RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT COACH?

The Auburn football program standing at a crossroads and in complete desperation mode finally made a hire.  The powers-that-be named former Ole Miss and current Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze the new Auburn head football coach.  The decision like every major decision at Auburn was met with immediate backlash.  It appears to definitely be a "split decision" within the Auburn family.  The issue at hand is of course Freeze's disgraceful exit from Oxford in 2016.  First Ole Miss was convicted of major NCAA violations and then at the same time it came out that Freeze had made calls to an escort service using his university issued phone.  To some it appears to be a clear decision, you would never hire this guy but others point to Freeze's quest to earn redemption over the last six years.

The questions then mount up...  Who is right?  Is it even that simple?  Is Freeze the right choice for Auburn just looking at his football resume?  I became fairly obsessed with this search like the last few and I literally could not go five minutes without taking a spin around Auburn sites looking for news after the season ended.  I saw all the names being tossed around and had pretty strong opinions on all of them.  It was a rollercoaster ride thinking one coach was in and then he was out and then going through that with multiple other coaches.  I was exhausted after riding that rollercoaster for multiple days and for that reason alone I was a little happy that at least the search was over.  The search is over.  The search that to me really started after the South Carolina game a little over a year ago.  

The reason for this post is to state my opinions on this hire but let me take a step back first on the subject of Auburn's head football coach.  I cannot say how refreshing in one way the last four weeks have been.  I  actually like Carnell Williams and man I have realized that I have not felt that way very often about Auburn's head football coach.  I loved Pat Dye even though he still did his fair share of dumb things and at the end I loved him more.  Terry Bowden was what Auburn needed his first two years, Coach Dye would not have gone undefeated in 1993.  Unfortunately Bowden fell apart and is deservedly ostracized from Auburn.  I will say though that the 1993 team might be my favorite team ever so he has that one little blip in time like Gene Chizik in 2010.  Chizik was a terrible hire but he did a great job in 2010 and like Bowden fell apart after that.  I could not stand either of them at the end.  

Tommy Tuberville was a good hire and did a lot of good things including leading arguably Auburn's greatest team in 2004 plus beating Bama six times in a row.  Unfortunately he also did a lot of bad things like "Black Saturday" in 2001, getting blown out many times by lesser teams like Arkansas, and squandering one of the most talented teams in Auburn history in 2003 plus going out so badly hiring Tony Franklin and giving up on recruiting.  I think everyone has some good memories of Tuberville but he was certainly not great.  Malzahn was the same except less.  Auburn had one great season but Malzahn blew the biggest game in it and only won about three more really big games in the seven years after that.  I started disliking Malzahn in 2014 as written in this blog as it was apparent even then he could not develop a decent passing offense.  It did not take long to start hating Bryan Harsin.

I believe many others share my feelings on these coaches and not coincidentally these feelings appear spot on when grading these coaches as recruiters.  Pat Dye was a great recruiter.  Terry Bowden and Bryan Harsin ended their careers literally hated by nearly every high school coach in the state.  Tommy Tuberville was a decent recruiter but continually got complacent.  Gene Chizik was just not respected by anybody and Gus Malzahn was just not a people person and thus not a good recruiter.   Auburn has paid tens of millions of dollars to these coaches and in the case of Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin gotten little to NO RETURN for their investment in recruiting.  These two coaches and their TERRIBLE RECRUITING is what has led Auburn to its current disastrous state highlighted in the Iron Bowl this past weekend.

Auburn is in big trouble as I wrote in my previous post and in many before that.  The Auburn Nation is not only tired of overpaid unlikable head coaches, all of us are even more tired of the bad recruiting and thus the bad football that follows.  Auburn was close in 2020 but now in 2022 the only thing that can be said is ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  Auburn is either going to have accept their place down beside Vanderbilt or is going to have to FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN RECRUIT.  The program is in such bad shape that the next coach must also, in addition to being a very good recruiter, be competent enough to turn around a program this large.  It is a herculean task that is not for the faint of heart and as we found out during this search, it is a task that many coaches did not want to take on. 

Auburn's initial top target Lane Kiffin felt that way. Auburn obviously targeted Kiffin from the start and it looked like he was going to take the job but he bailed at the last minute.  Others will disagree but I think that Kiffin not working out was a good thing.  I have made my feelings known about Kiffin on this blog many times.  I have called him the most overrated coach I have ever seen and I flat out do not like him.  However I will say I would have taken him over some of the other names thrown out, names like James Franklin or Sonny Dykes.  I also was against hiring a first time head coach like Carnell Williams, Brian Johnson, or Jeff Grimes or one with very little experience like Deion.  I know that sometimes hiring an assistant is the right thing like Kirby Smart at Georgia but I think the current situation at Auburn is too much for a rookie or lesser experienced head coach right now.

There are exceptions, in fact my top choice that I threw out in this blog a month ago, Dell McGee, would have been a first time head coach.  However he was a state championship winning head coach at the top level of high school football in Georgia along with serving on Kirby Smart's staff at Georgia for six years as either assistant head coach or as a coordinator along with being a national recruiter of the year award winner.  Add to those facts that he also played at Auburn during tough and great times from 1992-95 and I think you get a very good candidate even though he had never head coached on the college level.  McGee was the guy I wanted.  My second choice would have been Dave Aranda, the current head coach at Baylor.  He has done a great job at Baylor and did a great job as a coordinator for LSU.  Those were my top two picks but for whatever reason on whichever side they were not serious candidates.

My third choice was Freeze and by saying that I am contradicting myself and talking out of both sides of my mouth.  I have said on this blog multiple times that while I believe fully in forgiveness for Freeze, I did not believe he should ever run a big time program again.  I said it and I believed it.  I still do and though this may make me look even worse I guess I see this as an exception I never thought about.  I do not think Freeze would have gotten another chance at any other top program around the country.  I think Freeze's personality, experience, and redemption story uniquely fitted this one job at this one time.  I am not sure when it clicked with me but it did once I looked at him seriously and what he brought to the table.  He brings baggage and that will continue to hurt but Freeze also brings so many things that Auburn desperately needs and has needed for a long time.

I also think as he said at his press conference that he has earned this second chance. I am officially giving it to him.  As soon as I kind of went through this and it was evident that my top two guys were not serious candidates I was all in on Freeze.  However I did not believe that Auburn and especially president Chris Roberts and athletic director John Cohen would brave the backlash to hire him though.  As soon as Freeze was reported to be the next guy up after Kiffin was officially declared out this past weekend that backlash started.  The forums on all the Auburn sites were all filled with battles between those for and against Freeze.  It sounded like an email campaign was started against Freeze to get the Auburn administration to back down and from some reports it appeared that it was working.  This was when I lost hope because I just did not see another candidate on their lists that I thought could get the job done.

Frankly I was shocked when the news finally broke this past Monday that Auburn was going to hire Freeze.  I have to admit though I was excited and happy to hear it.  I was even more excited after the official press conference and hearing Freeze's talk about all of these different issues.  For those still against Freeze I certainly cannot tell you that you are wrong and you still might be giving the rest of us a big "I told you so" in the future.  I hope not but concede that this hire is a risk.  I think any hire has a certain amount of risk but this one obviously includes bad stuff that other candidates would not have had to deal with.  Also there is a third group, subtilty different, that are for second chances but do not believe Hugh Freeze is a good enough coach to be worth giving him that second chance.  I think that is the audience many of my next paragraphs are really aimed toward, i.e. why I think Freeze is the right coach if you will consider him.

However you have to start with what he has done to address the moral issues at hand, i.e. calling an escort service for whatever reason.  Again you say it and the knee jerk reaction is NO WAY, at least mine is.  However if you step back take a break and say OK what has he done to address this so I should even listen to this guy you do see work put in.  First, Freeze took two years off and repaired his relationship with his family.  The era of wives "standing by their man" no matter what are gone.  I think it is a big deal that his wife is still with him and outspoken in her support of him along with his three daughters.  There have been plenty of public figures that made lesser mistakes that were abandoned by their family or at least members of it.  Again I think this does say a lot.  Next, Freeze talked about how he implemented an accountability plan with his family and with Liberty when he came back to coaching. 

It appears that plan has worked other than one poor choice to send a direct message to a plantiff in a legal case against Liberty that involved handling of sexual assault cases and other issues pertaining to female athletes.  The case had nothing to do with Freeze but he was trying to defend the athletic director.  I understand people who will not budge off the mistakes made at Ole Miss, I understand that, however I am a little tired of people and the press trying to make this more than it is.  He should not have sent this message but there is no wrong doing here that I see.  However it does show poor judgement but you also have to listen to all the people who are vouching for the change in Freeze over the last six years and there are a lot of them.  This is a tough call but I am a sucker for redemption stories and know how much grace I have received in this life after many mistakes, and with that in mind I am now for giving Freeze this chance.

