aubiefifty

Observations from Auburn’s preseason kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium Updated: Aug. 27, 2022, 4:17 p.m.|Published: Aug. 27, 2022, 4:08 p.m. 8-9 minutes Auburn’s season opener is a week away, with the Tigers’ 2022 debut against Mercer set for next Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Bryan Harsin’s team took to the field Saturday afternoon for a dress rehearsal of sorts -- and an early opportunity for fans to check out this year’s team, with Saturday serving as the program’s second annual preseason kickoff. The practice was open to fans and media, lasting about 90 minutes Saturday afternoon. Read more Auburn football: Seven potential candidates for Auburn’s next athletics director Final projections for Auburn’s 2022 season-opening depth chart The latest on Auburn’s quarterback battle, Zach Calzada’s progress after injury Here are AL.com’s observations and takeaways from the team’s preseason kickoff: -- Wide receiver Koy Moore was back at practice after missing some time earlier in the week. He ran with the second group on offense most of the day. -- Center Nick Brahms remains out, as his status for the start of the season remains up in the air. Defensive lineman Zykeivous Walker also did not participate in practice; he had a wrap on his leg. -- Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter went through pre-practice warmups (an abbreviated rundown of next week’s pregame warmups) but were held back during the remainder of practice. Freshman Damari Alston got the first-team reps in their place. -- Austin Troxell also went through early warmups but was held back. Like Bigsby and Hunter -- and like Shedrick Jackson last week -- this was likely a scheduled maintenance/off-day for the veteran right tackle. Brenden Coffey worked at right tackle with the starters in place of Troxell. -- T.J. Finley remained the first quarterback in the rotation and received most of the first-team work. Robby Ashford was second in line, but he also rotated in with the first-team offense. Zach Calzada remained third in the rotation and worked with the second-team offense. Holden Geriner also got a few second-team reps, but remained fourth in the rotation. -- No real surprises with the first-team defense, which had Derick Hall and Eku Leota at either edge, and Colby Wooden and Marcus Harris on the interior of the line. Owen Pappoe and Cam Riley worked at linebacker. Donovan Kaufman was at nickel, while Jaylin Simpson and Nehemiah Pritchett were on the outside at corner. Zion Puckett and Cayden Bridges were back deep at safety, with Iowa State transfer Craig McDonald rotating in for Bridges at times. -- The first-team offense with Finley included Shedrick Jackson at the X, Malcolm Johnson Jr. at the Z and Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. in the slot. John Samuel Shenker was at tight end. Along the offensive line, Kilian Zierer was at left tackle, Troxell was at right (until Coffey stepped in after warmups), Keiondre Jones was at right guard and Tate Johnson was at center. Brandon Council and Kam Stutts rotated at left guard. -- During warmups, Oscar Chapman booted a punt that bounced out of bounds inside the 1-yard line. It was impressive placement. -- The practice lasted 14 periods that ran 5 minutes each. The first period was a special teams circuit, followed by ball security in Period 2 and tempo in Period 3. During the tempo period, freshman wide receiver Camden Brown and tight end Luke Deal rotated in with the first-team offense. -- The second-team offense during tempo was led by Ashford at quarterback, with Sean Jackson and Jordon Ingram rotating at running back. Ze’Vian Capers and Moore rotated at receiver, along with Ja’Varrius Johnson. Deal and Brandon Frazier rotated at tight end. The offensive line had Alec Jackson at left tackle, Jeremiah Wright and Jalil Irvin rotating at left guard, Avery Jernigan at center, Jones at right guard and Colby Smith at right tackle. -- Period 4 was special teams work, with a focus on punt returns. The reps on returns went, in order: Ja’Varrius Johnson, Keionte Scott, Donovan Kaufman, Jay Fair and Dazalin Worsham. -- Period 5 was situational work in fourth-and-1 spots. Alston converted on a handoff from Finley on the first rep. On the second rep, Finley attempted a deep pass down the left sideline to Brown, who nearly came down with it, but Simpson broke it up on the way down. Still a nice-looking ball from Finley. -- Calzada ran with the second unit in the fourth-and-1 period. Sean Jackson was stuffed on a handoff on the first rep, then Ingram converted on the second attempt. Calzada tucked the ball and scrambled to convert the third try. -- Periods 6-8 were individual work. The QB/RB combos were: Finley/Bigsby, Ashford/Hunter, Calzda/Alston, Geriner/Ingram. Jackson did not participate in this period while being checked out by trainers on the sideline. He appeared fine and returned to the field shortly thereafter. -- During the individual periods, Anders Carlson and Alex McPherson worked on field goals of 50, 52 and 55 yards. Both displayed their strong legs and drilled a few of the attempts. Looked like a couple of them went wide. -- During passing drills, the quarterback rotation remained the same: Finley, Ashford, Calzada, Geriner. Finley again looked the most consistent, though there was a drop by Ja’Varrius Johnson on a slant. Ashford had one pass that he sailed on an in-route, but otherwise looked solid. -- Period 9 was more situational work. The situation: second-and-8 from the 40-yard line. Ashford got the first-team reps during this period. His first snap was a broken play that resulted in him throwing the ball away. On third-and-8 the following snap, he hit Ja’Varrius Johnson on an out but it was short of the sticks. Geriner then stepped in with the second-team offense. Ingram ran for 5 yards on second-and-8, then Geriner attempted a pass to Ingram out of the backfield on third-and-3. -- Auburn then went to red-zone work: fourth-and-goal from the 9 for one rep. Ashford was flushed out of the pocket by Dylan Brooks and then threw a pass out of the back of the end zone. -- Period 10 was special teams work, with a focus on kickoffs and kickoff returns. Auburn had six players rotating back deep on returns. Hunter and Alston got the first rep, followed by Pritchett and Moore. Fair and Scott also rotated in, but Auburn mixed up the pairings after the first two reps. Hunter and Fair got an opportunity together, and then Scott and Alston on the final rep. -- While everyone else worked on kickoffs, offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau worked with the quarterbacks in the north end zone. First they worked on throwing on the run, to their right, and hitting a target in the end zone. Ashford had one pass that he sailed over the target, but the rest of his attempts, as well as those from Finley, Calzada and Geriner were on-target. -- The QBs then worked on hitting the crossbar on one-step drops from behind the end zone. The drill seemed to focus on getting a high release to avoid batted balls at the line. -- The final three periods were offense vs. defense. Finley got the first opportunity with the ones, and then Ashford rotated in. Ashford had a nice pass over the middle to John Samuel Shenker on his first drive. He also had a completion to Worsham in a goal-to-go situation, but Worsham came down short of the end zone despite a nice leaping grab. At one point, Finley made a nice throw on the run to freshman tight end Micah Riley-Ducker. That was followed by a beautiful ball to Ze’Vian Capers in the end zone, with Simpson in coverage, but Capers dropped the pass. Finley was then picked off by Kaufman near the goal line on a pass intended for Fair. -- The practice ended with Calzada getting “sacked” by freshman linebacker Robert Woodyard. Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

