Tennessee Volunteers / Auburn Tigers Head Football Coach Pop Quiz
by Hooper on Dec 13, 2008 5:56 PM EST
in Tennessee Volunteer Football
30 comments
Ok folks, it's decision time!
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Most baffling coaching hire in recent memory
I feel for AU fans and players. They fired a proven winner and seemed to have hired a proven loser.
by thebruceballblog on Dec 14, 2008 9:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
The combination of the two is mind-boggling.
Go Vols!
by Joel on Dec 14, 2008 12:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Devil's advocate
I think the firing of Fulmer + the hiring of Kiffen is nearly as baffling if you really want to get down to it. Their record is about the same: elite coordinators for teams that won national titles, failures in short stints as head coaches. The only real difference is Kiffen’s failure was in the NFL (for the Raiders no less), which people shrug their shoulders about it since other great college coaches have failed in the NFL. Whereas, this guy has been a failure in college.
Marketing counts I guess.
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2008 1:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
The thing is
The Raiders sucked before Kiffin went in there.
Everyone who had anything to say about Lane Kiffin said that he was doing a good job, that the failings of the Raiders was more due to Al Davis’s ineptitude.
Want a good sign about Kiffin? He didn’t want to draft a QB + RB, he wanted to build up the defense and O-Line.
by bobo_the_vol on Dec 14, 2008 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
You could say the same thing about Iowa State, by the way.
Dan McCarney led ISU to the best success they’ve had in the history of ever.
by Graysnail on Dec 14, 2008 4:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
2 seasons isn't far enough to make a decision on proven, at least in my opinion.
You can look at Chizik’s history with Auburn (prior to this) and the ‘05 Texas team. Granted, he was a DC with those teams, but either way, it’s not like he came from Buffalo to Iowa State or anything like that. I think everyone’s looking at the last two years and ignoring the body of work.
Of all the people to do that, we’re in that group?
by Graysnail on Dec 14, 2008 4:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I'm willing to give Chizik benefit of doubt until the Auburn games are played.
My big hangup on the Auburn hire is how inbred everything appears to be. From the way they finally got rid of Tuberville through the fiasco of a search process to the final decision, everything seemed to be run by a few very powerful individuals who wanted to increase their control over things in the sports program.
All in all, I’m far more comfortable with the way UT’s process went. As distasteful as the firing of a NC winning coach with the 2nd-most UT wins all-time was, it was a financial decision, not a grudge match. The hiring process made sense as well. We may have opinions on who the best candidate may have been, but at least it felt like Hamilton was judging the candidates on merit and their potential at Tennessee.
The closest analog I have for the Auburn search is the way Al Davis hires about every other coach: by looking for that guy who “looks like a Raider”.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 4:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Oh, Auburn made a mess of things, no doubt about it.
If the inbreeding continues to Patrick Nix the ridicule will be on; however, I was of the mind that Chizik was moving somewhere within a few years anyway. He just jumped up the line way faster than I expected.
The point I was trying to make here is that it seems like most people are going “omg lol 5-19” and not really looking beyond that.
by Graysnail on Dec 14, 2008 4:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I wonder if the 5-19 is being primarily used as a convenient representative of why so many Auburn fans seem unhappy. There are certainly a lot of good things in Chizik’s resume you can point to, but when you compare him to many of the other names that have been floated around (Gill and Leach, for example), it’s easy to see why hiring a guy that Iowa State was disappointed in would be something of a letdown.
It seems particularly poignant when it’s held in the context of the Tuberville runout.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 6:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Well, the problem is
Auburn had to knock it out of the park with the hire since Tuberville had as much success as he did. Ultimately, I think they were toast from the firing, because the guy they needed to get – really, I think they needed Leach or it was a sideways move – wasn’t going to leave TTU, for the same reasons I said a few months ago. (And if he thought our fanbase was nuts, there’s no way he’s coming near Auburn.) Anyone other than that wasn’t going to be worth it; Turner Gill, for all his success (and I’m not understating it here), operated in a league that I’d call “soft”. There’s nobody dominating it. (As a side note, this is why I think Paul Johnson and – yes – Brian Kelly have been able to find success so quickly; who’s going to stop them?) That pretty clearly isn’t the case in the SEC, so I think a guy with Gill’s resume would be in trouble, not because of what he’s done, but because of what everyone thinks he’s done, if that makes sense.