We then come to WHY??? WHY are we even having this conversation???  Surely Auburn can find another coach that can get the job done without all this baggage even if you believe in second chances???  All I can say to this question is there might be but at this EXACT time and place Freeze appears to be the best candidate for the job.  Here is why I say that...  once you allow Freeze to become a candidate you have to go to the requirements of the job with the first being RECRUITING.  I think right now unbiasedly you have to consider Lane Kiffin the best recruiter available but if he is out I think the next best recruiter is far and away Freeze.  I do agree that Deion Sanders might have the most potential to be that best recruiter but Deion would still have to prove that and I do not think Auburn could gamble on that.  

The problem with Sanders is while the force of his personality and his resume is enormous, recruiting in SEC requires an unbelievably incredible amount of work either directly recruiting or managing an entire recruiting enterprise.  You just do not know if Sanders is really willing to put that amount of work in for Auburn.  He is rich, successful, and the best ever at his position... why would he at this point in his life want to go through the grind of recruiting?  It is why pretty much no great player is a great coach in any sport.  It is also why I did not think Sanders was a good fit at Auburn.  The best at recruiting are usually lesser players who have then given their life to coaching.  They are grinders who are earning their hall of fame nominations through years of coaching.  Nick $aban is the greatest example along with Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, etc...  

The rest of the candidates had even more questions regarding their recruiting ability.  Hugh Freeze was the only one that had already done it successfully at an SEC school and one that is harder to recruit to than Auburn.  This is where we get to his NCAA violations at Ole Miss.  I understand pausing for the other issues, I could not care less about all of his NCAA violations. I have said it in this blog and many other times the only transgression by Freeze in this situation was beating Bama twice in a row while recruiting well.  He made himself a threat and he had to be dealt with.  His program definitely committed the violations but I contend there was nothing Ole Miss did that Bama has not done thousands of times, they are just way better at it and the NCAA steers clear of Bama now.  Bama made sure the NCAA got all the info on Freeze and Ole Miss.

The situation was then taken care of by the NCAA.  Freeze was fired and Ole Miss has not come close to being a threat to Bama since (Lane Kiffin still has never beaten Bama).  The next question I get when I point this out is that Gus Malzahn beat Bama more, what did they do to him?  I know this is off the subject but Bama took care of Malzahn too.  They could not use the NCAA because Gus was squeaky clean and by the way this NCAA stuff might be a concern with Freeze if not for NIL which has made recruiting the wild wild west.  Back to Gus, what Bama did to take care of the Auburn threat is a constant recruiting message that Gus Malzahn cannot prepare any offensive position for the NFL especially offensive tackles.  They got direct quotes from NFL scouts and coaches saying exactly this.  I am not saying there is not some truth to that but Bama magnified the message and got it out to every recruit.

I have talked in person to an NFL offensive coordinator about one of Auburn's really good players and he did say this.  Other schools like Georgia also took up the this message and that along with the fact that Malzahn was not a strong recruiter anyway is still the main reason why Auburn is so bad right now.  You might say wow that is a lot of conjecture and opinions, where is the proof?  The proof is in the fact that Auburn has not been able to recruit ONE true offensive tackle from high school in SIX YEARS.  In that time Auburn has played guards, mediocre to bad transfers, and players that might have played tackle in high school but did not have the body type or skills to be a real SEC offensive tackle.  The almost complete failure of Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson (inherited by Malzahn in 2013) in the NFL after being drafted second in 2014 was held high by every school recruiting against Auburn as exhibit #1 that Auburn could not develop offensive tackles.  

Auburn then shot itself in the foot by hiring an even worse recruiter in Bryan Harsin to follow Gus Malzahn.  That brings us to right now and Hugh Freeze. Auburn HAS TO have a good recruiter. Auburn HAS TO have a people person who is good in the living room.  With NIL, Auburn NEEDS somebody that can sell and close the deal.  Hugh Freeze was first the recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss and he did so well that a year after he left to head coach Arkansas State they brought him back as head coach.  He took over for Houston Nutt who had gone 1-15 in the SEC in his last two years at Ole Miss.  The program was near dead.  Hugh Freeze immediately turned it around and took Ole Miss to four straight bowls including their best season and highest bowl appearance since the Johnny Vaught days long ago.  People like to skip over what Freeze did at Ole Miss due to the way it ended but the results bear a closer look.

Again, Ole Miss went 4-8 and 1-7 in the SEC in 2010 and then 2-12 and 0-8 in the SEC in 2011 under Houston Nutt.  Freeze took over in 2012 and immediately led Ole Miss to a 6-6 season and a bowl win over Pittsburg.  The Rebels improved to 7-5 in Freeze's second season and then again got another bowl win.  The program kept rising in Freeze's third season to 9-3 and getting to the Peach Bowl (he also beat Boise State who was in Bryan Harsin's first season lol).  The pinnacle of Freeze's success at Ole Miss was his fourth season in 2015 where they won 10 games including a win in their first Sugar Bowl since 1969.  Ole Miss also beat Bama and Nick $aban in consecutive seasons in 2014-15, making Freeze I believe the only coach to beat $aban at Bama in consecutive seasons.  The bottom fell out the next season of course but that story is well documented.  It was a terrible end but Freeze's recruiting and coaching effort those four rising years though was incredible.

After he made those monstrous mistakes and took those two years off he was given a second chance at Liberty University, a small private Christian school in Virginia.  I do not think I had ever heard of Liberty before that but they have been around for awhile.  They started their football program in 1973 at the NAIA level.  They moved up to Division II during the 80s and then moved up to Division 1-AA which is now the FCS subdivision in 1988 and they stayed there till 2017.  They only had three seasons with two or less losses during all that time.  However they moved up to the big leagues in FBS in 2018 and hired Hugh Freeze in 2019.  They had never been to a bowl game before Freeze.  He has taken them currently to three straight, winning all three, and if they make it to another one this season then it will be four straight.  I have to tell you, if you look closely at Freeze's work at Liberty it is pretty dang impressive.

Liberty has gone 8-5, 10-1 (their greatest season), 8-5, and now 8-4 this past season.  During this time Liberty (again we are talking Liberty not Appalachian State or more well known former FCS members) beat Syracuse, Southern Miss, Virginia Tech, Troy, UAB, BYU, and his biggest win this season AT Arkansas.  That is not a list of football powerhouses but again we are talking about LIBERTY!!!  I think in all this you not only see the ability to recruit talent but the ability to coach it as well.  I remember in 2014 as it became obvious that Auburn coach Gus Malzahn could not integrate a nominal passing game into his offense how much I liked what Freeze did on offense with Ole Miss.  Freeze used basically the same formations and principles as Malzahn EXCEPT he was able to also have a good passing game.  I said at the time that Malzahn should be doing it the way Freeze was doing it.

I think the results speak for themselves but lets look at one case study that includes Auburn about Hugh Freeze's coaching.  The case study in question is quarterback Malik Willis.  I have actually heard people give Freeze less credit since he had Willis during his best season at Liberty (???).  Here is a reminder that Malik Willis was considered the same or worse than David Ashford, Auburn's current quarterback.  Malik Willis was considered just a runner and NOBODY (including me) thought he was a good quarterback!!!  He sat behind Jarrett Stidham for two years at Auburn and then transferred to Liberty in 2019 when Bo Nix came in and was given the job as a true freshman over Willis.  In fact Malzahn thought so little of Willis that Joey Gatewood (who was a complete flop) was also promoted over him.  Everyone at Auburn did not care a bit when he transferred. 

Willis sat out the season in 2019 due to the transfer rules at the time and faded from everyone's memory.  He then, coached by Hugh Freeze, became one of the best quarterbacks in college football the next two years.  Willis completed over 60% of his passes for over 5000 yards and almost 50 touchdowns while ALSO running for close to 2000 yards and 27 touchdowns.  Liberty's only loss in 2020 was to an eight win N.C. State team by one point while they beat Syracuse, Southern Miss, and Virginia Tech in a three game stretch and they beat a previously undefeated Coastal Carolina team in their bowl game.  Willis was taken in the third round of the last NFL draft and is currently the backup in Tennessee.  I think a lot of Bo Nix, much more than many Auburn fans, but I do not think he will be drafted that high or be an NFL backup next season.  

