Can Gene Chizik Lead The Auburn Tigers To Atlanta In 2010?

When Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs hired a head football coach with a combined record of 5-19 in a two year stint at Iowa State, the Tiger faithful believed they were witnessing the demise of their beloved football program.

Of course, that man is one Eugene "Gene" Chizik. The man once thought to be the worst possible choice to succeed disgruntled former head coach Tommy Tuberville, is now hailed as the man that will lead the Auburn football program to national prominence.

So why the change of heart from Auburn fans?

Is it because they signed a top 5 recruiting class for 2010? Maybe.

But we all know that one or two top ten recruiting classes doesn't necessarily translate to a winning team. Just look back to Clemson during the Bowden years and LSU "sans" Saban.

Or could it be because they now have Florida reject Cam Newton?

To the Auburn faithful, Newton is the prodigal son returned. Or perhaps a more fitting description of what he means to Auburn fans would be that of Jesus Christ—returned in the form of a twenty-something year old African American football player—sent to save the righteous (Auburn) from the throe's of their evil and vile oppressors: Nick Saban and The Alabama Crimson Tide.

The naysayers down on the plains claim that the reason for all the high hopes stem from the wave of momentum that the Tigers carried with them into the off-season.

Momentum?

What momentum? I never knew that an overtime victory versus a mid to low level Big 10 team carried so much weight. I'm sorry Tiger fans, but besides the top five signing class, that's about all the so called momentum I can find.

In reality the Tiger's 2009 season ended in a bit of a slump. After winning five straight games to start the 2009 season the Tigers went on to lose five out of their last eight games, with all five losses coming at the hands of SEC opponents.

Chizik's Tigers concluded the 2009 season with an 8-5 record, going 3-5 in conference play and finishing fifth in the SEC West. Auburn played only three ranked opponents last year but only managed to win one of those, unless of course you count moral victories.

DEFENSE

The 2009 Auburn defense left a lot to be desired. They gave up an average of 28 points per game which ranked 79th out of 120 FBS programs. The Tigers lost three games in which they started with a 14-0 lead and almost lost a fourth against Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.

Say what you want about Tommy Tuberville, but while he was at the helm the Auburn defense looked sharp most of the time. The 2009 squad was anything but.

The defense obviously lacked fundamentals last season, as the unit missed tackle after tackle and surrendered one big play after another.

According to some of the more "mouthy" players on the team, all that has been corrected. But going by their performance in this years spring game, tackling still seems to be difficult for them.

Just like in 2004, the prize continues to slip through their fingers. 

I'd like to say that Ted Roof and Gene Chizik have a lot of work to do, but I'm not sure that it wasn't their work that caused the problem on defense to begin with.

New Iowa State head coach and former Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said, in no uncertain terms, that when he got to Ames he had to start from the drawing board with his defense because they lacked knowledge and skills of defensive fundamentals such as tackling, hustling, finishing the play, etc.

You'll hear excuse after excuse from the Auburn faithful, but it all boils down to coaching, or maybe a lack thereof.

OFFENSE

In 2009 Gus Malzahn, Chris Todd, and the Auburn offense exploded onto the scene like cocaine did in the late 70's. It came on hard and fast at first but was up and down the rest of the season.

Gus Malzahn came across as a genius in his first season as Auburn offensive coordinator. The Auburn offense, under Malzahn's watchful eye, piled up point after point including 63 versus FCS powerhouse Furman and 54 against MAC foe Ball State.

The 2009 Gus Malzahn version of the spread was bearing alot more fruit than Tony Franklin's 2008 scheme. But it seemed when the going got tough and the gimmicks no longer worked, Gus, once again, appeared to be in way over his head in the SEC.

The Tigers averaged 41 points per game in their first five games, then hit a wall in a game against Arkansas that started a three game skid where the offense only averaged 15 points per game.

In 2010 Auburn will have to replace both Chris Todd and Ben Tate, the two players that mattered most in Gus Malzahn's offensive scheme.

Tiger fans have already placed enormous amounts of pressure on incoming JUCO star Cam Newton. But they're all overlooking the fact that a great athlete doesn't necessarily equal a great QB.

Does the name Cody Burns ring a bell?

With returning starters Lee Ziemba and chop block aficionado Ryan Pugh coming back to the plains, the Tigers will field one of the most experienced offensive lines in the SEC. They also return on-again, off-again running back Mario Fannin.

Fannin has high hopes of filling the vacated spot of "thunder" left by graduating senior Ben Tate, while Onterio McCalebb will resume the role of "lighting".

Add to the mix returning starters Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery at the wideout positions and I suppose you have a rain storm.

But Tiger fans should be wary of a drought in the forecast...

OVERALL

There really more questions than answers concerning the 2010 Auburn Tigers football team.

Offensively, the Tigers will score some points. But every true SEC fan knows that in order to be successful in the conference a team must be capable of two things: establishing the run on offense and stopping the run on defense.

Can they do both of those things?

Only time will tell. But the one thing that's been obvious from the beginning of Chizik's tenure is the Auburn defense appears to be in serious need of some coaching. Unless they improve on defense, the 2010 squad will not get any closer to Atlanta than they did in Chizik's first year.

I've mentioned this before but just for kicks I'll mention it again. Gene Chizik's first year as head coach of the Auburn Tigers reminds me alot of Charlie Weis' first year as head coach of Notre Dame.

Both Chizik and Weis were considered questionable hires by both fan bases. Like Weis but in a round a 'bout way, Chizik implements a dynamic new offensive scheme. Both Weis and Chizik won some games most thought they'd lose, and both coaches led their teams to near victories versus their biggest rival, which in turn went onto win the BCS National Title.

We all know how the next few years for Notre Dame turned out with Weis at the helm. The gods only know what fate has in store for Chizik at Auburn. But to answer the question posed in this article's title:

My answer is a resounding NO.