Auburn Football: Are Changes Coming on the Tigers Staff for 2012?

The 7-5 (4-4 SEC) Auburn Tigers concluded their regular season with a loss this past Saturday. The Tigers are bowl eligible, and the expectation is that the Tigers will likely earn a berth to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. Despite a third winning season under the Chizik era and current staff, is it time for some changes on the Plains?

The Tigers lost 28 seniors and two of the most dynamic players in college football a year ago. The cupboard was bare, and everyone paying close attention could see it. Couple that mass exodus of talent and experience with one of the toughest road schedules in the country and it is a surprise that the Tigers made it to seven wins this season.

The most popular pick landed the Tigers at 6-6 or 5-7, but rarely at the seven or better win mark. The Tigers simply overachieved this season. Most fans entered the season with low expectations, but just like in 2009, the Tigers faithful started to see a winning team willing their way to wins.

Unfortunately, a trip to Clemson showed that these Tigers weren’t quite where they needed to be if they wanted to be in the national discussion. The Tigers looked lackadaisical and unprepared. The Tigers were blasted by Clemson, making it the first time in the Chizik era that the Tigers looked absolutely terrible.

With five embarrassing losses for the Tigers this season, there has to be some changes to come. Looking at both sides of the football, there are some major changes that could occur.

Tigers Offense

Coach Gus Malzahn is said to be linked to a number of vacant head coaching jobs, but still stands by his intent to stay at Auburn. Malzahn became the highest paid assistant coach in college football last season when he earned a raise to 1.3 million dollars.

Malzahn was also on the radar of Vanderbilt and Maryland a year ago, but he chose to stay on the Plains. This season could be different however, with a number of head coaching openings that may be looking for a spark like Malzahn.

Teams like Kansas, Arizona State, UNC and Illinois remain looking for new head coaches. Malzahn would likely be a candidate for one if not all of those and has already been linked to the UNC job. Malzahn is looking to be a head coach one day, but signs point to him staying around Auburn a little longer.

Malzahn has done some great things two out of his three years at Auburn, but the 2011 offense took major strides backwards looking like the former Tony Franklin experiment days in 2008. For what it is worth, these offensive coaches have a lot of talent to work with, and now they also have some experience.

The big question surrounding Auburn’s offensive experience is the lack of growth that was witnessed this fall. The Tigers appeared to sometimes regress at numerous positions. The Tigers must regroup this coming season and get back to the top of the conference in production or their will need to be changes offensively.

At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any changes for the Tigers on the offensive side of the ball. Malzahn is in position to build a much more productive offense and he is making big time money. It will take a lot to pull away Malzahn, but it shouldn’t happen this year.

Tigers Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, it isn’t suitors calling for Ted Roof to come coach, it is fans calling for his head. For whatever reason that can be made, the Ted Roof defense has possibly come to an end at Auburn.

Roof has been the Auburn defensive coordinator for three years now and the defense has continued to digress. Auburn was extremely young this past season on the defensive side of the ball, but last year the defense was packed full of upper classmen. The youth discussion only carries so far before players look ill prepared.

There were numerous times that the Tigers looked out of position and lost. The Tigers also lacked effort when they were down on the road. That was a gap in leadership.

The Tigers have got to get better with their reads and coverage if Auburn wants to get back to the days of solid defense. Roof has been a failed experiment to this point with all signs pointing to departure. 

2011 wasn't a total loss with one change that did occur this season on the staff. Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker departed for the NFL and Gene Chizik replaced him with Mike Pelton, a former Auburn defensive lineman.

Looking at every position set on the defense, the defensive line looked the most improved by seasons end, especially considering that the Tigers were all freshmen and sophomores upfront. That little bit of growth will not likely save the coaching staff from a shakeup.

Roof has not proven that he can be very effective at Auburn and Chizik has given him three years now. It may be time to make a change. The assumption would be that the rest of the defensive staff would stay the same. If any coaching change does come this offseason, it is likely Roof.

In Conclusion

After the terrible performances that were put out by the Tigers this past season it is no surprise that the masses feel like it is time for Roof to go. Roof has not been able to produce consistent results for the Tigers and his defenses have lacked the shutdown ability that Auburn was known for.

Don’t be surprised if there is a change at the defensive head after the bowl game this season.

On the offensive side of the ball, the only likely change is if Malzahn were to go to another team to be the head coach. That isn’t looking very likely but those chances are always high. Look for Malzahn to have at least one more season with Auburn.

If Roof does leave, Chizik’s choice in replacement style will be very important. Roof has a very complex scheme that hasn’t seemed to fit well at Auburn. Chizik is likely to find a coordinator that runs a defense more in line with his former Tampa 2 scheme.