Via Rivals.com:
Iowa State's Gene Chizik will be the next Auburn coach, Rivals.com has learned. Chizik has been the coach of the Cyclones the last two years, compiling a 5-19 record. Iowa State finished 2-10 (0-8 in the Big 12) in 2008.News that this might happen broke this morning, but I could not bring myself to take it seriously. Gene Chizik is almost certainly the worst candidate interviewed during this utter farce of a coaching search. He is a poor recruiter who has completely failed to date as a head coach. Chizik's own friends in the coaching community openly scoff at the idea of him being a head coach for a major program.
For Auburn's program, he will be the equivalent of Mike DuBose, although hopefully without the cheating.
This is a terrible hire, and a monstrously bad decision on the part of an Athletic Director who shouldn't be put in charge of managing a janitorial staff of two, much less a multi-million dollar athletics program.
I don't say this lightly, but, Fire Jay Jacobs. And while you're at it, fire his buddy Tim Jackson, who inexplicably was invited along for the interviews, despite the fact that Jackson is Auburn's... ticket manager. That makes as much sense as asking a halfwit greenskeeper to sit in on interviews for a corporate CEO.
15 comments:
He is a poor recruiter who has completely failed to date as a head coach.
Exactly! Gene Stallings as 27-45-1 as head coach at Texas A&M and later, as head coach of the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals was 23-34-1. Those fools across the state hired him and fell flat on their face. Oh...wait.
Chizik's own friends in the coaching community openly scoff at the idea of him being a head coach for a major program.
Can you point me to some of this open scoffing? If it they (friends in the coaching community) are doing it openly, it shouldn't be hard.
OK...enough snark. My point is that while Gene Chizik isn't my first (or second, third, fourth, fifth) choice to take over at AU, deciding what he can accomplish at AU based on what he's done at Iowa State may not lead to a sound conclusion. AU isn't Iowa State.
I'd much rather have a Turner Gill, Gary Patterson, Chris Peterson or (especially) Paul Johnson. But if Chizik is it, I'll do my best to keep an open mind and give him a chance. He was certainly a hot commodity following his stints as DC at AU and Texas. And if he'd stayed at Texas and was coming in to AU from his spot as DC there with one NC under his belt and another shot at the BCS NC only a defensive stop of Michael Crabtree in the final seconds of the TT game away, how would you feel about him then?
Ridiculous. Wonder who we'll hire n 2-3 years?
Four years from now, we'll be doing this all again. I only hope Jacobs won't make as big of a mess next time.
Here's to four years of suck.
Roman, Gene Stallings was the only coach I know of whose team was sanctioned on three separate occasions by the NCAA (Langham, Bojo's Tires, and much later, Kenny Smith). That's how he succeeded; it's not a path anybody should be recommending.
I do agree with Roman that an open mind will be best for AU fans. Fair to rant for a few days, but when spring practice begins, it's time to get behind this guy and the boys he's coaching.
I still am curious which coaches didn't believe Chizik was ready to be a head coach....?
He wasn't my first choice either. BUT, he IS the head coach now. And for the sake of the players, if for no other reason, I will support him until given a reason AT AUBURN not to. Voice displeasure at the admin, etc. but rally around the new coach. The kids on the team need it. Don't punish them.
As a Tide fan, I can only say it's nice to see that we do not have a monopoly (even in the state of Alabama) of absolutely STUPID hires.
This makes the selection of Mike Dubose look like sheer genius.
Do we really think that Firing Jay Jacobs would do anything? Heck, wasn't Quentin Riggins on the flight to talk with the TCU coach?
Give me a break. The only way this sort of idiocy stops is if Yella-wood, Lowder, Dye and the others stop meddling.
All the AD and other hangers-on were just getting free jet rides around the country and talking to folks they were told to speak to.
Tuberville was not fired, though a great many appear not to get it. But understanding that fact is imperative if you are to begin to understand why Tuberville chose to resign and why coaches like Tuner Gill (hardly embraced with unanimity) and Gene Chizik have been considered and, in the case of Chizik, hired.