OK so that covers recruiting and coaching and at this point you have be pretty amazed at the job Hugh Freeze did at both Ole Miss and Liberty not to mention his ten win conference winning Arkansas State team the year before Ole Miss.  The man still has his baggage but if you make that decision to make him a candidate I think you can clearly see why Auburn took him.  Also if you just listen to the guy for a few minutes I think you see, as with so many people villainized in the press for various sins, that he is not Gollum from the "The Lord of the Rings" movies plotting his next evil act.  He just appears like many before him to be a guy that made a big mistake looking for a second chance to keep doing what he loves and is good at.  Yes I could be reading the man wrong and my conclusions here could be wrong but while I love a redemption story I have also become pretty cynical.  I feel like Hugh Freeze is genuinely repentant and the right coach at the right time in the right place at Auburn.

I think the last thing that helps Freeze's cause is his southern folksy charm.  I only use the term "southern" here as many times being a certain type of folksy is thought of as a positive attribute that is typically seen more in the south.  It is not a requirement or anything to be from the south. The perfect example is Bruce Pearl who was born in Boston.  However Bruce Pearl has that down-to-earth folksy charm and people love him.  Again it is not a requirement but it really seems to help especially at Auburn.  Bruce Pearl is the greatest basketball coach in Auburn history and he has it.  The two football coaches that Auburn's football stadium and field are named after had it and were great with it.  Finally the Auburn football program seems to need it now after a decade of the robotic Gus Malzahn and the myopic Bryan Harsin.  I have never seen one coach alienate more different groups of people than Harsin.  The hope here is Freeze can heal many of those relationships ESPECIALLY with high school coaches.

There is also one thing about the situation Freeze is in that could also be a help to Auburn.  Big buyouts are killing motivation just as everyone has said since they started coming in.  Coaches with big buyouts to an extent just do not care, if they fail they will still get generational wealth.  Gus Malzahn received his huge new contract and buyout and then having a down year in 2018 and seeing his recruiting lagging he showed no extra effort at all.  You could tell, he was going to do it at a certain pace and knew he wins either way.  I now think that one of the reasons, maybe the main one, that Bryan Harsin took the Auburn job was the buyout.  He had never seen that kind of money in his life.  I think it also empowered him to frankly not work as hard, show no desperation, and not try to get along with people.  In fact, once things turned bad I think he was just waiting to get fired to get his money.

I do not think at least to start Hugh Freeze will take this attitude.  First, he knows he can earn a LOT more money by doing well.  Next, he wants to prove himself after being "cast out" for so long and he knows this is his last chance at a big time college job.  I think all of that adds up to a lot more motivation than we have seen the last six years at least.  I also think Freeze actually likes Auburn.  Freeze was also the candidate most willing to do some things that Auburn officials wanted.  He obviously cost a LOT less than Kiffin but he also was willing and eager to keep Carnell Williams and make him a big part of his coaching staff.  In fact Freeze smartly opened his press conference by giving Auburn fans the news that he had talked to Cadillac and made him is Associate Head Coach.  I think that was very important and let me tell you Lane Kiffin was NOT keeping Cadillac.  Some of the other candidates might have but it was not an issue with Freeze.

Well those are my thoughts on Hugh Freeze and why I think he ended up being the best candidate.  Of course I was also fairly positive about Bryan Harsin after his first presser.  However I really do feel better about Freeze than Harsin, Malzahn, or Chizik.  I have a dream that Auburn will win an SEC championship in the next few years. I believe it will be the sweetest one ever at Auburn because of how tough the journey was to get there.  In this dream the journey toward this championship starts with Carnell Williams taking over a month ago.  The journey contines led by Hugh Freeze, Carnell, the rest of the coaching and support staff, the players now and then with of course the support of the entire Auburn family.  It is just a dream but as Carnell Williams said in his first press conference...

"AUBURN IS WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE."

WAR EAGLE.

GAME 12 REVIEW: FINAL EXAM

Bama 49  Auburn 27.   Commentators, journalists, and people in general who talk about the "Iron Bowl" crack me up with the old overused cliché that "you never know what is going to happen!".  When Auburn has a losing record you know what is going to happen... every time.  Auburn has beaten Alabama with a losing record in 1901, 1902, and 1949.  It has never happened in the modern history of football and well before.  In fact it has rarely even been close when Auburn has a losing record.  Now Bama teams with losing records have beaten Auburn but that is pretty rare as well.  The better team usually wins in this series.  The only exceptions are a really good Auburn team beating a really good Bama team that is slightly favored.  Those are for the most part the only "upsets" in this series.

This year was no exception.  A much better Bama team handily beat an inferior Auburn team.  There really was never any doubt.  As Sun Tzu says "every battle is won or lost before it is fought".  This battle was won by Bama in the previous four years of recruiting.  Auburn had no chance.  Except for Derrick Hall and maybe Tank Bigsby or Jarquez Hunter there is not one player on Auburn's roster that would come close to starting for Bama.  Some Auburn fans might argue for a few more players but I disagree.  Bama is superior to Auburn at just about every position.  The build up to the game was just depressing for me and the game went exactly the way I thought it would go.  This is Auburn's final exam each season on it's recruiting the previous four years and as it has more times than not, Auburn FAILED.

There was only one surprise in this game and that was again the relentless spirit of Carnell Williams.  I have seen Auburn pretty much quit many times after Bama took a commanding lead.  That did NOT happen this time and that is a FACT.  How can I say that for sure?  Easy, even being completely dominated Auburn rushed for the most yards ever against a Nick $aban coached team, 318 YARDS (!!!).  It is just unbelievable Auburn could do this when the Tigers had NO passing game.  I know football has changed but a solid Bama defense could not stop Auburn from running when they had NO passing attack.  They not only did not have a passing attack but had one of if not the lowest rated offensive line in the history of the program.  Auburn just kept pounding the Tide even facing certain defeat.

As time ran out though it was just another disappointing end to another disappointing season.  They just keep adding up since Auburn's last conference title...  2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and now 2022.  You can add the unbelievably bad condition of Auburn's roster right now and the future looks bleak.  Even if you add a good coach and even considering it is easier to rebuild a roster now, it is still going to take some time to build this program back.  Any mistakes made will only increase the time needed...  It is just a tough time to be an Auburn Tiger.  There is really not much else to say about another season to forget outside Carnell William's inspiration.  It now all comes down to who Auburn selects to be the next head coach of the Tigers. 

Auburn will face this final exam next season and it already looks decided as well.  The only question right now appears to be how much progress will this program have made before then?

GAME 11 REVIEW: Top Of The Hill

Auburn 41  Western Kentucky 17.  Auburn led by interim head coach Carnell Williams played well for the third week in a row and finally ground down the Hilltoppers in the second half of this game.  Again in this game there was a definite difference in how Auburn played as compared to the first two non-conference games against Mercer and San Jose State.  The difference on offense was commitment to the run game and putting the ball in the hands of the best playmakers.  The difference on defense appears to be continuing to let them play a lot more aggressive.  The Tigers started slow and Western Kentucky is no slouch but you just did not see any lack of fight.  Carnell Williams regardless of what happens next week in Tuscaloosa has done literally the best job possible with this team and the program as a whole since he took it over.  I sure hope he is able to stay at Auburn in some capacity.

Carnell addressed the coaching search looming over him while he pours himself into this team after the game.  He said one of the most profound things I have heard in a long time.   He said "my seat does not dictate my service."  Please read that again: "MY SEAT DOES NOT DICTATE MY SERVICE."  How many times have all of us been in situations where we could serve or serve more but decide not to because we are in an undeserved bad situation or dealing with a person we do not deem worth our time?  We, shoot I, need to remember "my seat does not dictate my service."  I have learned more from Carnell Williams in the last month than I would have ever believed.  He is simply an amazing person with real maturity.  He is someone I would want coaching my kids.  He is a light in an increasingly dark world.  I cannot remember anyone whether in church or anywhere else focusing on serving others like Carnell has the last month.

I agree that Carnell does not have hardly any coaching experience much less head coaching experience at this level but Auburn could sure do a lot worse than this man.  In one way I really want him there but as I wrote last week I do not want to see him eventually become the villian.  I do not want to watch him get fired like pretty much every other head coach does at big time football schools.  I want him to stay at Auburn as an assistant but he has proven he can make a huge impact as a head coach.  I hope he gets a chance to go and change lives and help kids like he has done the last month at Auburn.  I also hope that some way and some how Auburn is able to navigate this whole process and treat Carnell right.  He loves Auburn and it has shown for the last month.  I do not want anything to happen to sour what he has done for Auburn over his entire career.  I do not think you can underestimate how important it has been.

