Auburn Tigers Football: Is There a Fire Brewing on the Plains?

The Auburn football program has seen its fair share of changes in the past few weeks. The departure of both coordinators was a striking blow to a staff that was one of the most consistent in college football for three years. The writing was on the wall after the season that changes were coming, but losing both coordinators was not expected.

Add to the loss of both coordinators the suspension of Michael Dyer, Auburn’s leading rusher and most explosive offensive player, and the Tigers appear to be in a downward spiral just one season removed from a national title run.

Auburn should be in one of the best positions of any football team in the country, returning eight of 11 starters on defense in 2012 and every offensive playmaker from 2011 as well, with the exception of Dyer. So why is it that the sky seems to be falling on the Plains? Every local radio show in Alabama is discussing the downward spiral that the Auburn Tigers football program must be in.

Not only did the Tigers lose their two coordinators this season to coaching change, and not only did the Tigers lose their star running back to suspension, but they also recently lost a big-time 5-star recruit in T.J. Yeldon as the longtime running back commitment de-committed from Auburn and committed to Alabama.

The recruiting flip was the final straw in the conspiracy for anyone wanting to build a case as to why the Tigers program is falling apart. How could it not be obvious that the Tigers are falling apart at the seams? Two coaches have left and now the biggest in-state recruit and commitment has been swayed to attend the biggest rival of the Auburn Tigers.

An overused saying that has been extremely abused is “where there is smoke there is fire” in regards to the happenings at Auburn. The only smoke that seems to be blowing in Auburn’s direction at this point is from a fire lit far away. The Tigers program is not burning down. The program is not on the brink of failure. Auburn is just having a run of bad news lately.

So what can the Tigers do to right the ship? If there isn’t a major disaster occurring at Auburn, what is happening and how can the bleeding stop? Auburn has already lost one marquee recruit and a game-changing player. The Tigers can't afford to lose anything more this offseason. Here are a few things that need to happen that will help the Tigers avert disaster.

Gene Chizik Must Make Coordinator Hires

The most impactful swing of momentum will be for Gene Chizik to land some coordinators sooner than later. Winning the bowl game is a big focus, and a win would be great for the program, but finding coordinators is obviously a much larger task.

The longer that the coordinator search goes on, the worse that recruiting will be effected. Recruits want to know what type of system they will be a part of once they make it to their school of choice. Not having leadership in place has to be hurtful to the Tigers' success on the trail right now.

The good news for Auburn is that recruiting has entered a dead period, so Chizik has time to concentrate on the task at hand. The sooner the Tigers find new coordinators, the sooner the flames will begin to die down.

Losing the innovative coach that was Gus Malzahn is likely to hurt the Tigers offensive recruiting slightly, but there isn’t likely to be big fallout over the change at the head of the Tigers offense. Equally so, the Tigers defensive recruiting did not hinge on Ted Roof sticking around.

Keep Recruiting, Ignore the “Locks”

Auburn went into Daphne High School and secured a commitment from Yeldon earlier this year. His commitment to the Tigers was surprising as Daphne has become a pipeline for the Crimson Tide in the past few years.

The Tigers ignored the patterns and have gone after the best available talent in state and across the country. Auburn has not backed down to the powerful recruiting that has led Alabama to the top of the football food chain, and keeping their ground is the Tigers' only shot at winning this state.

Losing Yeldon was a huge loss for the Tigers both as a literal loss from the class, and as a recruit. Losing one of the best running backs in the country off of your list may cause other players to choose to look around. As of now, the dominoes haven’t began to fall just yet for the Tigers to be extremely concerned with this class.

Win the Bowl Game

Winning this seasons bowl game for the Tigers will be a huge task. Auburn is trying to rebuild a staff and secure recruits in their commitments. The Tigers coaching staff is working overtime trying to find the answers.

The Tigers will be facing a Virginia team that is on the upswing and looking to continue the success that has been built around the allegations levied almost daily against the Tigers program. Auburn has done all the right things so far, but these changes are needed to keep the ship righted before too long.

Auburn isn’t burning. The ship isn’t sinking and the end of the program isn’t happening. Auburn has a tall task in front of it this offseason, but the Tigers are up to the challenge.