AUBURN — The final open practice of Auburn football's 2022 preseason wasn't just for media: The gates of Jordan-Hare Stadium were open for fans to take a sneak peak before the Tigers face Mercer in the season opener Sept. 3. In a last glimpse at quarterbacks, T.J. Finley's hold on the starting job seemed to grow more secure. Meanwhile, among the three QB1 candidates, Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada is the least likely to play next Saturday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+). Here are the biggest takeaways as game week nears. Offensive line and receivers struggled, but why so much scrambling? During seven-on-seven periods, it was common to see Finley and Robby Ashford scrambling to create plays. A few thoughts about that. First: The offensive line allowed pressure to leak through a number of times, forcing quarterbacks out of the pocket. Colby Wooden and Marcus Harris both "sacked" Finley. Second: Receivers weren't consistently getting open, which didn't make life easy. Third: It's not exactly productive to scramble in these dwindling practice reps regardless, because quarterbacks have not been live this entire preseason. When defenders can't tackle them, it becomes harder to measure the validity of a scramble. Throwing reps are more important. Fourth: Ashford did try to make a few throws in motion when he was flushed out, but they often landed at least 5 yards out of bounds (including two that sailed over the end zone). It's easy to understand why he might be a good fit if Auburn needs a quarterback who can improvise, but Ashford's accuracy is erratic. Fifth: Ashford scrambled during one rep when the pocket collapsed, and it ended with an unforced fumble. Sixth: Calzada took the second-team reps during Auburn's situational drills that started with fourth-and-1 simulations. A handoff got stuffed on the first try. On the second, Calzada scrambled for a first down. The practice ended with him running the offense with third- and fourth-team players. The last play was Calzada getting sacked by true freshman linebacker Robert Woodyard. Bad day for quarterbacks, but TJ Finley was best OK, not just for the quarterbacks: The entire offense looked overmatched by Auburn's defense. But Finley had a few impressive moments that stood out most. (He and Ashford continued to split first-team reps.) Finley lofted a beautiful ball to Camden Brown at the pylon, but cornerback Jaylin Simpson made a great pass breakup. On another fade to the back corner of the end zone, he fit his throw perfectly over Simpson's fingertips, but Ze'Vian Capers flat-out dropped it. Finley also made the smartest play of the day when a quarterback was forced out, moving to his left and finding tight end Micah Riley-Ducker. However, one of Finley's last reps was a bad interception to Donovan Kaufman. QUARTERBACKTJ Finley was always ready for this. Will the super suit fit Auburn football's backup QB? AD SEARCHFormer prominent AD Kevin White blasts Auburn in bizarre statement after Allen Greene resigns: 'a death blow moment' Kickoff and punt returners becoming clear Receiver Ja'Varrius Johnson is the Tigers' top punt returner. Cornerback Keionte Scott took the second reps, with Kaufman third. On kickoffs, it was cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett and receiver Koy Moore. Injuries Starting center Nick Brahms was not dressed for practice. He has missed Auburn's preseason scrimmages, and his status for this season is in question. Tate Johnson took most first-team reps. Brandon Council and Kameron Stutts continued to split left guard reps, and Brenden Coffey was in the mix with Austin Troxell at right tackle. Defensive lineman Zykeivous Walker and safety Marquise Gilbert were also out. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: Zach Calzada appears out of quarterback com