Unfortunately as I said in an earlier post, sports are unforgiving.  They are not movie scripts.  You just do not get the storybook ending and I do not think Carnell is going to get one this next week.  This Auburn football team has some very good players but it is just not very good overall as you can still see each week.  David Ashford appears to be a great person and fights his butt off however he is an abysmal quarterback.  He just cannot even hit easy passes consistently.  He is really bad.  The same is still true of his offensive line.  Bama is good enough to shut down the Auburn run game especially with no passing game.  I fear that even with Auburn's rekindled spirit that this is going to be a bad one.  This game is a lot more important to Bama this season and Auburn has been beaten badly every time in Tuscaloosa for over a decade now.  Auburn's poor recruiting is about to be highlighted again in their annual final exam.

The bright spot I guess is that Auburn coaching search should end shortly after this game.  Of course depending on the choice it might not be a bright sport but the last straw in a decade of bad choices by Auburn University.  I was going to give some opinions on various candidates but that seems like a waste of time.  I want to wait and just post my opinion on the actual choice as it could be one of the most important decisions ever made in the history of the Auburn football program.  This new coach will inherit the worst Auburn roster since Shug Jordan took over in 1951.  He will have to rebuild it in the toughest recruiting environment any Auburn head coach has ever seen.  He will have to do this with Auburn's two biggest rivals currently considered the two best programs in the country.  He will have to do this now with paying players legal and every football school desperate to get those players.

I guess this whole dark climate that seems to pervade everything is what has made this last month with Cadillac so special.  As a school you have to establish core values, ethics you are committed to living by even when somebody else does not.  For example, sportsmanship matters at all levels.  That was proven again this week when two schools learned that "what goes around comes around".  Last week both Tennessee and Florida punched in late touchdowns when they were far ahead.  I understand continuing to run your offense with subs in and all that but when you have a huge lead and less than two minutes remain you shut it down.  You do not beat a man when he is down, you do not needlessly rub it in.  You live by what we teach our kids about right and wrong.  These two great up-and-coming coaches decided to ignore that advice...

These two coaches got their late touchdowns rubbing it in on their beaten opponents.  They were the toast of the highlights last week.  However as I mentioned earlier that kind of garbage usually comes back to bite you and man did it ever this week.  You usually do not see it come around quite this soon and this clear but this time you did.  South Carolina (who Florida rubbed it in on) also got that 60 points Tennessee was so desperate to get last week and stomped the Vols 63-38 eliminating them from the playoffs.  Florida and their know-it-all new coach Billy Napier went down to Vanderbilt which is always considered a disaster by any SEC team.  These two guys were sure patting themselves on the back last week as they both ran it up on other teams but not so much this week.

Thank you Cadillac for all that you have done for Auburn and taught all of us this past month.

GAME 10 REVIEW: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

Auburn 13  Texas A&M 10.  After the tumultuous 2003 season for Auburn that included big losses and the "Jetgate" scandal it was widely believed that many of the best players would leave for the NFL draft.  That group of players included Auburn's best running back and their biggest star in Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.   Carnell did not end up leaving and neither did many others following his lead.  Carnell had a lot of good reasons to leave.  He got hurt in 2001 and 2002 while the team's 2003 season was ruined by bad coaching.  In fact looking back there sure seems like there were a lot more reasons to leave than to stay.  However Carnell and so many others did come back and played a big role saving the Auburn program then as 2004 became one of the greatest seasons in Auburn football history.  Carnell returned to Auburn in 2019 as the Tiger's running back coach and last night maybe helped save the program again as he led his alma mater to a special win as the head coach.

I said it last week and I will say it again this week, what Carnell Williams has done in just two weeks as coach is simply amazing.  As I said last week I have seen the worst teams in Auburn's modern history in 1980, 1998, 2008, and 2012.  This team looked exactly the same after a mediocre at best Arkansas team destroyed Auburn at home just three weeks ago.  This team was DEAD and the entire climate around the program was TOXIC.  Carnell turned all that around in less than two weeks.  He got this team off the mat and while they are not that good and mistake prone they have fought their butts off.  They should have won last week and got the win this week.  And the climate around the program?  Watch the videos of Jordan Hare Stadium last night.  It is simply unbelievable, Auburn students and alumni and fans came out and rocked that stadium like the SEC title was on the line for an Auburn team that was was 3-6 and 1-5 in conference!!!

I will repeat something else I wrote last week, and that is the power of the "Auburn family" mentality that Carnell has talked about non-stop in every interview he has done.  Auburn screws it up a LOT but nobody comes together like Auburn.  A night last night just does not happen anywhere else but Auburn.  However any resurgence needs a catalyst and I do not think anyone else could have done other than Carnell.  He has displayed his faith in a true and authentic way.  He  has done things that coaches do not do especially since the $aban model was established.  He has talked about his vulnerability, he has talked about serving, he has talked about him and his coaching staff pouring themselves into these players.  Is he crazy?  Does he not understand that the only thing that matters about college football is getting these players ready for the pros?  No one can get anything out of a losing season!

Carnell and this coaching staff have refused to give up on this team and it resulted in a special win last night.  Yes this team is definitely not very good and Texas A&M is even worse but it still mattered.  It mattered to everyone that is a part of this Auburn football team.  It mattered to get a win at home with a great crowd.  This was one of those times when you just enjoy winning the game even if the season has been a disappointment.  On a cold and windy night the Auburn collective team and family led by Carnell showed what Carnell joyously uttered after it was over...  "Auburn ain't dead yet".  Hopefully the large number of recruits at the game and the others that were watching understand that and also understand Carnell's initial recruiting slogan and that is that Auburn is "where dreams come true".  Auburn truly needs "a few good men" and hopefully Carnell is not only saving Auburn's present but its future as well.

The job Carnell has done obviously begs the question of whether he should be considered for the job going forward?  I would love to say yes but have just been around for too long.  I know the truth of that famous statement uttered in one of my favorite movies and it is "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian."  It is true and I do not want to see Carnell go through it because no matter how good a person he is things will get ugly for any big time college football coach that does not win.  Almost no coaches go out on good terms anymore and it would be no different here. Also Carnell has only been involved in college football coaching since 2019.  He has the leadership to do what he has done this season but I do not think he has the experience to lead the program out of this dark place in the long term.  I could certainly be wrong but I just do not want to find out.

There is a lot to talk about regarding Auburn football like the new athletic director and the coaching search but I just do not feel like this post is the right time to talk about it.  I think this weekend it is just time to enjoy this win and the atmosphere that surrounded it.  Hopefully it will continue next week against Western Kentucky and hopefully there will not be that dreaded let down after a big win that really hurt a lot of other teams around the country this week.  This coming week and next week the coaching search talk will heat up as this hire needs to made as quickly as possible after the end of the season.  The road ahead for Auburn still looks dark and there is a lot of uncertainty but for one night we got to enjoy a big win and remember again why it is great to be an Auburn Tiger. 

GAME 9 REVIEW: NEAR MISS

Mississippi State 39  Auburn 33.  First I apologize for the late post, I have been juggling a lot this past week and I dropped the ball on a game review I was actually excited to write.  I am going to handle the previous coach like the villian in the Harry P... books and refer to him as "he who must not be named".  I am glad that he is finally gone but still upset it was not done a LOT sooner.  There was absolutely no reason to wait this long and firing him had nothing to do with hiring a new AD.  I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled to see Auburn legend and current assistant coach Carnell "Cadillac" Williams named the interim coach.  However the Auburn administration absolutely screwed him over by not firing you know who at the bye week to give Carnell at least two weeks to prepare and a home game to start.  It is just sheer Auburn stupidity and even though it is water under the bridge I am still mad about it.

I will give a modicum of credit for the administration at least being smart enough to name Carnell the interim head coach and the job he did in just a few days for this game was evidence of that fact.  His hard work, maturity, and unswerving positive attitude gave Auburn a chance to win a game they would have lost by two touchdowns at least under the previous head coach.  Carnell started in a place long forgotten in our current society and certainly in big time sports.  He started by immediately showing love for these players who we had all written off.  He told them and showed his support for them all week and encouraged them to "serve and believe" in each other.  I have seen and done a lot of coaching in my life but the work Carnell did leading this team into this past game is nothing short of amazing.

Of course it did not seem amazing when shortly before half Auburn went down 24-3.  It sure looked like Carnell did not make any difference.  It looked like the pit of misery Auburn has been in was even deeper than I thought.  I had just felt since I listened to Carnell's press conference after being named interim head coach that something special was going to happen.  That just seemed like wishful thinking in the first half.  Like most comebacks though, something small but key happened right before halftime and in this game it was Auburn driving 50 yards and Anders Carlson actually making a field goal.  That in and of itself has become amazing.  It is obvious that Carlson has not recovered well from his knee injury last season because he is just not very good right now.  His kickoffs were pretty much the biggest factor in Auburn losing this game.  I am not sure why we cannot use somebody else for kickoffs?

