More Intrigue and Mystery At Auburn: Was it Saban in The Library With a Pipe?

Remember the game "Clue"?  You had to solve a mystery by correctly identifying the culprit in the end.  With James Willis' defection from his "home" at Auburn to Alabama, many jumped to the conclusion that Saban was the culprit in this story.

So in Sherlock Holmes' own style, let's deduce who the villain in this tale is.  The game is afoot!

Upon closer examination of the facts, as well well as a little guessing of the other, I submit to you the following scenario and solve this case from a list of suspects you may not have considered.

Fact: Alabama knew Kevin Steele was leaving at the end of year, but didn't know that Lance Thompson had designs to jump ship until three weeks before signing day.  His departure was a blow for Alabama, as written by yours truly here at Alabama Football Takes a Hit with Loss Of Linebacker Coach Lance Thompson.

Fact: Alabama wasn't worried about losing him as a coach, but as a recruiter, where he shined.  The fact that he was both well known and well liked in the South Alabama and Upper Florida areas hurt because that has been a hot bed for great recruits.

Surely, Saban must have scoured the landscape looking for someone who could not only coach our linebackers, but fill a recruiting gap also.  And who else but the man that Saban himself had heard so much praise for by recruits that had considered Auburn, the very man who recruited the same area as Thompson, James Willis!

So you must be thinking, it WAS Saban, with the lure of cash, a fancy new title, and a big name on a young coach's resume who WAS in fact the culprit here.  But alas, no.  Saban, all the Alabama cash, no new title, or no resume embellishment could have caused Willis to betray the team he loved so deeply.

Certainly Saban benefited from the work of this dastardly villain, but it was he, who in fact, is the culprit that caused the calamity to unfold as it did.

"Then who?" you may be asking.  Who or what could have caused this man to burn a bridge to his home and fan base?  The answer is painfully obvious.  The only thing that could cause a man to betray his loved ones is his loved ones turning on him in the first place.

So who at Auburn turned on Willis that made him feel so scorned that he would do such a betrayal?  Could it be Chizik?  This is the man who would appear to have both motive and opportunity.

Chizik clearly didn't want Willis here.  His first words to him were, you are being released from your responsibilities and job at Auburn University.  Please turn in everything including your recruiting notebooks, and your severance check is in the mail.

Then imagine how Chizik felt, when to his dismay, that he was told perhaps he didn't have as much power over hiring and firing as he thought when he was told that he in fact, HAD to hire Willis back.  Recruits were wavering, many of whom were Willis' own.  Plus hiring back a fan favorite might, it was deduced, take some of the sting out of the foolish Chizik hiring in the first place.

So back comes Willis and a collective sigh went out from the fans at Auburn and the brass at the top.  But there was no joy in Chizik's heart.  Here he was, having his first order as Auburn's coach being countermanded by the dark villain behind the scenes.

But Chizik let it be known to the coaches he hired that Willis' place was at the bottom of the pecking order.  After all, he may have to take orders from the yet un-named villain, but he doesn't have to like them, and he doesn't have to make Willis feel like "one of the boys" that he himself hand picked.

Imagine how Willis feels over this second snub.  The first one being the firing itself.  His blood begins to heat when thinking about this.  But it wasn't Chizik who caused Willis to choose to leave alone, but the mystery man behind the curtain.

The murderer of Willis' career and future at Auburn was in fact... (Dramatic pause here) Pat Dye with a knife in the study!

Yes, Pat Dye!  It was a knife in the back of Willis that did him in.

Remember from a previous story, Intrigue, Conspiracy and a Great Story May Have Gotten Gene Chizik a Job, how Auburn's arm was twisted to let Tubberville quit WITH the money AND be forced to hire a Jimmy Sexton man for Auburn? 

Well the man that helped pick Chizik did so because he saw a coach, that unlike Tubberville, would kiss the ring and ass of Pat Dye, Jimmy Lowder, Old Yeller Feller and the rest of the power hungry big wigs.  And that man was Pat Dye also!

But Pat Dye was never known for his smarts outside X's and O's.  Had he told Chizik upon his hiring to keep Willis on staff, he of course would have, and avoided snub number one.  This would have also kept Chizik from looking like the puppy on a chain that just got jerked and would have avoided Chizik treating Willis so cold shoulderly when he was publicly forced to re-hire him.

That could have avoided snub number two.  Now the story gets thicker, because Dye didn't cover all his bases with the other cronies at Auburn and let sleeping dogs lie.  The bean counters at Auburn now approach Willis with their hand out and want his severance pay back.  This despite the fact he was fired and unemployed at the time of his "re-hire."

Ah ha!  Now we have snub number three and a now broken hearted Willis turns his back on the school and powers behind the throne and decides that there's just too much chaos at Auburn, too many broken promises, too little loyalty and too many public snubs for him to continue to support them.

And now my friends, you know that the same man behind the curtain that helped get Tubberville ran off, has through his stupidity and miss planning, ran off another.  The case of Why Willis Left, is solved!