Auburn Tigers Football: How Chizik Built Auburn into a Champion

When Jay Jacobs decided to hire Gene Chizik as Auburn’s next football coach, he was famously booed at the airport upon his arrival. No one could have seen the success that was just two years away, except for possibly Jacobs.

When Chizik arrived in Auburn to a crowd of welcoming fans, he stated that he had made it home. Auburn was his dream job, and ever since serving as defensive coordinator under Tommy Tuberville it was always in the cards for him to return “home” to Auburn.

Of course, that could have simply been coach's speak at the time, but now Chizik finds himself as an irreplaceable figure in Auburn’s history and future. The only other coach in Auburn history to win a national championship has his name emblazoned on the stadium and will always be remembered as Auburn’s greatest coach. Ralph “Shug” Jordan coached Auburn from 1951 to 1975, the longest tenure of any Auburn coach.

Chizik finds himself in a great place in 2011. The team is coming off of a national championship and returns a very talented but inexperienced team. Expectations off the Plains are not very high for the Tigers. Athlon Sports released its annual preseason magazine, and Auburn is ranked 42nd in the country in their preseason poll.

While Auburn is typically found in the bottom fifth of the top 25 in most other preseason rankings for 2011, it goes to show the lack of expectations that the Tigers have nationally. If you ask Coach Chizik, winning championships is the expectation for himself and his team.

While Auburn is not likely to finish as the national champions or SEC champions in 2011, they will likely be much better than 42nd and finish with a .500 record. This season looks a lot like the team that was fielded in 2009, Chizik’s first year.

There was no standout quarterback but a solid game manager, the running back position lacked depth but had a workhorse and the defense had scattered play makers but was very inexperienced. In 2011, the Tigers do have an advantage over the 2009 squad; talent and consistent coaching.

So how did Chizik build a champion? Will he be able to consistently grow the Tigers into contenders? These questions don’t all have answers just yet, and only the distant future will be able to tell if Chizik will be one of the best in Auburn history.

One thing is for sure, however: The Tigers are the reigning champions. When they got there may be earlier than anyone expected, but the how was planned and laid out meticulously from the beginning. Four components built the championship at Auburn in 2010 and will continue to keep Auburn at the top.

Coaching

Gene Chizik embarked on the journey as Auburn’s new head football coach with one focus in mind: Hire a great staff. Chizik knew that success was built around a great coaching staff, and keeping a staff intact was a huge part of the process.

On top of recruiting, Chizik built a staff that was meticulous in the film room and focused on execution. The little points of execution are what make the big plays occur. If a receiver doesn't block well, his running back won’t break the long run for a touchdown. If the running back doesn't block for the quarterback properly, the receiver won’t have a chance to catch a pass.

Using this type of focus has enabled Auburn to out execute the competition and has led to big wins for the Tigers. Having an innovative coordinator helps as well. Gus Malzahn has become one of the hot names for new coaching vacancies due to his success with his unmatched offense.

These coaches have also followed Chizik’s lead and have made these players a part of their families. The Auburn family has taken on a new meaning in the past few years. The Auburn coaching staff reaches out to these players to not only grow football players but grow young men.

This coaching staff gives Auburn an edge by not only their technical skill at coaching and development, but also by their ability to recruit top level talent and build relationships. Chizik is building a great future by keeping continuity in his staff.

Recruiting

Chizik knew that finding recruiters that were relentless and innovative was the way to bring Auburn back into the forefront in the SEC. He built a staff that has exceeded expectations on the recruiting front. Auburn finished 2009 as an 8-5 team that wound up in a New Year’s Day bowl. They weren’t national title contenders or even conference title contenders. This staff still brought in possibly the best class in Auburn history.

The Auburn Tigers have built two top five classes in the past two seasons and are riding the wave of the national title as they build another formidable class for 2012. This staff has brought about new traditions such as Big Cat Weekend and the now defunct Tiger Prowl.

Chizik came to Auburn and openly stated that his staff would focus on the best talent available. Chizik stated from day one that they would recruit the best in the state and grow out. Auburn has reached as far west as Arizona and as far north as Delaware in recent years. The ability to recruit nationally is what will keep Auburn at the championship level.

Moving forward, Auburn will continue to recruit as hard as any staff in the country, and one major change last season was the shift of instate recruits that landed at Auburn. Chizik has and will continue to battle hard for the local talent and will likely continue to see success.

Live on the Edge

Gene Chizik faced nine deficits a year ago. The Tigers battled from behind consistently. One of the things that never changed was the willingness of Chizik to keep the opposing team on edge. One of the most famous risky decisions has to be the fourth down conversion to Darvin Adams in the fourth quarter at Alabama.

Winning coaches will face decisions that won’t always be easy to make but ones that have to be made. Often the tough decisions can not only make or break a game, but sometimes momentum for a season. If Cam Newton didn't complete the pass to Darvin Adams and Auburn turned the ball over on downs, the momentum would have shifted to the Tide, and there is no telling what the outcome would have been.

At times, making edgy decisions on defense is in order. Using blitz packages that are unexpected is something that Chizik does well also. As the Tigers have gained depth over the past two years, the defensive schemes have gotten more aggressive. I can only assume that as the players find themselves in their third year in the same system, those blitzes will increase.

Focused Actions

Gene Chizik coaches, recruits and leads with passion. One of the biggest focus points he has is that the Auburn Tigers must maintain focused actions. They must make deliberate decisions both on and off the field. Before the masses open the flood gates, yes, Auburn had four players arrested for armed robbery. Yes, Auburn had a player dismissed after a domestic violence charge. Not everyone makes the best decisions.

Overall, Chizik and his coaches have done a great job at recruiting well rounded young men that fit the system that they have chosen to implement at Auburn. This Auburn team is focused not only on victories on the field but victories off of it as well. When you have players that live with focused actions in their personal and academic lives, they will have focused actions on the field as well.

Using coaches that believe in the same things, Chizik has built a program in a short time that out executes the opponent and ensures that every detail of the game plan is followed. Maintaining focused actions led Auburn to its first national title in the modern college football era and will help Auburn return to the top of the college football world in the near future.