Auburn Football: Does New Leadership and New Attitude Equal Success?

HOOVER, Ala.- At Day 3 of SEC Media Days in Hoover, AL, Head Coach Gene Chizik, Auburn’s newest leader and face of the program made his debut. He addressed the media answering an array of questions from having immediate success, to the popular question about voting Tim Tebow onto the All-SEC Team. He seemed confident in every facet of his ideals as a coach. A former marine, Coach Chizik gives off the look of a classy, yet in your face style coach, and from the looks of how some of his players have responded, it seems he gained immediate respect. He says that it’s all about Auburn University, not him personally, and keeping Auburn in a positive light. Chizik said that is the main reason why his staff has made more headlines in the last five months that he himself has.

Having his work cut out for him may be an understatement, but he knew that coming in. Inheriting an Auburn team that finished a surprising 5-7 last season, Chizik’s hire was originally put under scrutiny from all areas of the country. Other coaches had a huge jump start in recruiting, and when it seemed all could be lost for a second year, Chizik responded by hiring a diverse, yet top staff, and finished with a Top 20 recruiting class. Auburn was able to secure several nationally coveted players, including Texas high school phenom quarterback Tyrik Rollison.

The quarterback race is still completely up for grabs, and Hoover’s own Neil Caudle is right in the thick of things. Many insiders at Media Days even believe him to be the front runner to start on opening night. Chizik has deflected the starting quarterback question every time, and there’s a good chance that no one will know until September 5th. Kodi Burns and Chris Todd, who split time last year, will also compete for the spot when practice opens up. Rollison will also look to make a splash within the Tiger offense. Auburn’s one problem is not having a proven winner on the quarterback corps. In a perfect world, you would like to have one definitive starter, but Coach Chizik talked about how they all may split time once again.

He also fully endorses offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who is no newcomer to the SEC. Coming from a 2008 offensive powerhouse in Tulsa, Malzahn obviously knows his football. He helped coach Arkansas’s Darren McFadden and Felix Jones into the 2006 SEC title game. Malzahn’s offense has been classified as the word Auburn fans came to despise last year- spread. Auburn football built a reputation around being a run-it down-your-throat style team, and straying away from that made fans uneasy. Chizik added “We want to create a physical brand of football which, over the years, Auburn football was built on." Malzahn and Chizik both insist this is a “variation” of the spread, and it will all start with an emphasis on running. Part of making this offense successful will be bringing in recruits to fit this style of play, and that may not happen immediately. "When we go to recruit, we go to recruit the right guy for Auburn,” said Chizik.

Making headlines over the past seven months flipped the negative light that was originally cast upon Chizik. He has injected life into a program that after last season desperately needed someone to revive them. Auburn returns several impact players from last year, though not much positive could be taken at all from last season. The intensity the new Auburn staff is bringing looks to be putting the pieces in place for a successful future. As spring ball begins, will they succeed? Only time will tell.