Bleacher Report - Articles by Doug Caldwell

All I Want for Christmas Is...A Football Coach at Auburn

Doug Caldwell — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:11:24 -0500

I'm sure many people's Christmas lists start out with an LCD TV, iPod, golf clubs, laptop, digital camera, blu-ray player, or the like. Well, this year I think I am going to branch out from your standard consumer electronics and ask for...a football coach.

That's right: just one successful, experienced, well spoken, X's and O's knowing football coach. Can you do that, Santa?

It's been a week since the Auburn Tigers cut ties with head coach Tommy Tuberville. A week. Seven days. Not long, right?

Wrong. With each passing day it seems as though Auburn and athletic director Jay Jacobs continue to lower their standards, lose recruits, and provide comedic relief to college football fans around the country. You can hear the laughter from Tuscaloosa to Athens when they see "Auburn interviews Patrick Nix" scrolling across the bottom line.

On a day when Mississippi State hired Dan Mullen, the offensive coordinator that was already behind one national championship at Florida and has brought them to another, Auburn's most recent interviewees include Derek Dooley, Rodney Garner, and the aforementioned Nix. Who?!? One can only guess that Terry Bowden, Brother Oliver, and Rush Propst will be next.

No disrespect to Nix, Garner, and Dooley: They may turn out to be good head coaches one day, but none of them have made enough noise to deserve a look from Auburn. Not when the Tigers just let go a coach who won 85 games in 10 seasons in the SEC.

By the way, Dan Mullen, have you ever been to Starkville?

I actually have. Good luck.

No matter where you stood on the Tommy Tuberville firing (that is what it was—just ask Tommy's mother), the ensuing coaching search has produced names that resemble a UAB coaching search rather than an Auburn search. As a War Eagle supporter, one has to be concerned.

Sure, you heard names like Mike Leach, Houston Nutt, Jimbo Fisher, Paul Johnson, Will Muschamp, and lesser known, but no doubt up and coming, Turner Gill to start with, but those names have since faded—only to pave the way for a ragtag group of inexperienced no-names.

Earlier this week members of Auburn's student body marched from the new student center to the lawn of the president's mansion in support of Tommy Tuberville. Tommy Tuberville was a good football coach, but come on now. As a student, when I received the Facebook invite to join the protest, I have to admit I chuckled, texted a few of my friends asking if they had seen it, and RSVP'd "not attending."

But as the sun sets each day on this Jay Jacobs "coaching search," trying to bring back Tommy Tuberville is looking better by the interview.

It was assumed by some, if not most, that when Auburn let Tuberville go that they had already done their homework and had a list of four or five names who were interested. From that list would come the next head coach of the Auburn Tigers. That has not been the case, and as the days begin to add up, the Tuberville firing makes less and less sense.

Maybe Jay Jacobs is just a puppet for super-boosters Bobby Lowder and Jimmy Raines. But even if that is the case, to see the ambitious Lowder target the likes of Nix and Dooley has to raise some questions as to what is really going on behind the scenes at Auburn.

All of that being said, it is almost impossible to grade a coaching search midway through. All's well that ends well. Case in point: Two years ago around this time, Alabama had fired Mike Shula after a fifth straight Iron Bowl loss and made a heavy run at Rich Rodriguez (there were reports that Rodriguez had accepted the job), only to have him leave Mal Moore and the Tide high and dry.

The Bamers were worried, but everyone knows the end of that story. Bama rebounded and ended up getting "some guy" who coached the Dolphins.

So as questionable as Jacobs' interviews have been thus far, all is not lost—at least not yet.

War Eagle.

Jay Jacobs' Christmas List: Five Coaches Auburn Would Welcome with Open Arms

Doug Caldwell — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:29:08 -0500

With Christmas just around the corner, the question is how good has Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs been this year? Judging by the lies he was telling during the Auburn press conference Thursday morning, not very.

But Jacobs' standing with Chris Kringle is not for me to determine. Here are five names that Auburn should put on the list that they are making and checking twice this holiday season.

1. Mike Leach, Texas Tech

Leach, 47, appears to be the leading known candidate for the open Auburn job.

Pros: 76-38 in nine seasons at TTU. 5-3 in eight bowl appearances. Has mentored successful college signal callers such as Tim Couch and Josh Heupel along with a slew of record setters at Tech, most recently Harrell. Would emphasize scoring points—something that Auburn has had well-documented problems doing recently.

Cons: Auburn does not have the athletes to run Leach's system immediately. Successful teams in the SEC have a common denominator—a solid defense. This is something that Leach-coached teams have annually lacked. In Leach's tenure at Tech he has a record of 4-14 combined against Mack Brown's Longhorns and Bob Stoops' Sooners.

