Bernie's Dawg Blawg: Could Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels Join the Circus?

Auburn Officials are Full of Chizik

Mike Leach had an 11-1 record this season in the Big XII, but wasn't even given a glance. Gene Chizik went 2-10 this season in the Big XII and was given the keys to one of the top programs in the nation. You can officially place the Auburn faithful into two groups right now:  Those with the word "HUH?" continuously hanging from their lips and those that are a little too quick to defend the hire.

You know, they say something like, "He's our coach and I support him. (Long pause) DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO WIN IN AMES?!?!?"

Simmer down, simmer down.

Yes, Chizik won just five games while at Iowa State. But he lost his last 10 and needed victories over Kent State and South Dakota State this season to avoid going zero for '08. From 2-0 to 2-10. Ouch! And don't think that he had the unenviable task of playing Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech. 'Cuz he didn't have to line up against any of them. 

So, does Chizik have any ties to Coach Garner? I dunno. But there are rumblings that part of the breakdown between Tuberville and Jacobs was their interest in releasing some assistant coaches from their duties and Tubs' loyalty to them. If that was a line in the sand, I would expect that Auburn officials would have a few names for Chizik to add to his Rolodex.

Word on the street is Willie Martinez isn't one of them. 

But I would be surprised if we're not looking for a new defensive and offensive line coaches in as little as a week. Both Searels and Garner are Auburn alums, former players and would-be bigger losses to Georgia than Moreno, Owens, Stafford, and Allen put together. You can bet Pat Dye has already recommended them to Chizik.

In fact, is that Coach Richt's phone ringing right now?

Heisman Trophy Goes to a Quarterback

So Tebow is left completely off of more ballots than Ralph Nader and yet, gets more first place votes than Bradford. Congrats to Mr. Bradford, and he is very deserving of this award, but it sounds like the Heisman voting could use an electoral college to further screw things up.

Bradford owes a BIG thank you to both voters with agendas and faulty tiebreakers in the Big XII. Most voters waited until after last week's games to cast their ballot. McCoy probably should've won the trophy but didn't play. And the other finalist finished playing four hours before Bradford. This was a case of who holds the ball last, wins.

Dawgs Put Academic Exams Behind Them, Prepare for Gridiron Exam

News outta Athens is slow leading up to bowl preparations. It might be a good time to peek around, and see what some other more knowledgeable writers are offering up.

First stop, David Hale has a two-part interview with Damon Evans posted to his blog. I found Evans' take on the season, and more importantly, the status of the program particularly refreshing. The man is obviously a good administrator with great leadership skills. Jay Jacobs! Pay attention!

Athens Banner-Herald's Marc Weiszer ran a piece on the bonuses that are in store for the coaching staff.  See if you think the numbers add up. Rivals.com has the bowl games ranked in terms of best to worst. Click HERE for The Dead Guy's run down of the SEC side of things or HERE to go straight to Rivals. 

Exams are now over, and practices will begin to pick up. I guess we'll also know soon if there are any academic casualties that get left behind as the team heads to sunny Florida. Meanwhile, let's get to some...

Shout Outs

• Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith for getting all up in Antonio Bryant's grill and showing him the way to his own sideline. Politely.
• Christine Nama for making sure dinner Saturday night wasn't Spumoni free. Ahh! You go girl!
• Munk for the following YouTube clickable. All together now: Fa ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra!
• ALL the talent at the W Hotel Saturday night. It was nice to get a glimpse of how the other half lives...among other things.
• The nine Brian Nichols jury members who saw reason and argued on the side of logic.

Suspensions

• The other three jurors.

Monday Leftovers

• Last year around this time, we were all geek'd up about the Dawgs' finish to the '07 season and were peeking ahead at the '08 schedule. It looked daunting at the time, but proved to be not so bad with teams like ASU, Tenn, and Auburn failing to reach acceptable levels of competition in tackle football. Next year ain't no walk in the park. Will it also prove to be deceptive?
• When I pored over the '08 schedule in August, I thought 10-2 would be great. 9-3 ain't too far south of that, but it sure doesn't even feel good. I guess it's been several years since we've lost to both the reptiles and insects.
• Cheer up War Eagles. At least your coach is old enough to vote.
• Dan Mullen, newly appointed head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs will likely not call the plays in the national championship game next month. Tebow says the Gators could handle the duty "by committee." I've already submitted a few I thought they should run, cc'd to one Bob Stoops, Norman OK.
• And one last link for you to pore over. January 15th is the deadline to declare for the NFL Mega Millions Lottery. ESPN's Todd McShay alludes to a possibility that this year's crop of underclassmen leaving early could increase by as much as 33 percent over last year. No surprise that he lists both Stafford and Moreno as likely leaving.

And to wrap things up, the tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I've got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it! Last week's trivia was a complete bust. BDB had one entry. It included a brief excuse and a Wikipedia link, that didn't link. Not exactly a Festivus Miracle.

But rules are rules and the Festivus Pole must go to someone. So the person that submits their favorite Seinfeld quote that makes Bernie chuckle out loud will win the playoff round. And will gain a leg up on the feats of strength. 

Have a great week reader. Only nine shopping days left.

 

Bernie