The state of Auburn's football program is about the best it can be after going undefeated, winning the SEC championship and winning the national championship game plus adding another Heisman Trophy and about a dozen other player and coaching awards. It was an unbelievable run and an incredible job of coaching and recruiting. The only negative to be found now is having to deal with the void left by Tommy Tuberville's last two awful recruiting classes. The current coaching staff has gone a long way toward filling that void through two top five recruiting classes however it is still going to hurt some. I will also say that Tommy Tuberville deserves a lot more credit than he is being given for this year's national championship team but again he will deserve a lot of blame for the lack of juniors and seniors the next two years.
Last year I started out pointing out that I was not as enamored with coach Chizik as the rest of the masses. One SEC and national championship later I guess I have to say coach Chizik has proven himself. I will say as I did last year that time will still tell the whole story. Coach Chizik will now always hold a special elite place in Auburn history but time will tell how great his legacy will be.
I made it clear in my post last year that winning the division and winning in Atlanta was the ultimate goal and determination of success for an SEC coach. I said Gene Chizik must reach that goal to be considered a good coach. Well he did and he has now entered that exclusive club of coaches who have an SEC Championship game ring. Now the question is can he entere an even more exclusive club and that is coaches who have won multiple SEC championship games. That list right now only includes: Steve Spurrier, Phillip Fulmer, Mark Richt, Urban Meyer and Nick $aban.
Last year I gave major kudos to coach Chizik for keeping his staff completely intact. I wrote: "I have to give major kudos to Chizik for keeping the staff together. In today’s big-time college football (and after watching the Tommy Tuberville staff merry-go-round for a decade) it is pretty amazing to see any staff stay completely intact for consecutive seasons. Even if you throw out the performance factor, you have to be amazed the personality factor did not rear its ugly head especially for a first year staff. A football staff is a pretty large group and many times some of the coaches just do not mesh. Auburn has seemingly hired a good football staff and kept them together going into a second season."
You can multiply those kudos many times for keeping this staff completely intact for a third season AFTER WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (!!!). I boldly predicted before the season that Malzahn would be gone and he would have if the right opportunity would have come along but lucky for Auburn it did not (a monster raise did not hurt either). I am shocked that a program has not come along and made a move for Trooper Taylor. He is a phenomenal coach and recruiter. Somehow someway Auburn was able to keep these guys together and they will definitely be needed next year.
The coaching staff not only led Auburn to SEC and national championships but they also just pulled in their second consensus top five recruiting class. Last year they were #4, #5 and #4 in ESPN, Scout and Rivals. This year they are #3, #2 and #7 (???) in ESPN, Scout and Rivals. Recruiting is not an exact science but is an indicator of the job the coaches are doing. On the field and on the recruiting trail this coaching staff is excelling.
As coach Chizik stated this week, this recruiting class "scratched all the right itches" loading up on offensive linemen and defensive backs. It also appears that there is a lot of talent in those groups. I still wanted that true left tackle but hopefully that void can be filled with the talent in-house. The biggest area of need outside of those two positions was at defensive tackle. A couple of good prospects were brought in with this class but I wish they could have gotten a couple more. Also included in this class was the probable quarterback of the future, a couple more good wide receivers and linebackers plus some highly rated athletes that can help where needed. All in all, a very good looking class. Add to that fact that the majority of the class is from Alabama and Georgia and it looks even better. For the first time since Nick $aban came to Tuscaloosa Auburn got more of the top ten recruits in-state than Bama did. Another huge accomplishment for this coaching staff.
My only big concern after getting this recruiting class is defensive tackle. I do not think many people understand how dire the situation is. We now have only two true defensive tackles ON THE ENTIRE TEAM before these freshmen come in the fall. Kenneth Carter and Jeffrey Whitaker are it. Coach Tracy Rocker did everything he could to get these guys ready giving them a lot of playing time however the jury is still out on them in my opinion. It is still unknown whether they are really true SEC-caliber starters but right now Auburn has no other options. Journeymen Derrick Lykes and Jamar Travis who "back them up" on the depth chart are certainly not SEC-caliber. Tracy Rocker will once again have to get true freshmen ready to back up his starters however this time his starters are not Nick Fairley and two seniors but two true sophomores. Just as I guessed from looking at the depth chart I heard the coaches will look at moving Nosa Egaue inside but defensive tackle still looks like a glaring weak spot for this Auburn team next season. The player Auburn will miss the most is not Cam Newton but Nick Fairley.
Let me take a very short moment to address the ridiculous Cyrus Kouandjio situation that went down this week. First I will say I am sickened at the hypocrisy of the media and some Bama fans after Bama used two player's parents and families to turn them at the last moment and NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING while everybody piled on Cecil Newton all season. The words "hypocrite" and "two faced" do not even seem to cover it anymore. For me I have tried to keep recruiting at an arms-length since it just consumes me as I know how important it is. However I got caught up in the whole Kouandjio debacle. The SEC has hit a new low as now you cannot even get excited when a kid announces he will attend a school on ESPN. I learned my lesson well and I will make SURE in the future to not get excited about any prospect till his LOI is in the house.
It hit me on Friday that Kouandjio made up his mind to go to Bama in those fateful hours after his "announcement" but was waiting to send in his LOI so he could do it right next to the Super Bowl to cover up the crime. Everyone's focus is on the Super Bowl and not what Bama did to "get him back in line". Again everyone piles on Auburn and Cecil Newton all year and then two highly rated prospects commit to Auburn and their parents are outright hostile toward their own kids and no one says anything. However as a friend told me, Auburn is national champions and has a great offensive line class without Kouandjio. Why let this situation get us upset? I have learned my lesson. Again I will continue to keep recruiting at an arm's length and only get excited about a player when his LOI is in the house.
Final words... the state of the program is great but I believe Auburn will have a tough season next year. Auburn has a lot of talent but will be breaking in a new quarterback and will have almost completely new offensive and defensive lines. Auburn will do this and face a brutal schedule. The schedule includes road games against Clemson, South Carolina, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia while Florida rolls back on the schedule and of course Bama will still be very good. I think people are underestimating how tough this job will be next season. However with a battle-tested coaching staff and two top recruiting classes, maybe there will be some good surprises next year as well. Regardless I will certainly enjoy the offseason as Auburn sits on top of the college football world.
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