Auburn Football: Has the Lack of Coordinators Hurt the Tigers' Recruiting?

One thing is always going to be a guarantee when it comes to college football recruiting. Recruits want to know who they are playing for and what system that they will find themselves in for the next four to five years. Auburn has not had the luxury of providing that information to their recruits in the past month.

There has been a lot of chatter that has filled the air about the coordinator search. The defensive coordinator position is the most important for the Tigers to fill as their defense has looked its worst in school history for the past three seasons. Auburn has to find a coach that can get them back to the top of the college football defensive world.

The Auburn offensive replacement is a very unique search. The biggest question that surrounds the offensive coordinator search is what style of play the Tigers will want to go with after the departure of Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State. There has been rumor of the return to a pro-style offense, but no determination has been made just yet.

Gene Chizik is undoubtedly looking for the right hires and losing one or two recruits along the way is not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it is a huge deal for current perception. The program itself is not in a downward spiral, however, the perception of the program is.

The Tigers lost the best player in the state when T. J. Yeldon decommitted and committed to Alabama this past month. Yeldon is going to be a special ball carrier in the future and Auburn was the leader from the beginning of his recruitment.

Right before the coaching dead period struck, he made his change of plans and change of heart aware. This is just one example that the masses have used to prove that the Tigers are currently in a trouble mode.

There is a national coaches convention that is happening in Texas this week, one that is being attended by Gene Chizik and numerous other coaches from around the country. Chizik is being very tight lipped about his search for a replacement, but one has to assume that the opportunity to meet with multiple coaches face to face is a positive to look forward to.

The Tigers have a huge recruiting weekend planned, so having names to share with the new recruits and having a body there to meet them would be huge gain for Auburn. There are a number of big names that will be in Auburn, but the one theme that will be repeated is their plans for hiring a coordinator. How much better would it be for all parties if Chizik could introduce the new coaches?

Finding replacement coaches for a staff that has not had a change in three seasons is very difficult. Chizik knows that if he makes the wrong hire at this point it could mean more than finding another coach in a few years, it could mean that his time at Auburn would be cut short because of the lack of performance that the team puts forth.

There is nothing wrong with Chizik being choosy at this point, but to be fair, he has to make the decision sooner than later. The Tigers have a wealth of tradition and great academics to sell these young kids all day long, but they still need to know their coach.

Throwing around any names at this point regarding the coaching search is pure speculation as there have been no leads thrown in any direction by Chizik or the Auburn administration. I would expect that Chizik does have a fit in mind and may already have his man for both positions. If there isn’t an announcement by the end of this week however, I would be very surprised.

With recruiting dwindling down to only a few more weeks and major recruits coming in for their final official visits, Chizik knows that this would be the best time to make a splash hire. This would be a great chance for Auburn to take some of the spotlight back home for the Tigers.

So at this point is the absence of bodies in the coaches box an issue for the Tigers? I wouldn’t be too concerned just yet, but I would be if Chizik clears the coaching convention without at least one name covered.