Is Tommy Tuberville Starting the Insanity Defense a Bit Early?

Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was fired after only six games (and one bowl game) under his belt, and according to reports, tight ends coach Steve Ensminger will take over the play-calling duties for the rest of the '08 season.

Look, every college football fan knows Auburn's offense has been sorely lacking this year, but firing a guy after only six games? What is Tuberville thinking?

Is he losing all of his marbles because that "other coach" has stamped a big mark in Alabama after only one year? Is it time for him to start making rash decisions and then plead insanity?

Franklin's spread system is run all over the country in high school football programs and has been very successful—the problem is that Auburn doesn't have the skill players yet to make it work.

Let's call this what this really is—a huge conflict in personalities and lack of trust. It couldn't be more painfully obvious.

The fact that there is a video of Franklin cleaning out his office and loading up his car, and the school not taking steps to allow Franklin to leave with dignity is a black eye on the athletic department.

That they allowed this disgrace to be filmed shows a clear disregard for Tony Franklin. Tuberville ought to be ashamed.

Franklin came from a very successful Troy program last year: in his tenure at Troy he increased points per game from 15.9 in '05 to 34 in '07. It took two years, but the system worked, with the Trojans having the 16th nationally ranked offense in 2007.

Franklin is also known for his expertise in coaching quarterbacks: Jared Lorenzen, Tim Couch and Dusty Bonner were all Franklin proteges that each led the SEC in passing, and Couch was the NFL's first pick in '99.

Franklin was hired as Auburn's OC in December 2007—the fifth in ten years—and after only eight days, changed Auburn's system and implemented the spread in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, where Auburn had its best offensive output of the season, thus creating high hopes for Auburn to win the conference this year.

Uh, maybe next year. 

Tuberville, after a 2-2 SEC conference record, 4-2 overall, decided these results weren't good enough. And just now what does he expect to happen to his team? Improvement? More offense?

While Auburn has certainly lacked moving the chains (ranked No. 103 in total offense), part of that is due to unproductive play from one of their quarterbacks, Chris Todd. He has five TDs, but five interceptions, has a 56% pass completion and ranked No. 85 nationally.

Chris Todd knows Tony Franklin well—Franklin was the offensive consultant at Todd's high school. Todd ran the spread beautifully because the players on the team were all spread offense players.

Todd originally signed with Texas Tech, but after two years with Tech including a red shirt freshman year, Todd transferred to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Todd eventually was recruited by Franklin and ready to sign with Troy—where Franklin was coaching—but Franklin left for Auburn, and Todd finally followed him there.

Now, could it be that Tuberville is royally ticked that Franklin's recruit isn't turning out well, and he took it out on Franklin? Maybe, but the bottom line is that Tuberville is the one with final approval on all recruits.

By firing Franklin, he is pointing fingers at a person he hired less than a year ago. In fact, Tuberville has a history of pointing fingers at OCs, doesn't he?

How about this second scenario? A-l-a-b-a-m-a?

Yup, Nick Saban, after only one year, has finally put the Auburn Tigers in a corner. Auburn, most likely, will not be favored in the Iron Bowl, and looking at Auburn's offensive performances this year, has a slim chance of keeping the 6-0 streak alive . The pressure is sky-high in Alabama to win games.

Maybe, Tuberville doesn't know what the problem is, and made a rash decision. You know, like "we aren't going to be good this year, so if I fire someone, I can lay the excuse down." Call it pro-active B.S.

If you read Tuberville's explanation for the abrupt firing of Franklin, it doesn't make sense:

“It is a good offense", Tuberville said. "Our guys like it and understand it and are getting better at it."

“When I went to this (spread) we were looking forward to going to it and have learned a lot about it, but again it is about getting the job done,” he said. “Again, I thought over the last few weeks we hadn’t improved like we should have—bottom line.”

The Riverboat Gambler speaks. The guys are "getting better at it" but "we hadn't improved"?

How can you get better at it if you aren't improving?  Or, how can you not be improving if you are getting better at it?

*crickets chirping*

Perhaps what is most telling is that Tuberville, on October 6th, stood behind Franklin.

"I think Tony's done a good job of adjusting," Tuberville said. "I don't know whether we've done a good job of adjusting to what we've gone to. But he's our offensive coordinator. He's worked as hard as anybody here, and he's as disappointed as anybody here."

"We've just got to look ourselves in the eye—all of us, not just Tony—and find ways to score more points and win games," Tuberville said. "It's going to get better."

Tuberville also told ESPN he was not contemplating any changes, or taking away the play-calling duties from Franklin.

Two days later, he fired Franklin. Has Tuberville lost his mind?

Michigan wouldn't fire Rich Rod after a half season because the AD is smart enough to know it takes time to get the right players for the spread to work the way it was designed. Starting with the line.

Two disruptions on the team in eleven months doesn't bode well for Tuberbville, and the season's outlook now looks grim.

Except in Tuscaloosa.