However Carlson did make the one before halftime and started the most unlikely of comebacks and Auburn went into halftime 24-6.  Carnell went into halftime and once again reiterated how much he believed in these players and continued to ask them to "serve and believe".  He also reiterated that Auburn would not be quitting and the players responded.  Carnell stated after the game the players told him: "Coach we got you.  Nobody's quitting.  We're going to continue to serve.  We're going to continue to bleed.  We're going to continue to fight."  The difference one man can make is amazing to me.  The difference one great leader can make.  One week earlier these same Auburn players had completely lost their heart and their belief as Arkansas mauled them on their home field.  One week later against a better team (State beat Arky 40-17) these same players came back from a 24-3 deficit on the road.

I do not think I have ever seen a team with a bad record and a season like this EVER come back like this.  Auburn had not come back from a deficit like this since the "Camback" in Tuscaloosa in 2010 but that was a great team.  This team was being rightfully compared to the worst modern Auburn teams.  Those teams never came back in a game like this.  The power of one man who stood in the gap.  Auburn actually punted after getting the ball first in the third quarter but the defense rose up and stopped State.  Auburn then took it in for a touchdown but missed the conversion, 24-12.  Auburn then intercepted State but had to punt.  It was not following the perfect script but they kept fighting.  The defense playing their best game of the season forced another punt from State.  Auburn then took it in for another touchdown.  It was now 24-19 and Auburn fans across this region knew they were seeing something special.

The defense stopped State AGAIN.  I cannot say enough about the effort of this defense after so many bad games.  However Auburn punted AGAIN but the defense stopped State AGAIN and then Auburn had to punt AGAIN but then...  the defense stopped State for the third possession in a row.  The offense then finally broke through to give Auburn the lead, 25-24.  It did not matter what Auburn's record was, this team had just done something absolutely incredible.  It was not going to come easily as State stormed back down the field and immediately got the lead back 30-25.  The fire had been lit though and Auburn would not be denied as they answered immediately with a touchdown and a two point conversion to make it 33-30 with under three minutes left in the game.  This is how the game and the story should have ended on this night.  I believed it would happen but it did not.

I have learned one thing playing, coaching, and watching sports over my 53 years on this earth and that is that sports are unforgiving.  They are not a scripted movie and most of the time they do not turn out like you think or hope.  This was one of those nights.  Auburn messed up the kickoff and got a facemask penalty which was the only thing I really got mad at on this night.  State got the ball at midfield and easily got the ball in close enough to tie the game on a field goal.  Auburn would then lose in overtime.  It did not seem fair or right but again sports are unforgiving.  I could not believe Auburn had lost this game, a game they seemed literally destined to win.  It seemed like these guys deserved it, that Carnell and this staff deserved it, that all these suffering fans deserved it...  I guess all of us did not but these players proved something to themselves and everyone else this night.  It hurt though, man it hurt.

It is doubly painful when you come down from the high of the comeback to the reality everyone Auburn has faced all season.  That reality is Auburn's offensive line is about the worst in the conference and even worse than that they literally do not even have the players at this time to field an offensive line next season.  It is painfully obvious that you cannot transfer a whole team in and 2023 will be worse than this season.  Auburn does not have many good players but the few they have are pretty much all gone after this season.  Many that are coming back are just not good enough.  Quarterback Robby Ashford is a tremendous athlete and playmaker but he is about the worst passer I have ever seen.  He simply cannot drop back, make a read, and deliver the ball.  He is not the answer at quarterback for Auburn.  He looks like a great person and you have seen all season how much it means to him but he cannot pass.

Auburn faces a long dark road back to championship competition but at least for the first time in a long time we have the right man as head coach to start this process.  It starts with serving and believing in each other and while the road maybe long and dark there will be a few bright moments like the comeback this past weekend.  I hope there will be one this coming weekend as Carnell "Cadillac" Williams leads Auburn against Texas A&M in his first game as Auburn's head coach in Jordan Hare Stadium, the place he used to go "crazy" in.  It is already a dead sellout.  There has been a buzz in the air ever since the State game ended in a game Auburn comes into 3-6 and 1-5 in conference.  THAT is the power of the "Auburn family" mentality that Carnell has talked about non-stop in every interview he has done.  Auburn screws it up a LOT but nobody comes together like Auburn.  GO CRAZY CADILLAC GO CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!

GAME 8 REVIEW: Just another week at Auburn

 Arkansas 41  Auburn 27.  OK well after a bye week the Auburn Tiger football program is back on track!  Auburn has a long checklist to work off each week and the bye week really threw things off.  There were just several things that did not get done last week.  Luckily though Auburn just has some really great leadership in their silent new president and on to their interim powerless AD and then onto head football coach Bryan "I do it my way" Harsin and his awesome staff of assistant coaches.  I mean some schools do not have good football programs but they never really bottom out or come in last.  However NOT AUBURN, at Auburn we do things RIGHT and now that we have decided to absolutely NUKE our football program, we are going to GET IT DONE.  To the checklist!

• School president does not do or say anything about the critically injured football program and should care nothing about upset alumni, boosters, fans, or local businesses.  CHECK!
• School AD whether interim or just incompetent (as has been the case for as long as I can remember!) does not do or say anything either, in fact he was quoted this week as saying that he is "having a blast!".  He or she also should act like other minor sports are as important as football.  CHECK!
• School head football coach should continue to act like he is doing his job, i.e. a stupid radio show, going to dumb events, and acting like Auburn football is not a smoldering ruin in various press conferences throughout the week.  CHECK!
• School head football coach should get on said radio show and talk about his previous meaningless school that somehow had success with him as coach and he should act like he is good friends and behind the success of a few of their only good players.  CHECK!
• School head football coach should continue to talk like he cares or wants to recruit good players to come to school but then really do absolutely nothing.  CHECK!
• No impact recruiting commitments.  CHECK!
• School head football coach should give ultimatum to waste a year of eligibility or quit to all unhurt players who want to redshirt since they are not playing much or at all.  CHECK!
• Head coach and assistant coaches should only go through the motions for another week of PRACTICE like they have done for an entire year but not really change ANYTHING for the better.  CHECK!
• Head coach and assistant coaches should go through the motions on game day as if the team could actually beat anybody any good.  CHECK!
• The team should show a little "fight" but still lose by a large embarrassing margin.  CHECK!

Thank you Auburn leadership.  My first three years at Auburn were and still are the most successful three years in Auburn history (1987-89 and three SEC titles) and in those years and since we spent a lot of time CARING about the program and EXPECTING to compete for championships.  You knew better blessed Auburn leadership though, you knew that we would be better off without all that stress.  Now since the football program has cratered and has not recruited well for years we do not have that stress anymore!  We are going to be even worse next year!  There will be no more worrying about championships or bowl games any more or maybe ever again.  Hey maybe we can just get rid of the football program all together since it just causes all this nasty stress?  I am getting ahead of myself though, there is still work to be done!  We have another four weeks to check off!

GAME 7 REVIEW: LIMBO

Ole Miss 48  Auburn 34.  I apologize for the late post.  First I was waiting and hoping I would be able to write about the firing of Auburn head football coach Bryan Harsin.  However it was apparent by late Sunday it was just not going to happen.  After that expected result did not happen I honestly did not know what to write about???  How many ways can I say that Harsin and his staff are simply terrible coaches.  They cannot coach, they cannot recruit, they cannot build relationships, and on and on it goes...  Yes Auburn finally ran the football well against an average to below average Ole Miss defense that had a big lead and has a lightning quick offense.  Those defenses are usually like that.  Also the Auburn players on certain units rise up and play well sporadically basically in spite of their coaches in my opinion.  This week is was the running game. 

You know you have hit ROCK BOTTOM when all the Auburn sites go crazy that we played hard and made it close at certain times against OLE MISS.  Boy those gutsy little Auburn Tigers sure play hard regardless of the fact they lose every week!  GIVE ME A ****ING BREAK.  This is one of the worst Auburn football teams in modern history and things are poised to get much much worse.  This team is terrible but just about every good player at every position is LEAVING after this season (!!!!!!).  Add to that fact we are apparently giving up on recruiting this year solely depending on getting a teams worth of semi-good players in the transfer portal that oh want to come play on the Titanic.  As I said in an earlier post I think it is a HUGE MISTAKE not getting rid of Harsin this week.  He is literally killing the program.  I do not think Auburn faced as bad a situation as this in 1998, 2008, or 2012. 