Tuberville, denials from many fans and even sports writers notwithstanding, was not a great recruiter, at least not past the class that gave us Carlo, Carnell, Ronnie and Jason. The talent cupboard at AU may not be bare, but it is hardly fully stocked. This is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. And that, as much as anything, is why Tuberville decided to get out now. He wanted to preserve his legacy. He wanted people to remember the good seasons. The reason he wanted them to remember is because he looked around the SEC at Bammer, Ole Miss, UGA and even Arkansas (which was pitiful this year but still managed to beat Tuberville's AU squad) and he knew he was behind. He knew that this season was not a fluke, that staying another year would have produced a similar result. AU under Tuberville, like it or not, had become a program in decline...even if most fans didn't know it.
A "proven" coach would have been expected to be a miracle worker. If he didn't come in and win BIG right away, fans (many of whom appear to know less than nothing) would have been up in arms. There would be no opportunity to rebuild -- and rebuilding is what we are facing -- without being saddled with enormous unmeetable expectations.
Coaches like Gill and Chizik have good pedidgrees but so far are basically unproven at this level. That is both a negative and a positive thing. It's negative because you can't be sure that they will be up to the job. It's positive because they are not saddled with high expectations.
Gene Chizik took a job at ISU that he probably should have passed on. I was shocked when he accepted that position and quite frankly expected him to fail. Two years isn't enough time in that program (which was also in decline when he took the job) to make a judgment one way or the other. But Gene Chizik is a very good coach and AU, in decline or not, is not Iowa State.
Without the unrealistic expectations that would come with a "rock star" head coach, Chizik will have a year or two to right the ship without excess pressure from the administration regardless of what the fans say or do. In the end, I expect that he will do just fine. He's a better coach that Tommy Tuberville and I believe he is ready for the challenge.
Stallings had a losing season in his first year at Bama. By year three he had the Tide playing for the national championship. Chizik probably won't have AU in the BCSCG in year three, but he will certainly have us further along than a worn out Tommy Tuberville would.
If you are an AU fan, get behind the university and the choice that university has made for a new head coach. Tuberville is gone. We're on a new chapter now.
War Eagle!
Please spare me the "but it was at Iowa State". The previous seven years, ISU averaged six wins a year. Chizik averages 2.5 wins. Look it up. ISU was no one's idea of a top twenty school, but it was no where near as abysmal as, oh, let's say, uh University of Buffalo before he came there. ISU's record has gotten worse each year he was there. He may be a great choice, and I hope that I feel foolish looking back on the things I say today.... but I can't see him being a long term solution.
http://auburn.nu/board/display.pl?page=1&thrd=25&mess=788613&full=1
He was a very good defensive coordinator. Funny how many of those we had under Tubs.
Hey "Roman" please tell me Lowder is paying you.
Does this explanation sound plausible?
http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/messagetopic.asp?p=11248959
Roman, you have too much time on your hands. Throw a semicolon in those epic sons of bitches. However, I am glad to see an Auburn fan string together multiple sentences. I didn't know that was taught in Poultry Science class. Or was it swine research? By the way, I actually heard an Iowa State reporter refer to Auburn and Iowa State as "kindred spirits," because they were both "land-grant, ag schools." Cue the guffaw. War Cattle!
Will, this is the first time...
I have not agreed with you. I still have great respect for your insight and opinion. However I believe you may have posted a little prematurely on this one. Chisik was not my first (or second,or...) choice but I believe he can get the job done. For the sake of the players, the family, and for our school we need to give him our suppoprt. You cary alot of influence and I'm hopeing you can help heal the wounds so we can move forward.
War Eagle
Will,
You expressed my sentiments when you posted this (or captured my disappointment at the time)...but don't you think (and yeah, it's way to early to tell at this point), given the way Chizik has handled this very rough transition, there's some cause a little of that old Auburn optimism, even after all we've been through this year?
If Chizik keeps this up, and truly puts together a great coaching staff, I think the spirit of Auburn can take care of the rest...this University and those who love it never give up...and somehow this place keeps over-achieving, especially when everybody counts them out.
BTW, I'm a huge fan of yours, both here and at that other blog...just wish you had more time to keep this one updated...always great to read your stuff!
Cheers,
Richard
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