According to 24/7 sports AU has had 46 signees under Malzahn. 24 were defensive players. The idea he's not recruiting defensive players is ignorant.
Ellis Johnson out at Auburn
- Thread starter AUDub
- Start date
There's a big difference between "not recruiting any players" and "not recruiting the best players", when it comes to the D.
From my vantage point I think CGM's downfall will be his arrogant attitude. I believe that he has had way too much success in too short s time. Success that most coaches simply spend an entire career trying to achieve.
I don't think firing a respected coach like Johnson will not without consequences or loss of respect for Gus. He has endeared himself to no one. He exploits the rules, berates officials, continually coaches standing in the field of play. You fire a respected DC 2 yrs in a respond then can't even address his situation respectfully in a post game PC, come on...
Somebody from the conference office needs issue the code red against him to check him up a bit and let him know how things are done in the conference.
While it didn't happen to the degree I wanted last night I was hoping that since Auburn was out of playoff contention that we would have seen them flagged more frequently for their ragged style of play but it didn't happen.
I don't think firing a respected coach like Johnson will not without consequences or loss of respect for Gus. He has endeared himself to no one. He exploits the rules, berates officials, continually coaches standing in the field of play. You fire a respected DC 2 yrs in a respond then can't even address his situation respectfully in a post game PC, come on...
Somebody from the conference office needs issue the code red against him to check him up a bit and let him know how things are done in the conference.
While it didn't happen to the degree I wanted last night I was hoping that since Auburn was out of playoff contention that we would have seen them flagged more frequently for their ragged style of play but it didn't happen.
Is it me, or are half the teams in the SEC trying to ditch their DC in order to pick up Muschamp?
As for us, I don't want Kirby to leave unless it is on his own terms, but this might be a decent year to go for a HC job. Nebraska would be a good option, although they may be gunning only for candidates with previous HC experience. If that happened, I think Muschamp would probably rank us higher than most other job opportunities given his history with Coach Saban.
As for us, I don't want Kirby to leave unless it is on his own terms, but this might be a decent year to go for a HC job. Nebraska would be a good option, although they may be gunning only for candidates with previous HC experience. If that happened, I think Muschamp would probably rank us higher than most other job opportunities given his history with Coach Saban.
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Lawson and Montravious Adams were among the top 25 players in the country as high school seniors. Gabe Wright was also on most everybody's list. Ellis Johson did OK at USC when he had a defensive line smeared with NFL talent. But he was only mediocre in Tuscaloosa and less than that at AU. Even with the hurry-up, Auburn can become much better on defense with the right hire.
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Wait, do you people seriously refer to CWM as 'Boom'? I get the reference, but really?
Here in Columbia USC fans are hoping Spurrier decides to enter the race for Muschamp’s services.
I suspect that is the best landing spot for him. He would be working for a coach who gives his DC complete autonomy to run the defense plus he would be working with a conventional offense that would not put his defenders at a disadvantage. Spurrier's kind remarks about CWM after Florida played USC were perhaps a little hint of them possibly working together.
On top of that Spurrier is going to be retiring before too long and he may have the 1st shot at the USC job at that time. CWM will not be getting the head coaching job at Auburn or likely Texas A&M if he is the DC at either school.
Couple of things you're overlooking here:
(1) Muschamp would encounter a pretty serious talent / quality depth problem at South Carolina. There are no Clowney / Ingram / Gilmore talents waiting in the wings there, and talent throughout the roster -- and particularly on the defensive side -- has declined in recent years. He'd face an uphill battle and be undermanned against many SEC opponents.
(2) Who is to say that Muschamp would actually want the South Carolina HC job? That's a big assumption, and no one really knows on his ideal / hopeful career path right now.
Lot of highly-recruited kids littering that defensive front seven for Auburn, no doubt about that, although the back end is a bit thin. Guys like Wright, Lawson, Adams, Frost, Owens, et al. could have gone anywhere in the country. Can't really say that Ellis Johnson had them really playing up to their potential, even if they played well enough in spurts.