Auburn is not only going to lose most of the football team and their recruiting is as bad as I have ever seen it but Auburn fans are finding better things to do on Saturdays.  They are losing the rank and file support by dragging this on.  Many people think this is not a big deal and things will bounce back like they always do but I disagree.  I keep reading Auburn can bounce back quick.  I disagree.  I think a lot of people do not appreciate how bad things are as in the way the whole team is stacked.  In those other years you had horrific seasons but you had some talent returning and the program had not eroded as much and for as long.  The program eroded quickly and badly under former coach Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin has made it much much worse.  

People, we will basically only have maybe one or two scholarship offensive linemen on the team at the end of this season.  Most of the defensive line is gone.  The linebackers will be much worse.  That in turn will make everything bad.  Auburn is in DEEP SH*T after this season and nobody is doing anything about it!!!  This is not going to be a quick turnaround where we grab all these great players out of the portal!  Give me a break!  I will believe it when I see it.  Everybody is raving about Tennessee but many Auburn fans seem to forget how long it has taken for Tennessee to get back facing these SAME PROBLEMS.  The barely beat Bama for the first time in 15 YEARS.  Of course I wonder if they have figured out that they have to beat Bama AND Georgia just to get to the SECCG... where they have to beat Bama AGAIN.  That is either not going to happen or they will feel like the 2017 Auburn team.

I have been an Auburn fan all my life, I graduated from Auburn, my parents graduated from Auburn, my brother graduated from Auburn, my oldest son graduated from Auburn...  I am an Auburn guy but I have had about all I can take of bad leadership at this institution and simply do not know how much more I can take.  I know I cannot take much more.  It is just one stupid decision after another.  Before I was even old enough to be a fan the stupid leadership bungled the transition from Coach Jordan to Doug Barfield.  They then basically only got lucky to get Pat Dye as they almost had an over-the-hill Vince Dooley ready to come.  Auburn then gave Terry Bowden a huge extension... and then fired him.  They then would do the same thing with Tommy Tuberville, Gene Chizik AND Gus Malzahn.  

I mean HOW STUPID AN ORGANZIATION DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES???  Auburn hit a new low promoting a complete buffoon in Jay Jacobs to athletic director where he made mistake after mistake after mistake...  He ran off the most successful coach in state history by far in swim coach David Marsh, he signed this albatross of a deal with Under Armor, he helped Mississippi State get their cowbells back (a school who has tried to stick a knife in Auburn's back time and time again), he helped the SEC screw us by changing the 100 year old rotation of Bama or Georgia being a home game each season, and on and on it goes...  They then replace Jacobs with a completely unqualified Allen Greene who then slashes the budget turning literally every coach at Auburn against him and then follows that up with hiring Harsin.

That brings us to the idiots who keep hiring the bad athletic directors!  Starting with the turn of the new century Auburn has had the following geniuses as president:  William "Jetgate" Walker, Ed "I hired Jay Jacobs" Richardson, Jay "I have never done anything proactive in my life" Gogue, Steven "I helped give Gus Malzahn 50 million dollars and tried to fire Bruce Pearl" Leath, and that was followed by more Gogue who was also part of hiring Harsin.  We now have Chris "I somehow need more time before firing the worst coach in modern Auburn history" Roberts.  Add to this all of the supposed shenanigans by powerful Auburn boosters and I have literally reached my breaking point.  Of course these boosters supposed power and interference have now reached such mythical levels that we might be able to pin JFK on them as well. 

So to conclude I am not sure how I am going to get through the rest of this season.  Auburn might luck up and win a game or two or it might not.  Either way NOBODY wants to watch Bryan Harsin flounder around anymore.  "PAY THAT MAN HIS MONEY".  It might not make much difference but it will bring at least a modicum of peace to me and many Auburn fans and show that the current administration at least has a clue.  I am hearing the next personnel event at Auburn will be hiring the next athletic director.  If this person has the sense to get in out of the rain he or she will be ahead of the last two.  All I can say is this better be at least a decent hire.  That answer to that question will also answer the same question about Auburn president Chris Roberts.

GAME 6 REVIEW: KNOCK OUT

Georgia 42  Auburn 10.  I wrote last week that I thought the knock out blow was coming this week and as this post is titled it did but it did not come like I expected.  I think most people including myself expected Georgia to jump on Auburn like a young Mike Tyson liked to go after his opponents.  However it did not happen like that.  Coach Kirby Smart and his staff were too smart to be over aggressive like LSU was against Auburn.  The Georgia Bulldogs were patient and just waited for Auburn to make a stupid mistake (which they did), to turn the ball over (which they did), and finally to wear down (which they did).  The Georgia coaching staff got exactly what they thought they would get and that equaled more of a boxing match where one guy makes some mistakes, gets worn down, and then gets knocked out late.  That is what happened to Auburn on Saturday.

Auburn is Vanderbilt now or worse.  There are only a few talented players, no offensive line, and literally no chance or expectation of winning.  The only difference in Auburn and the traditional loser Vanderbilt team is Vandy never had a coach as bad as Bryan Harsin.  He is literally the worst coach I have ever watched in my life.  He is a terrible coach, he is a terrible recruiter, and he is terrible with people altogether.  As an Auburn graduate and someone who has watched over 40 years of Auburn football I am literally praying he is fired next week before the open week.  Multiple rumors this week have indicated that he might be kept on for the rest of the season and if that is true then the people running Auburn are as stupid as they have ever been and we will most likely make another bad coaching hire and Auburn might not be any good for the rest of my life. 

I understand waiting to the open week but I cannot understand waiting beyond that.  Again it would be another huge mistake by Auburn's decision makers, just another in a long line of mistakes that brought this once proud program to this point.  Old timers point to all the times Auburn has come back quickly but times have changed, a lot.  There will be no quick turnaround this time.  It will take years of coaches and support staff grinding harder than anyone in the country recruiting for Auburn to have any chance of coming back in the next decade.  I doubt seriously at this point Auburn can find the person who can lead that kind of effort and even if they did I doubt they would be smart enough to hire them.  I do not envy the next coaching staff and all their support people.  Again in this day and age finding people who will work that hard does not seem likely or maybe even possible.

We are beyond breaking down another awful game or even complaining about an offensive line that is the worst in school history.  The only thing that matters now is finding someone that will lead this charge in recruiting.  Some one who believes with everything they have in that line from the Auburn Creed:  "I BELIEVE IN WORK, HARD WORK."  This process must begin with Bryan Harsin being fired immediately after the Ole Miss loss next week.  In the words from a great movie... "Not tomorrow!  Not after breakfast!  NOW!!!".  I do not want to hear about the possible difficulties within the coaching infrastructure if Harsin and even some of his Boise guys are fired.  IT CANNOT BE ANY WORSE.  As I read this morning Auburn people need to see some action and it better happen next week.  The leadership will lose overall support and any remaining recruits if Harsin is not fired next week.  THIS HAS GOT TO END AND SOON.

I guess there is a small chance that Ole Miss could screw it up and somehow manage to lose to Auburn.  That would in my opinion cause incalculable damage to Auburn which means it will probably happen.  I doubt it but we are talking about the missus.  Auburn's second half woes started in the Ole Miss game last season and the Tigers gave Lane Kiffin's boys every chance to come back like State did in that second half.  However Lane Kiffin kept "harsining" it up by going for stupid 4th downs and blew any chance at a come back.  Speaking of Kiffin, I am going to refrain from opinions on possible candidates till Harsin is gone.  The only thing that matters to start is him being removed from this football program.  Am I cheering for Auburn to lose?  I guess almost but it is only because I believe 100% the best thing for Auburn is firing Bryan Harsin yesterday.  

I feel sorry for the players that are caught up in this mess but that is life and is just part of it sometimes. However if the administration will just get rid of Harsin several good things could happen and help these players and Auburn people.  First the team might could rise up and actually win a game.  Second it would help recruiting a little bit by the hope of change.  Finally it could be a historic hire and we could see an Auburn man as head coach for the first time since Shug Jordan.  Case in point, Auburn played a lot better when Bill Oliver took over for Terry Bowden in the middle of the season.  It might not have ended up mattering much but it definitely helped Auburn players and people get through that season.  Again I think it is harmful to the players and the program to keep Harsin all season. 

That is the bottom line as I see it today.  As for the rest of the SEC, yes Bama almost lost like Georgia almost lost last week but unfortunately "almost lost" is not actually losing.  Right now the only team that looks like it has a legitimate chance of beating one or both of those teams is Tennessee.  Go Vols.  I just hope I am writing this post next week with a huge surge of relief that Bryan Harsin is no longer a part of the Auburn football program.

