The Auburn Tigers, A Therapists Dream

Auburn, Alabama, and yes it's located in Alabama and not Georgia, is a lovely little college town surrounded by the type of farm land my parents grew up on. A place similar to the one I plan to retire too when that time comes. The old town square itself caters to both the town folk as well as students from the University. It of course surrounds the old trees inside the town square that Tiger fans celebrate each win by rolling.

Now I've never understood the last part though then again I've never really tried. Still, it has a folksy quality to it that seems harmless enough once you can get past the outright silliness of it.

The loveliest Village on the Plains, as Auburn alums like to refer to it hasn't seen much of a change itself in recent years. The football program that supports it on fall Saturday afternoons however is a different story all together. Gone is former Head Coach Tommy Tuberville who ran things quiet successfully on the plains for 10 seasons. Gone is their 6 year winning streak they so lovingly enjoyed over big brother and instate foe Alabama. Gone is the huge depth advantage they enjoyed just a few short years ago. Lastly gone is the feeling of entitlement that went with all those benefits.

In there place remains to a degree, a sense of disbelief, but mostly a sense of indignation. After all, how could things have changed so quickly?

Just a short while ago the Tigers enjoyed heavy advantages over the arch nemesis. Alabama after all had gotten itself in trouble with the brown shirted, jack booted enforcers of the NCAA. Losing countless scholarships and suffering a bowl ban had hamstrung the Tide program. It was made worse when the coach it brought in to see them through sanctions bailed on the program in the middle of the night without so much as telling his players goodbye. He also did so while mailing in his coaching effort in his last Alabama / Auburn game, a game in which Bama was favored.

The next guy Bama hired never even coached a game before he was out the door. This one didn't need the help of probation or sanctions just a couple of hookers, a motel room and a University credit card.

His replacement? Going outside the program didn't seem to work so two candidates were chosen with direct bloodlines to it's past . One a young former quarterback who'd spent the majority of his coaching career at the NFL level. He was considered a moral man. The type individual that could be trusted to get the program through probation irregardless of any previous head coaching experience.

Choice #2 was a grizzled veteran who had cut his teeth under the Bear himself. Both his playing and later his coaching teeth. He'd later gone on to be a successful offensive coordinator in the NFL. He was also African American. Many felt bringing him in would earn us some sort of amnesty with those around the country who'd taken a less than positive view of Bama's program. He might also have been able to help with recruiting top notch black athletes to the University at a time when recruiting was rough due to sanctions.

For whatever reason those in charge opted to go with option 1. They may have had their doubts after watching him stutter his way through his introductory press conference but they stuck with him hoping he could bring a sense of stability back to the program.

Now point of view is all about perspective. What one person sees because of their biases, prejudices and out right preconceived notions, will widely vary from someone who has none of those hangups, or different hangups all together.

That being said Mike Shula did his time on the Capstone in what was likely the only way he knew how. The results left allot to be desired in the minds of most. Be that as it may the program continued on and in time he actually had a moderate success.

At Alabama though moderate success is not enough and when it became apparent that he would be unable to elevate the program back to previous levels a search began for someone who could.

Like all Athletic Directors Mal Moore keeps a list of potential future head coaches. It's only prudent to do so. At the top of that list was one name, Nick Saban. Unfortunately for Alabama and it's fans, Saban was in the midst of coaching the Miami Dolphins through their NFL season and refused to take part in any discussions on the matter.

Auburn fans found the whole ordeal highly entertaining flooding radio talk shows and Internet message boards. Surely Alabama and it's fans had lost their minds believing Saban would leave the NFL to return to the college level, particularly to Alabama. To hear them tell it no coach of any merit would be interested in the job.

At that point those in charge of the Tide program reached a critical juncture and things nearly went off course badly. West Virginia Head Coach Rich Rodriquez was offered the job and initially accepted. He left his lawyer in Alabama with University officials while he flew home to break the news to his team.

Unfortunately Coach Moore had failed to do a complete background check on Rodriquez and later that day it was discovered he had no balls having apparently donated them to his wife at sometime in the past.

Bullet dodged.

Again though Auburn fans cackled. This was their proof that no one worthwhile was interested in taking the Alabama job and they were eager to share it with anyone they could get to listen.

Here's where fate steps in. The time that had passed during Bama's dangerous flirtation with Rodriquez had allowed the NFL season to come close enough to it's end to make a second pass at Saban and the rest as they say, is history.


Alabama fans who'd been separated over the decision to release Shula and over who would be the best candidate to take the job were instantly united and overjoyed at Saban's hiring. He was after all a major player, a masterful recruiter, and had enjoyed success at every stop as a head coach including a National Championship season at LSU in 2003.

Auburn fans on the other hand were immediately incredulous that Saban would "lie" about being willing to take the Alabama job. They raised such a stink one would have thought they were scared of the thought. Auburn fans insisted though it was no such thing. Why should they be worried? After all, they had a decided advantage depth wise and were just a year removed from an undefeated season and SEC championship. It at least sounded good on the surface.