Bottom Line: Leach seems to be at the top of Auburn's list. But most question if his system would be successful in the SEC. As eccentric as he may be, given several recruiting classes, Leach is a proven winner.

2. Will Muschamp, Texas (DC)

Muschamp, the Tigers' former defensive coordinator, 37, is a familiar face but left on icy terms a year ago.

Pros: This former Georgia walk-on knows the SEC better than any other available hire. Muschamp worked under Nick Saban at LSU from 2001-2004. He also, as previously mentioned, was Tommy Tuberville's DC for two seasons (2006 and 2007). Muschamp could come in and recruit effectively against Saban, Richt, and Meyer immediately.

Cons: Muschamp has never been a head coach before and the learning curve in the SEC is the steepest in the country. Just ask Sly Croom or Mike Shula about that. Also, hiring Muschamp does not seem to address Auburn's longing for an offensive-minded head coach.

Bottom Line: Paired with a solid offensive coordinator, Muschamp would make an excellent hire and would surely provide the splash that Auburn is dying to make.

3. Chris Petersen, Boise State

Petersen, 44, has led the Broncos to a 35-3 record in his three years as head coach.

Pros: The mastermind behind one of the greatest upsets ever would definitely provide the offensive background that the Tigers are looking for. Peterson has proved that he knows how to build a program through recruiting and talent development. And only three losses in three years is outstanding no matter where you are.

Cons: Again, the concerns with Petersen would be the same as Leach. Would his system, while extremely successful at BSU, work in the SEC? Could he recruit against all of the A-list coaches?

Bottom Line: Petersen is less of a name than the two coaches ahead of him on this list, but would be a great fit and already looks good in orange and blue.

4. Butch Davis, North Carolina

Davis, 57, has turned the Tar Heels around in just two seasons.

Pros: Davis' resume would be the closest to Nick Saban's. He has pro experience and proved at Miami that he could recruit with the best. He has the experience of being on the top of the college football mountain (although it was Coker who got the ring) and understands how to be successful.

Cons: The aging Davis is merely a year removed from a battle with cancer and seems content at UNC. North Carolina is and always will be a hoops school. Butch can guide the Heels to eight victories a season and get anything he wants, but at Auburn the expectations are obviously higher.

Bottom Line: Davis would fit right in with all of the other high profile SEC coaches and would provide the game-changer Auburn needs on the recruiting trail. But it is unlikely he will leave his current stable position.

5. Greg Schiano, Rutgers

Schiano, 42, has brought the Scarlet Knights from irrelevance to consistent competitor in eight seasons.

Pros: He has built a solid program from the ground up, and can recruit lesser prospects and develop talent—something that is crucial in the SEC. He has the confidence and ego necessary to go up against the best.

Cons: The SEC is on a different planet than the Big East. Schiano would come into a league where the worst team would still probably win in the Big East. Plus he has not had to recruit the southeast very often.

Bottom Line: Schiano fits what has become the SEC prototype: young, cocky, and stylish. But whether his success in a much lesser conference would translate at Auburn remains to be seen.

Replacing a coach that averaged eight-and-a-half wins per season is not going to be easy. And while there is still some remaining talent on Auburn's roster, a changing of the guard might mean things get worse on the plains before they get better. That being said, these five coaches would all be more than acceptable in the eyes of War Eagle nation.

Letdowns in Key Games Doomed Tommy Tuberville

Doug Caldwell — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:36:06 -0500

I am sure that some people who read the headline on this are ready to hear me blast away at the now former Auburn football coach. That is not what I am going to do by any means. But I do think that the time was now for Auburn and Tuberville to part ways.

Tommy Tuberville had a great run as the head football coach on the plains as his 85-40 record in 10 seasons would indicate. He was a class act, ran a clean program, and molded the Auburn Tigers into perennial contenders in a conference that seems to get more competitive by the season.

He had a 7-3 record against arch rival Alabama. Finished second n the BCS in 2004 following a 13-0 season. The Tigers had many memorable wins during the Tuberville era, as the coach held a 5-2 record against top-five opponents the most notable of those victories coming in 2001 when the Tigers defeated Steve Spurrier and the No. 1 ranked Gators in a game that I was lucky enough to attend.

The legacy that Tubby will leave at Auburn is no doubt a great one. One could argue that his 10 years at Auburn were quite possibly the best 10 year run in Auburn Football history. But it seems as though it was what Tuberville had done (or hadn't done) in recent years that began to sour fans and more importantly boosters.

