a turnaround.

It's troublesome because many Auburn faithful are still unsure about Gene Chizik as the head coach and the reeling decline of Auburn football in this past year.

But in a change that is perhaps just as big, these are the final years of Bobby Lowder presiding over the board at Auburn.  He will be out when his term expires in less than two years.  Many think the board will be reshaped to ease out Lowder's appointees as well.

Like most things in life, there are good and bad sides to any individual. 

Lowder and his family have been among Auburn's greatest benefactors.  The Lowder Business Building many see on campus, mistakenly think it's named after Bobby, but that was a gift to the school by his parents, who started being philanthropic to Auburn long before Bobby.

It is generally thought that Bobby Lowder has donated up to $25 million to the university.  That is no small change.

That money had strings and it was thought by many that his power far exceeded that of Auburn's president or Athletic Director.

Though many of his actions were blasted by the press, faculty, coaches and fans, most notably the "Jetgate" scandal of 2003, many of his contributions were either ignored or unreported by those same groups.

He became a trustee 26 years ago, way back in 1983.  Pat Dye was in his second year on the Plains.  That year, Auburn put up an 11-1 record, including a Sugar Bowl win and a No. 2 final ranking in the Coaches Poll.

The year before, Dye snapped a nine-game Alabama winning streak, and it seemed like Auburn was finally poised to on Alabama as an equal.

A great friendship was forged between these two men that still is strong today. 

However, 10 years later, following one of the nation's most embarrassing NCAA investigations that even made CBS's "60 Minutes" program, the NCAA placed blame at the feet of Dye, who they said should have known, as Athletic Director, that such things were going on.

That and back-to-back five win seasons made Lowder call his call his old buddy and break the news that after having to step down as Athletic Director the year before, that he was now going to have to give up his coaching job also.

Lowder wanted a younger and more energetic coach to lead the program and to build it into a machine like "Bear" Bryant had done at Alabama and Bobby Bowden had done at Florida State.  Who better then then than a younger, Bowden who seemed to fit the bill.

Using Dye's recruits, Auburn pulled of a stunning 11-0 season in his first year, but because of probation they couldn't go to a bowl and because of TV bans, nobody outside the stadium saw any of these wins.

Though many saw Bowden as the next great thing, insiders, reporters and Lowder though that Bowden was in over his head as he was too immature to lead this team. 

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