Honestly, I’d say Chizik’s probably a double in terms of a hire. The problem is they just got a guy picked off third, and there’s two outs.
by Graysnail on Dec 14, 2008 7:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Makes sense
and we’re in agreement regarding expectations. My jury is going to be out for a long time re: Chizik, but that’s mostly because I’m unfamiliar with him at anything other than a Wikipedia-worthy level.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 7:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Lane Kiffin was a good hire though
This whole thing with Gene Chizik is astonishing. Coming from an ALabama fan, I actually think Kiffin will do a good job at Tennessee. Heck I thought he was doing a good job with the Raiders. Oakland was awful when he got there, and he had less than two years to develop all the young talent they have brought in. Al Davis is an idiot for firing Kiffin. I think UT will do well under Kiffin, Auburn is going to be stuck in mediocrity. Oh well, who’s ready for the Third Saturday in October?
36-0
by Bamabrave4 on Dec 14, 2008 3:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm far more optimistic about Kiffin's chances than Chizik's.
As a Broncos fan, I was initially shocked by the Kiffin hire to Oakland. It just sounded like one of Davis’s kooky “gotta buck conventional wisdom” maneuvers. But despite the problems with player and staff personnel decisions that Kiffin had, he managed to get the players’ respect in quick order. The practice sessions were said to be very efficient and effective. And even when Davis let him go, you could see the foundations of a good team being laid. And after Kiffin was fired, some of the personnel decisions that were made were the ones Kiffin wanted in the first place (e.g. cutting Hall) and seemed to have helped solidify the team.
If nothing else, I learned to respect the guy during that time. I couldn’t tell how good of a coach he actually was, but I could appreciate what he was trying to do and how he was doing it.
Chizik strikes me as a good-ol’-boy hire. Early rumors are that more Auburn alums are going to make up the coaching staff (Pat Nix for OC is one I’ve run across, but I have no idea how valid it is). If that’s the case, then Auburn is in true danger of inbreeding itself to irrelevance. With Ole Miss on a run, they may very well replace Auburn as the third of the upper three teams in the West.
And yes, I’m ready for another TSiO.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 3:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
If Auburn brings Nix in, then I'll blast 'em.
I’m not sold Chizik is a bad hire yet.
by Graysnail on Dec 14, 2008 4:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I actually have a good feeling about Kiffen
Then again, i had a good feeling about Dave Clawson, Jonathan Crompton, and our chances of fielding a competitive team this year, so my prognostications should not be trusted.
I was only noting that on paper they’re not that much different, but the reactions among the respective fanbases have been wildly different.
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2008 3:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I liked this poll...
…and the results. Nice way to illustrate a point.
by kidbourbon on Dec 14, 2008 4:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I like your avatar...
I find it strange that I was “warned” for what I had in my signature a while back “butt” your avatar still lives. A picture is worth a thousand words…and then some.
Regardless. Here’s how Auburn fans welcome the new, ’ol, bad ball coach:
" We got "The Rod"...What you got? "
by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Dec 14, 2008 4:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Someone please make a post about how to spell Kiffin...
K – I – F – F – I – N
by BigBeefe on Dec 14, 2008 6:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
My bad ;)
"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook
by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2008 7:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Sigh
I read that somebody put our coaching search like this: You’re excpecting a nice new car for your 16th birthday, and instead you get a bike. That bike would have looked nice two years ago, but right now it’s the last thing you want.
It sucked enough being a Raiders fan. Now it seems like I’m a fan of the Raiders of college football.
Al Davis:Raiders::Auburn’s Board of Trustees:Auburn
Everyone that knows anything thinks things won’t get better for either organization until Al/BoT give up the power…but they are unwilling to do so, and you can’t fire Al Davis/Trustees.
War Damn Eagle!
by PowerOfDixieland on Dec 14, 2008 7:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
You have my respect.
Seriously, to own up to Raiders and Auburn fandom at a time like today classifies you as either loyal or insanse. Your comments – both here about Al/BoT and during the times you’ve posted before – rule out insane.
I know it doesn’t heal the hurt, but a hearty hat tip to you from this Denver/Tennessee fan.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 8:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Gargh. I hate it when I hit “post” just as I notice a misspelling. “insanse” —> “insane” naturally, but I have to vent on that one.
by Hooper on Dec 14, 2008 8:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
You forgot
None of the above.
Monte-Kiffen+Eric Berry=Danger, but it remains to be seen how well Kiffen will be able to adapt his schemes to the college game.
by jthomas666 on Dec 15, 2008 9:52 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
I put only 2 options on purpose.
There are so many different opinions, I just wanted to make a comparison between two. Nice and clean.
by Hooper on Dec 15, 2008 11:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
But yes, this is all projection right now. The proof will come in the fall, natch.
by Hooper on Dec 15, 2008 11:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
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