Everyone knows the Tuberville stats of success as there are quite a few. But following a disastrous 5-7 season, one that saw Auburn begin the year ranked in the top 15. This year's debacle was only the icing on the cake and the writing was all but on the wall that Auburn needed to make a change.

Here are several key games in recent years that I believe sealed Tubb's fate as the Tigers coach:

Lets go back to 2006. The 5-0 No. 3 ranked Tigers had gotten off to a hot start and were a week away from hosting top 10 Florida when the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks came to town.

The relatively unknown Houston Nutt ball club pounded Auburn to the tune of 27-10. The Auburn defense was gashed on the ground giving up 279 rushing yards. Arkansas was starting a true freshman quarterback (Mitch Mustain, who only attempted 10 passes in the game) and one had to wonder how the Auburn coaching staff would be so under-prepared for the Razorbacks' game plan.

This embarrassing loss at home killed Auburn fans who had national championship aspirations. Needless to say Tuberville went on the next week to beat a top-five Florida team but this Arkansas loss was not easily forgotten.

Fast-forward to later in the 2006 season. It's mid November and the Tigers had won every game since the flop against Arkansas. Auburn, sitting at 9-1 ranked No. 5 and alive and well in the BCS race, welcomed unranked rival Georgia to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

An 11:30 AM start in the rain proved to be another classic Tuberville letdown as the Bulldogs went back to Athens 37-15 winners. Again the Tigers showed up unready to play as a true freshman Matthew Stafford went 14-20 for 219 yards and a TD. Georgia also had the ground game going, rushing for 227 yards in the game. This while Tubb's squad could only muster 171 yards of total offense as Brandon Cox threw four INTs.

Ask any Auburn person and they don't like to lose to Georgia but this loss stung more than usual.

These two losses coincidentally enough were both morning home games. Games which Auburn should have won but both times the Tigers were dominated by a less talented foe on their home turf. You can excuse these losses however you would like but in the end the coaching staff had to be blamed.

Auburn finished the 2006 season 11-2 but did not make it to Atlanta due to both losses coming within conference and Arkansas' continued success. The Razorbacks represented the SEC west in the Georgia Dome.

Let's move on to 2007. The Tigers began another promising season ranked in the top 20. And after opening the year with a victory over Kansas State, Auburn faced an unranked South Florida squad at Jordan-Hare. This game was a close one but the Tigers yet again fell to an unranked opponent at home losing to the Bulls 26-23 in overtime.

Tuberville followed the South Florida loss with yet another loss at home to Mississippi State, as the Tigers started the 07 campaign 1-2. Tommy circled the wagons went on to upset Florida in the swamp and finished the season 9-4.

But again Auburn fans were left to wonder where their program would be if Tuberville would win the games he were supposed to.

During both the 2006 and 2007 season major concerns about the Tigers ability to score points developed. Tuberville addressed this concern by firing then OC Al Borges after the 2007 regular season.

Enter Tony Franklin, "offensive guru" and spread extraordinaire, along with a Peach Bowl victory and expectations were yet again high for the Auburn Tigers coming into 2008.

A preseason ranking of No. 13 and a 3-0 start again had Auburn fans dreaming of the Georgia Dome and a potential BCS bid. A Week Four loss to LSU followed two weeks later by Auburn's first loss to Vanderbilt since 1955 and the wheels were beginning to come off.

Sitting at 4-2, Tuberville found himself in a familiar spot. Although in the past this is where Arkansas Tommy would pull a rabbit out of his hat and upset Florida or reel off five straight victories. But there was no such magic this season.

As after the Vandy loss Tubbs told OC Tony Franklin (his prized off-season acquisition) to walk, only to see his injury-ravaged and confused football team finish 1-5 in their last 6 games, which included a third straight loss to Georgia and a 36-0 drubbing at the hands of Saban's crimson machine.

All of that brings us to now.

There are not enough adjectives to describe how terrible the 2008 Auburn Football season was.

5-7 is just unacceptable for a coach that is being paid just over 3 million dollars per.

In this day and age of college football, it really is all about 'what have you done for me lately' and Tuberville didn't have a good answer for this season's extremely poor performance. No where to be found were the scapegoats of days past like Borges or Franklin. Tuberville finally had step up and take the hit that in the past he was always able to avoid.

It can be said that Tuberville would still be employed had Alabama not gone a perfect 12-0 and on the verge of a potential national championship. But Alabama's meteoric rise to the forefront of college football seems to have only hastened something that Tommy Tuberville had coming to him for sometime now.