Gene Chizik's Hiring Criticized: Playing the Race Card Is Getting Very Old

The Auburn Tigers hired Gene Chizik to replace the departed Tommy Tubervillle. Was it the right hire? Should Auburn have gone after Turner Gil, the coach at the University of Buffalo?

Instead of immediately assuming that the fact that Gil happens to be black is the reason why he did not get the job, as Charles Barkley seems to believe, how about looking at the accomplishments of both coaches?

Chizik started out at Middle Tennessee State as a defensive end coach. He then moved on to Stephen F. Austin, where for three years he was the linebacker coach, and then became the Lumberjacks' defensive coordinator for two years. 

For four years he was the defensive coordinator at Central Florida, then took over the position for Auburn from 2002 to 2004 when the Tigers finished undefeated and were ranked No. 2 in the country.

In 2005 Chizik became the co-defensive coordinator at Texas, and again, Chizik was part of a team that went 13-0. But this time, he was part of a coaching staff that led a team to a National Championship. 

With a resume filled with such success, Chizik took over a rebuilding Iowa State program in 2006, and guided the Cyclones to an unimpressive 5-19 record.

So, of course, when Auburn came calling and offered Chizik the Tigers' head coaching job, he jumped on it. After all, he has already coached at Auburn and has ties to the school. 

Now, let's take a look at Turner Gil. 

Gil became a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Nebraska. He then became a coach at North Texas and the next year, Southern Methodist. 

From that point on, from 1992 to 2003, Gil was the quarterbacks coach for the Cornhuskers. In 2004, he spent his time as wide receivers coach. In 2005, he jumped to the NFL to became director of player development for the Green Bay Packers. Then, in 2006, he moved back to the college ranks when he was hired to his current post as head coach at Buffalo.

Gil's record so far as Buffalo head coach is 15-22. Before this season started, his record was 7-17, not much better than Chizik's record at Iowa State. 

Coaches can also be measured by another metric—NFL players.

Chizik has brought along players such as Carlos Rogers, Mark Brown, Karlos Dansby, Roderick Hood, Spencer Johnson, Dontarrious Thomas, Reggie Torbor, Michael Huff, Cedric Griffin, and Rodrique Wright. 

Gil has produced players such as Tommie Frazier (didn't make it to the NFL), and Eric Crouch, who was drafted by the Rams not as a quarterback, but as a wide receiver. Crouch still wanted to be a quarterback, and did not find any success at the pro level.

The hiring of Chizik was not based on Gil's skin color. The hiring was based on who gave Auburn the best chance at winning. It also helped that Chizik had already shown the Athletic Director at Auburn what he could do back when he was the Tigers' defensive coordinator. 

For Auburn, it wasn't that difficult to decide who would be the best choice. Gil will get his chance at a major university. It's just a matter of when.