GAME 5 REVIEW: THE LAST STAND

LSU 21  Auburn 17.  I have to say that I was impressed with the way Auburn came out playing in this game.  They came out breathing fire.  I will give at least that much credit to the coaching staff and give some credit for finally changing parts of the game plan.  They did some good play-action passes and actually used the read option with Robby Ashford.  Also the defense was much better as well.  I also give a lot of credit to Missouri for how they played yesterday as well but I still think LSU is a better team than Missouri.  An Auburn team pretty much completely given up for dead definitely should have beaten LSU.  I have to say I was pretty speechless for the first part of the game watching Auburn finally do something right and watching LSU just play stupid.  

Of course like Auburn's 17-0 lead the feeling did not last and Auburn managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again.  A Bryan Harsin coached Auburn team literally cannot score a touchdown in a second half... EVER.  I have watched football for over 40 years now and I just cannot believe some of the head scratching stupidity I see every week when Auburn plays.  I just do not know how you can coach as much as Harsin has and not understand some of the basics on how to win football games.  This guy has now blown a 28-3 lead, a 14-0 lead TWICE, and now a 17-0 lead in SEC play.  He just cannot seem to get it through his head that going for fourth down conversions when you have the lead is usually DUMB.  Of course 4th and 1 is one thing but 4th and 10???  

THE GOOD

As I mentioned Auburn came out initially looking very good on both sides of the ball.  Again I give Harsin and the boys credit but where has this been?  Uh why did you wait till the 5th game to do this?  I just do not get it...  but hey they did it.  The defense owned the line of scrimmage for the first time all season most of the game and that is against arguably the best team Auburn has played (???).  The offensive line even shined at times in this game (???).  Again if putting Brandon Council at center and putting in Alec Jackson plus whatever coaching they did made that big a difference uh again why not before now?  Finally Robby "I haven't played actual football in years" Ashford threw for 300 yards (!!!) and two touchdowns.  I mean WOW!  It was by far Auburn's best game all year yet...

THE BAD

The coaches still managed to somehow lose this game...  Auburn had three absolutely back breaking turnovers in Ashford's fumble, his last interception, and on a mind numbingly STUPID trick play.  Auburn had the 17-0 lead when Ashford was stripped of the ball because he was holding it too long and LSU took it in for a touchdown.  That completely changed the momentum in the game.  That is a rookie raw quarterback but that is also just bad coaching.  You get the ball out quick or throw it away with a lead.  Also in-between that fumble and the final interception, Harsin went for a 4th and 10 conversions at around the LSU 40 yard line and called a low percentage stupid play like last year against South Carolina.  He should have pinned a struggling LSU offense deep and made them drive the length of the field against a strong Auburn defense.  Instead he gave them good field position and LSU went down and scored the winning touchdown.

THE UGLY

To Auburn's credit the players did not go quietly into that good night after LSU took the lead.  I sure expected them to but they showed an incredible amount of guts and heart.  They bulled their way down the field embarking on a 13 play 65 yard drive that consumed almost seven minutes off the clock.  They had it second and goal at the LSU nine yard line.  There are so many things you can do with Ashford this close to the goal... and the Auburn offensive brain trust tries a reverse with the wide receiver throwing the ball (???).  Of course LSU blows it up and intercepts the ball to snuff Auburn's best chance at winning the game.  However Auburn had one more chance to win the game driving to the LSU 36 yard line before Ashford threw the ball a little behind his receiver and the LSU defensive back wrestled it away.  The Auburn players gave it everything and absolutely UGLY coaching lost the game.

AROUND THE SEC

Tennessee and Vandy were off while Florida and South Carolina played cupcakes.  The rest of the schedule was pretty good.  The big game was supposed to be Bama at Arkansas but of course even with losing quarterback Bryce Young for over half the game Bama still won big.  Mississippi State also won big over Texas A&M.  There is sure to be some real unrest around Aggie football now especially with Bama up next.  The rest of the games were nail biters with the biggest being Missouri's almost-upset of big bad Georgia.  The Bulldogs finally broke through but they were in some real danger in that game.  The next one might have been the most exciting game of the day with Ole Miss pulling out a win forcing a last second fumble while Kentucky was knocking on the door at the end of the game.

THE LAST WORD

Hope is running high in Knoxville and Oxford and a few other teams will have a say like Florida and Mississippi State but it still looks like it will just be Bama and Georgia again in the end.  Wake me up when someone actually beats them and not just makes it close.  I am SURE Georgia will look much better this week with Auburn coming into town.  The Tigers have played three tough games in a row and gave everything they had yesterday.  Meanwhile this game did used to be one of the best rivalries in the country and Georgia will be fired up looking to rebound.  I think the knock out blow many of us expected in the LSU game will be landed this coming Saturday in Athens.  Georgia has beaten Auburn soundly in every meeting since Auburn last won in 2017.  I am expecting something at least as bad as Georgia's 34-10 win in Auburn last season.  

Unfortunately as the title of this post states, I think Auburn's heroic effort against LSU was their last stand before this season really starts to unravel...

GAME 4 REVIEW: CLOWN SHOW

Auburn 17  Missouri 14.  I do not think I have ever watched a worse game of football than this one.  Acutally that is not true, Auburn's 3-2 win over State in 2008 was worse than this one.  However this game was as the title of this posts suggests a complete clown show.  I mean cue the circus music when you start showing the high... er lowlights of this absolute stinker of a game.  THIS is SEC football???  I just cannot adequately describe what I just got through watching.  The first thing I will say is Bryan Harsin needs to be fired and now but unfortunately I think all Auburn fans will have to wait three more weeks till the open week for this first step in Auburn's long and very uncertain road back from this abyss.  

I think it would have happened today but Missouri's coaching and player ineptness actually ended up exceeding Harsin and Auburn AND THAT IS REALLY SAYING SOMETHING.  Who jumps offiside TWICE on critical field goal attempts? Who misses an extra length field goal to win the game?  Who fumbles the ball out of the end zone when you would have had first down at the one yard line?  Missouri is a truly horrible team and if I was a fan would want Eli Drinkwitz fired too.  Missouri is a badly coached team, a very badly coached team.  All of those idiotic mistakes are on the coaches.  It is impossible to respect either of these million dollar coaches after watching this game today.

THE GOOD

The Auburn students and the fan base overall has really turned out this season to help the Tigers.  Fan support might erode after the bludgeonings to come but the students and the fans did not let an offseason of discontent stop them from them doing everything they could to give this team a good start.  That is the "Auburn Family", not millionaire meddlers or most of the idiots that inhabit the pay site forums.  It is the families that are taking their kids to games like mine did for me and in turned helped me do with my kids.  Anyway even with their two biggest rivals ruling college football Auburn fans still support their team.  I had my Auburn shirt on the day of the Penn State game last week and on the Sunday after.  I had plenty of company as well.  When recruiting a new coach, this is not a point that can be undersold.

THE BAD

This space is usually reserved for the offense or the defense or the coaching of those units but not this time.  Auburn kicker Anders Carlson was just bad today.  Carlson came in with a huge amount of promise and has hit some big kicks for Auburn but since Harsin arrived he has just seemed to get worse.  I am not sure how coaching effects established kickers so I am not blaming Harsin I do not think.  I also know he got hurt at the end of last season but he missed some head scratching kicks before that.  Today I will allow the one kick he missed but then he gets another chance and misses again???  What???  He then has to kick an all-important field goal in overtime and misses AGAIN!  Luckily Missouri is brain dead and gives him another chance again and he at least made the most of that second chance and made the game-winning kick.  However he basically had three missed kicks and that is really bad.

THE UGLY

Even with what I just wrote about Carlson above, Coach Bryan Harsin's decision to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Missouri 29 yard line with a minute and a half left in a game with a tie score is unbelievably stupid.  Auburn had been stuffed at the line of scrimmage the entire second half.  Carson even with his troubles was the only choice.  It is almost to the point where many people including myself are wondering if the guy is just tanking now to get fired.  I think the fact that many people are asking that question says that Harsin is either a really bad coach or worse he is a really bad person.  Either way things have just gotten ugly with this guy.  

I almost think Auburn would be better off if they had lost the game but no the players and the fans who went all the way to see the game deserve something good to happen this season.  There sure will not be anything else good happening this season.  Unfortunately though everyone will now have to watch Harsin's bad coaching and him be a statue on the sidelines for probably three more games.  Personally I am just so ready for this guy to be gone and I think it would be best for Auburn.  Again as I have said several times in these posts, I cannot name one thing I think Harsin has done well or even made better at Auburn.  Again I do not know how this guy won at Boise State, regardless it is time for Harsin to go.