Honestly don't know what to make of Auburn moving forward on the defensive side. Talent level is never going to drop all of that far, but at the same time how good can you really be defensively when that side of the ball is largely considered an afterthought? Truth of the matter is that Auburn hasn't been very good defensively since Tuberville left, so it's not like you can really lay the blame wholly at the feet of Johnson. It's fair to argue that they've got a lot deeper issues defensively than merely having a DC who aged past his prime. When you struggle on defense for six years and go through three defensive coordinators -- not to mention a HC who came up through the ranks as a DC -- you've got to ask yourself some serious questions that go far beyond the performance of just one person.
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I agree, with this caveat ... The 2010 Auburn defense, though statistically bad, played their best football in the second halves -- beating teams up as the game went on. Now whether that was technique, thuggery or a combination of both, the fact remains they physically overwhelmed opponents -- including LSU, Georgia, Oregon and us -- in the third and fourth quarters.
Lawson will be a star. His absence left Auburn without a pass rusher and opened up their defensive shortcomings to the entire universe.
Lawson will be a star. His absence left Auburn without a pass rusher and opened up their defensive shortcomings to the entire universe.
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From everything I've heard, I'd agree with this 100%. Houston Nutt, who I have about as much respect for as I do for Jimbo Fisher, and the rest of the Ark staff made Gus' life a living hell, ridiculing his input, constantly calling him "high school", etc. They hired GM to get the Springville guys and then treated him like dirt. Love or hate Gus, Nutt and his staff acted like smug jr. high school punks.
Yes I remember all of that fairly well and have always thought it was humorous that Gus has become very successful while Nutt has been fired twice and is no longer coaching. What an idiot Nutt was. He certainly lived up to his name.
I do agree to some extent, but I do think he will be able to get some talent on the defensive side of the ball going forward. I also think that Spurrier realizes he is short of talent on defense and will be patient enough to let him bring in some recruits and build from there. IMHO, USC would be more patient than say Florida was since the expectations there are not as high which would make it an attractive job.
Auburn is losing a good number of seniors on defense ( aren't Wright and Owens Seniors). Frost is a good LB and will make an impact for them. Mckinzy is good as well if not a little undersized. I am not real sure about their DB's, but just about anyone would be an upgrade. Therezie is good, but who else is there that would make them complete in the defense backfield. Also, Auburn offensive scheme tends to leave the defense in bad positions and tires them out when they inevitably have a few 3 and outs in a row.
Jess mentioned this in his wrapup post, and some of y'all have noted it here in this thread.
When your defense has to practice against a HUNH offense, and your coach treats defense as a necessary evil rather than a critical aspect of your game, almost no defensive coordinator is going to succeed unless he's a genius and is loaded with physical talent.
EJ was no genius, and the talent cupboard wasn't exactly well stocked. I remember during his stint at Bama during the Dubose years that Alabama was one of the worst tackling teams in the league, and that our guys were constantly out of position in the secondary. That should sound familiar to fans of every program he's been associated with.
I wouldn't even want him as a position coach, much less the architect of my defense.
When your defense has to practice against a HUNH offense, and your coach treats defense as a necessary evil rather than a critical aspect of your game, almost no defensive coordinator is going to succeed unless he's a genius and is loaded with physical talent.
EJ was no genius, and the talent cupboard wasn't exactly well stocked. I remember during his stint at Bama during the Dubose years that Alabama was one of the worst tackling teams in the league, and that our guys were constantly out of position in the secondary. That should sound familiar to fans of every program he's been associated with.
I wouldn't even want him as a position coach, much less the architect of my defense.
IIRC Johnson got the DC job at Alabama because he and Dubose were close friends and on the same staff as assistants @ USM. He was also on CGS staff at Alabama with Dubose for a couple of years. Never thought he was much of a coach, just knew people who could get him hired.
Yep. You nailed it.
I see a lot of parallels with how things went down with Tony Franklin in '08. We brought him in to install his variation of the air raid, but didn't let him bring any of his staff with him. Tub's BBQ gang resisted the change and got Tommy to turn on Franklin. He was fired mid season.
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