Problem was Saban hit the ground running and very quickly was dominating the Tigers in recruiting. His first signing class came together nicely in little more than a months time and by the time the next Alabama / Auburn match up rolled around it was obvious he had taken back Mobile and Gadsden, two talent rich areas of the state that Auburn had dominated in recent years. Recruiting effects take time though and the Tigers won a close hard fought victory in Saban's first year.

Despite the pounding Auburn was taking on the recruiting trail they took solace in the victory. They chose to rally around the thought that their coach didn't need 5 star players. He could take 2 star players and coach them up. Speaking out of the other side of their mouths though they'd started to complain to anyone that would listen that Saban was obviously dirty on the recruiting trail. He had to be to hear them tell it. How else could his success be explained?

They had it all, or so it seemed, but cracks had began to show. Despite just missing another 10 win season Tuberville panicked firing his offensive coordinator Al Borges and choosing to replace him with high school spread offense guru Tony Franklin.

The stated reason? According to Tuberville changes in the college football landscape and the desire to bring in a more high powered offense had dictated the necessity for change. All of which sounded highly ironic considering just a couple years earlier the Tigers had one of the most powerful offenses in all of college football behind the running of Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown along with the passing of quarterback Jason Campbell.

Truth be told the real reason for bringing in Franklin was to help stop the bleeding from their recruiting program. Franklin had many ties with high school programs around the State of Alabama as well as the southeast. He'd been a successful coach at programs such as Kentucky and Troy, the latter where he'd served as offensive coordinator.

Tuberville's logic had a fatal flaw. If after nearly a decade as the head coach of a state school he didn't have the connections necessary to be successful in recruiting then the problem was obvious. His recruiting was struggling because he was being outworked. Had he spent more time on the recruiting trail and less time in a duck blind there most likely would have never been a need to make a move.

Auburn fans argued though that Tuberville had always been a strong recruiter on the Plains, and there was some truth to that. Success for Tuberville however turned out to be more from timing than hard work. He'd arrived on the scene just in time to take full advantage of the Tide's probationary woes. Once the effects of scholarship reductions were removed and without there shadow hanging over Alabama's program on the recruiting trail, the tables quickly began to turn.

Adding Saban was the final, and most important piece of the "process" as Saban himself calls it. Finally Bama had stability as well as a proven name at the top of their program. The writing was on the wall and deep down, Tiger fans knew it.

The 2008 season started with the Tigers one of the favorites to win the West. Alabama on the other hand was expected to undergo another rebuilding season in Saban's second year. By years end of course Alabama would make it to the SEC championship game before suffering their first loss of the year while Auburn's new high octane spread offense never quiet got off the ground. Franklin was fired by Tuberville during the season with Tuberville following him out the door shortly after his first loss to Alabama in 7 years, a 36-0 drubbing.

Now Auburn found itself in a similar position to what the Tide had been just 2 years earlier, searching for a new head coach. Countless names were thrown out for discussion and interview. Names such as Texas DC Will Muschamp, FSU head coach in waiting, Jimbo Fisher, Tulsa coach Jim Graham, Ball State coach Brady Hoke and TCU coach Gary Patterson all were either interviewed or linked to the job. Former Tiger favorites Rodney Garner and Patrick Nix received cursory interviews as well.

Auburn fans were split with some wanting Muschamp while others wanted a proven head coach. Turner Gill, former Nebraska great and current HC at Buffalo, had quickly become the favorite of those fans who wanted an "experienced" head coach. Gill had taken a broken down Buffalo program and led them back to being a competitive stature.

Muschamp quickly denied any interest in the job as did Fisher. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson used a brief flirtation with the Tigers to get a pay raise as did Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said thanks, but no thanks as well.

After interviewing nearly every head coach or noteworthy assistant coach in the country and either being shot down or unimpressed the Tigers finally found their man in Iowa State coach Gene Chizik.


Let's see, Tuberville is fired for going 5-7 so that they can replace him with Gene Chizik who had won only 5 games in the past two?

The decision was so decisive that former NBA great and Auburn alumni Charles Barkley accused the school of racism for choosing Chizik over a far more successful Turner.

Auburn fans were at first despondent to the point of verbally attacking AD Jay Jacobs upon his return flight after word had leaked out about the hiring. To read their message boards at the time you would have thought expected the suicide rate in Lee County to go through the roof.

Professors of psychotherapy would have done well to have their students watch Auburn message boards for a case study in the 5 stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. To hear Auburn fans talk these days you'd think they had gone through all 5 stages in record time. Considering their optimism regarding a team with an unproven coaching staff, no depth at offensive line, linebacker and no known play makers at either wide receiver or quarterback it sounds suspiciously as though they're still in stage 3.

Stranger things have happened but here's betting stage 4 will set in by mid season.