I will also say that Auburn is certainly not pulling the trigger too early either as I am sure they will be accused of.  Here is a fact, Auburn has still NEVER fired a head football coach too soon. Doug Barfield got 5 seasons went 0-6 in the SEC and he was fired.  Terry Bowden got 6 seasons, had Auburn's worst recruiting season ever, went 3-8 and 1-7 in the SEC, and was fired.  Tommy Tuberville got 9 seasons and went 2-6 and lost to Bama 36-0 and was clearly done and was fired.  Gene Chizik went 0-8 in the SEC turning in the worst season in Auburn history and was fired.  Gus Malzahn got 8 seasons and stopped recruiting linemen and was fired.  Bryan Harsin will get less than two seasons but he has been terrible on the field and a disaster in recruiting.  Auburn would be in worse shape giving Harsin more time.

There is not much else to say today.  I will address the firing when it happens.  Unfortunately for everyone involved in Auburn football things are about to get very ugly on the field.  Auburn could conceivably lose every other game this season other than Western Kentucky by 30 POINTS or more.  Auburn winning this game today guaranteed the season cannot be as bad record-wise as 2012 but unfortunately in many other ways it could be as bad and maybe even worse.

GAME 3 REVIEW: ON THE LINE

Penn State 41  Auburn 12.  In November of 2017 Auburn did what I believe has never been done before, they beat the #1 team in the country twice in the space of three weeks.  These teams were not only #1 but they ended up facing each other in the national championship game.  Auburn absolutely pounded the Georgia Bulldogs 40-17 and then broke an almost 50 year curse of not being able to beat Bama by more than 10 points when they convincingly beat the Tide 26-14.  I am looking at a picture of my older son and I on the field with the scoreboard behind us after that game.  Auburn was on top of the world at that moment.  The Tigers were as talented at just about every position as anybody in the big bad SEC.  That shining moment lasted about a week...  till Georgia beat Auburn in the rematch in the SEC Championship game.  Things went downhill from there and have continued to go downhill other than one more brief magic moment beating Bama in 2019.  

The offensive linemen that played for the Tigers in 2017 included NFL players Braden Smith and Austin Golson plus true tackle Darius James and good guards Mike Horton and Marquel Harrell.  These were quality offensive linemen with most being pretty high rated.  Auburn also had freshman project Prince Tega Wanogho playing that year.  I just talked about the results.  Auburn was able to get those few brief bright moments in 2019 due to Prince Tega Wanogho actually growing into a very good tackle plus the miracle of UMass transfer Jack Driscoll somehow being an SEC quality tackle as well who played in the NFL.  The line was not super strong with those guys but they were good enough to get a few big wins.  The bottom has basically fallen out starting in 2020.  Auburn since 2017 has not been able to recruit any elite offensive linemen at all.  AT...  ALL.  That is what you saw this past Saturday against Penn State.

If you have read this blog at all then you know what is next...  I wrote this paragraph after the pathetic loss against Houston in the bowl game last season and I included it in both posts this season so far.  Well make it three and I will continue to put it in week after week because it is the truth.  

"The main fault for the low level of the Auburn football program lays at the feet of Gus Malzahn and his poor recruiting in the trenches especially the offensive line.  I mean no disrespect to the players that are working their butts off and want to succeed much more than I want them to but they... just... are... not... good... enough.  Auburn does not have even ONE decent SEC level offensive lineman now...  The poor recruiting on the offensive line has continued under Harsin...  AUBURN FOOTBALL WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL OFFENSIVE LINE RECRUTING IMPROVES A LOT PERIOD."  It is proven true every single game."

Auburn probably has the worst quarterbacks in the SEC but Tom Brady in his prime would be able to do NOTHING behind this line.  There is no way around it, there is no way to fix it other than hiring somebody who can recruit offensive linemen.  I am to the point where I think we should offer every single cent we have in the NIL coffers to the best left tackle in the country.  It is unbelievable how Auburn can be STUPID ENOUGH to pay Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin all this money and NEITHER OF THEM can recruit even ONE elite offensive linemen in the last FIVE YEARS.  This is pretty much true on the defensive side as well.  Malzahn's recruting just fell off a cliff after 2016 and then Harsin came in, saw the situation, and has not done a damn thing about it. 

There is just not much else to say.  AUBURN FOOTBALL WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL OFFENSIVE LINE RECRUTING IMPROVES A LOT PERIOD.  Yes the defense was awful Saturday but a good one will still not have won that game.  I will say the bad coaching is making things worse.  The Boise boys are obviously in completely over their heads and yes they need to be fired if Georgia and Ole Miss whip the Tigers before the open week regardless of what happens at Missouri.  I thought Bryan Harsin might be a good hire but I did not run the interviews and I am sorry I think I would changed my mind if I would have interviewed him.  In my real job some of my biggest mistakes were bad hires and I damn well learned to fix that process.  Somebody at Auburn needs to do the same.  Bryan Harsin is arrogant, aloof, and does not seem to care about Auburn at all.  He seems to only care about looking and being perceived a certain way.  I guess that precludes him from doing any actual coaching on game days, he seemingly just wants to stand there and be perceived as looking cool. 

I cannot see ONE thing Bryan Harsin has brought to the table at Auburn.  He is a bad coach and a bad recruiter.  Frankly I am wondering how he had any success in his career even if things are totally different at Boise.  This team is just badly coached, badly.  I think just about anyone could have coached Auburn to a win over South Carolina last year and the coaching in all three games this season has not been any better.  What do these guys do in spring and fall practice???   He is the worst football coach I have seen at Auburn and will be the only coach at Auburn since before 1950 that will leave Auburn with no winning seasons.  I mean I just do not think Auburn could have done any worse with this hire and now everyone is going to pay for it for a long time.

However that then points to Auburn horrendous leadership and they, ALL OF THEM, the president, the board, the AD, etc...  Every one in power at Auburn are culpable in the beyond awful decisions that have been made that has gotten us to this past Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and Jordan Hare was packed and on fire.  There were a ton of big time recruits at the game... just to watch Auburn turn in one of its all time worst performances at home.  What a colossal disaster.  People are talking about 2012, now I do not think a season could ever be worse than that one but if you are anywhere in the ball park it does not matter.  I believe Missouri might be the only team this team can beat in the SEC.  IF Auburn loses next week then it will be close to 2012.  

It is hard to write this and even harder to watch it and know that nothing is going to change at Auburn for a very long time.  There is no hope for the near future.  There will not be a 1993 or 2013 turnaround next year no matter who is hired.  Recruiting gets harder every year and so many teams have raided the state this season.  Auburn has the worst class in the SEC and that is after five years of bad recruiting on the lines.  Auburn first has to hire a good recruiter and then that guy is going to have to work for several years to just steady the ship.  If you doubt me then talk to a Tennessee fan, they have not beat Bama who they play every year since 2006.

I guess I will finish with my recommendation for Auburn's next head football coach.  How about a guy that was the "National Recruiter of the Year" in 2018 at a SEC school?  A guy that has served on the staff on one of the top teams in the country since 2016.  In fact he is part of the staff that built them into a national powerhouse and helped bring them a national championship.  He has recruited numerous five star players and then helped coach them into NFL stars.  He has served as assistant head coach and then run game coordinator for this team.  He played in the NFL and then wanted to become a coach.  He went to high school to start...

He developed Carver-Columbus High School in Georgia into a perennial powerhouse as they rattled off seven straight seasons with 10 or more wins, including a 15-0 season en route to the Georgia state title. In four of his last five years at the helm of the program, Carver advanced to the state semifinals. He posted an 88-19 overall record with a 21-6 mark in the playoffs, which included six region championships. He took over a Carver program in 2005 that had not had a winning season in the nine years previously and had never posted a double-digit win campaign in its 47-year history. He was named Georgia State Coach of the Year in 2007 and ’08.

He left Carver and was an analyst at an SEC school for a year before moving to Georgia Southern as an assistant coach and there he helped lead Georgia Southern to their first bowl win.  He was then hired by head coach Kirby Smart at his current school in 2016 which is the University of Georgia.  He has been a huge part of the unbelievable success at Georgia these last few years.  However did I mention that he played at a school in the SEC?  As a player he saw the lows and the highs at this school and was part of an undefeated season at this school.  He returned to that school in 2013 as an analyst for one year and was part of an SEC Championship.  The school he played at, graduated from, and served that one year as an analyst for was Auburn.  The man's name is Dell McGee and I think he should be our next head football coach.