Auburn Year in Review

Tuesday 23, December 2008

Nick Vita

After the Chick-Fil-A Bowl last year, Tommy Tuberville had to make a decision. Hire Tony Franklin and his spread offense, getting away from everything Auburn football had been known for, or go back and hire an offensive coordinator who would continue Auburn's tradition of smashmouth football. At the time, hiring Franklin seemed like the best thing to do. After all, Franklin's offense led the team to its best offensive showing in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl with only a few weeks of practice. Give him all spring and summer, and Auburn would finally have an offense worth talking about.

Looking back, that hire was the wrong decision. Whether it be friction with assistants or plain not being up to the challenge, the Tony Franklin Experiment failed on the Plains.  From game one, when the passing game never got near 100 yards, all the way until Vanderbilt, where Auburn only managed to score in the first quarter while running the ball from under center, the offense was pitiful. Auburn fell to near last in nearly every offensive statistic and struggled to put up any points. When they did get close enough to at least attempt a field goal, kicker Wes Byrum struggled all year. The defense played strong, but they could only do so much when they were out on the field for forty minutes each game. Injuries started piling up on that side of the ball, and by the time they traveled to Alabama on November 29th, the Auburn Tigers were a shell of what they were made out to be in the preseason. 

Another point that a lot of fans seemingly overlooked was the leadership that was lost when Brandon Cox left Auburn following the 2007 season. Time and time again this year, there were opportunities for someone to step up and take a leadership role on the field. No one ever did. Without an experienced quarterback and lacking a leader, this team faltered late in games that it had a chance to win. They only lost by one to Vanderbilt, narrowly missed beating Georgia, and had a chance against Ole Miss and Arkansas until the very end.

All of the unforeseen shortcomings led to a 5-7 record and Auburn's absence from the bowl scene for the first time in nine years. Most people expected Tommy Tuberville to stay for at least one more year, despite getting blown out by Alabama to close out the season. However, on December 3rd, he was "paid to resign" as head coach. This sent shockwaves through much of the Auburn community, especially for a lot of the younger generation. It's hard to think about Auburn football without Tommy Tuberville, but that's the way it is now. 

Much maligned Athletic Director Jay Jacobs searched for a new head coach for a few weeks until finally settling on a very unlikely candidate: Gene Chizik. Auburn fans were (and still are in some cases) pretty livid about the hire, seeing as how Auburn had essentially traded a man who had won 85 games at Auburn for one who went 5-19 in his two seasons as head coach at Iowa State. Jacobs and Auburn were blasted in the press and by alumni, including Charles Barkley, who set off a firestorm of controversy by questioning what he felt were racist attitudes behind the hire. In the end, it was just another bizarre and depressing series of events in a season full of them for Auburn fans. 

The one bright side of this entire season of death, as one Auburn blog so aptly named it, is that Auburn still has the talent to win. Gene Chizik comes in with a chance to do very well in his first year if he can hire a good set of coordinators. The pieces are there, especially on defense. Offensively, if a coordinator can utilize the players that he has, this team is not bad. 

One thing's for sure. Ignore next year's preseason rankings. They're not always the best indicator of success. Just ask Auburn and Alabama. 

War eagle.