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.
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