Well, in fairness to Chizik, it was a big rebuilding job when he took over. Auburn was way down on scholarships, had a lot of attrition, poor coaching, not much top-end talent, and the in-state and in-conference competition was tougher than ever. The program was never going to be a quick fix.
2010 was just the ultimate anamoly. Everything came together perfect, like ten lighting strikes hitting the same spot simultaneously. Get the huge influx from the superstar QB, illegally or not, JUCO transfer blows up, get great injury fortunes, weak year across the country, bit of a down year for the conference, tons of luck in countless close games, you name it. Next thing you know you're 14-0 and holding a crystal ball. It was the ultimate powerball lottery ticket type of season, but it happened.
The issue for them and outsiders was that 2010 just threw off the baseline expectations tremendously. It's a national champion, but to the extent that they are viewed as a bona fide national championship program is just not accurate. It's very much a program undergoing a big rebuild, crystal ball or not. The luck in close games has played a part in that too. People don't believe the rebuild aspect when you go 8-5. Replace that with a couple of 5-7 seasons -- which would have more accurately reflected their actual performance in 2009 and 2011 -- and it's another story.
Now, I'm not sure Chizik has really done a great deal to make matters better. His assistants outside of Malzahn have been questionable at best, they've generally been fundamentally poor and very undisciplined as a team, and attrition and off-field problems have been severe. Recruiting has been much better, but they are recruiting a lot of character cases and arguably placing them in an environment which is highly conducive to triggering further problems, and that plays a big role in the continued attrition.
In any event, here they set four years later, and I think the reason they look so much like a rebuilding program is because they are a rebuilding program. He inherited a lot of issues four years ago, and he really hasn't done a lot to effectively address many of them. The question is just whether or not he can get it together now or if he's going to fizzle like Bowden did.