Blog: Breaking down the Gene Chizik hire

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Breaking down the Gene Chizik hire
December 14th, 2008 03:00 AM

If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago who I thought would be, from Alabama's standpoint, the best-scenario hire Auburn could make for its head coaching position, I would have given you two names: Patrick Nix and Gene Chizik.

Little did I know even one of them would ever have a chance of coming to Auburn; now, both of them might.

From an Auburn perspective, this hire makes no sense at all. Auburn forced Tommy Tuberville out -- if you believe Tuberville resigned completely on his own free will, you're very, very naive -- and then fouled up the situation even worse by failing to hit a home run.

For that matter, Auburn didn't just fail to hit a home run, didn't just strike out swinging at ball four -- the bat flew out of its hands and nailed a small child in the first row.

Auburn, mostly, was guilty of having too big an opinion of itself. Tommy Tuberville was an excellent coach for the level of football Auburn is capable of playing. Tuberville fielded a contender every recruiting cycle, had proven he could go undefeated in the SEC -- no easy feat at all -- and proved to be more than just a thorn in Alabama's side. That's why, when Auburn started moving to get rid of him, most Alabama fans quietly "begged" Auburn not to throw them in that briarpatch.

But if Auburn was hellbent on getting rid of Tuberville, the Tiger brass could have still saved face by upgrading to a better coach. Fail.

Auburn interviewed Turner Gill, who made this site's own "Coaches to Watch" list, and passed. It interviewed Gary Patterson of TCU, and either he or Auburn (most likely Patterson) passed. Auburn talked to Brady Hoke, who had just completed an undefeated regular season before losing to Gill's team; to Jim Grobe, long considered one of the best technical coaches in the game; and Paul Johnson, who is in the process of leading the flexbone revival at Georgia Tech.

Instead, Auburn chose Chizik, who burned bridges during his last exit at Auburn, who managed to get sideways of the law in Iowa when starting a team chaplain program (http://www.iowastatedaily.com/articl...25-archive.txt) much the same as the one Auburn has employed, and -- by the way -- just finished going 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State and is currently riding a 10-game losing streak.

Auburn must justify why it chose Chizik over Hoke, Gill, Johnson and others. It cannot hide from this -- but it will almost certainly try.

Auburn also interviewed Rodney Garner and Patrick Nix, two former players who spent 2008 as assistants at Georgia and Miami, respectively. Nix's name has been a part of every hot-seat rumor list imaginable, and Garner's gig at Georgia wasn't guaranteed. The interviews of those two coaches, coupled with word from some prospects that current assistant James Willis is staying on, possibly as defensive coordinator, and what you have is the makings of a recipe Alabama succeeded with in 1990 when then-Athletic Director Hootie Ingram crafted an assistant coaching staff for Gene Stallings.

Now, here's the difference: Chizik isn't Stallings, Auburn isn't Alabama and a lot of the coaches Ingram brought in were already wearing national championship rings. That's "RINGS." Plural.

And, Alabama didn't have Nick Saban sitting behind a desk in Lee County. Alabama was up against an aging, tiring Pat Dye. Auburn and Chizik get to deal with Saban in his prime, with recruiting going one way -- dead-due inbound into Tuscaloosa -- and the Crimson Tide coming off a 12-1 season and the darling of everyone.

There's really nothing about this that makes sense, not for any reasonable, logic-following person, anyway. What it does, is smell. It smells like a job that either no one wanted, or that Auburn's powers-that-be intended all along to fill with someone that would accept a ready-made staff. It would not be a surprise to see Garner and Nix sign up for duty in the next week or so.

Whatever Auburn's motives, the school ended its Saturday night squarely in the crosshairs of every national media outlet, and most of the regional and state ones, too.

Good luck. Alabama has been there, recently. It took the hiring of Nick Saban to fix things. Unfortunately for Auburn, Sabans don't come in twos.


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