if everyone was the same it would be a boring world. i like him but i am on a huge whiskey myers kick right now. they have that guitar attack dialed in. if it makes ya feel any better mr greene never cared for mr young either. grins

did you know van zant and young were friends and spoke regularly? folks always assumed they were enemies and i include myself in that. i always found that interesting.

Allen Greene exit: Tennessee AD Danny White congratulates departing Auburn AD on ‘getting the heck out of a crazy situation’ Andrew Olson 1-2 minutes Allen Greene is out as Auburn’s athletic director. With his contract up in January, Greene is resigning early to start pursuing other opportunities. One of Greene’s SEC peers shared a message of “congratulations” to his former colleague. Tennessee AD Danny White, who worked with Greene at Ole Miss and Buffalo, congratulated the departing Auburn AD for “getting the heck out of a crazy situation for greener pastures!” White added that he admired how Greene managed a chaotic situation. Greene’s departure has brought renewed attention to the behind-the-scenes politics of Auburn athletics. During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” ESPN’s Rece Davis compared Greene’s early exit to the situation surrounding Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin this offseason. There’s never a dull moment on The Plains. We’ll see who’s next to lead the AU athletic department.

it is public perception and it will not be kind to Auburn. politics and meddling and all the other bull will give us another year of negative comments for the most part.

at 2:30 on espn.

si.com Allen Greene’s Rocky Tenure As AD Ends, but Auburn’s Dysfunction Continues Richard Johnson 6-7 minutes Greene’s resignation comes at a time when more leadership voids could soon arise. So where do the Tigers go from here? The inevitable became imminent Friday, when Auburn’s Allen Greene resigned from his post—a move unheard of for an athletic director secure in his role, but Greene was never truly secure in that role. Close to the end of a contract that was set to expire in January 2023, Greene’s tenure has been rocky and the ground under him changed rapidly. A month before he was hired in January 2018, then-football coach Gus Malzahn received a seven-year extension at the end of the 2017 football season from school president Steven Leath (who secured his job in May 2017). Some presidents aren’t very hands-on with athletics, but Leath was. Malzahn received that extension after securing a spot in the SEC championship game in a rematch against Georgia with a College Football Playoff berth on the line. Auburn lost, but Malzahn had bought equity back and signed a new deal with a massive buyout. The boosters who wanted him out couldn’t really get rid of him after such a great season even if they wanted to, and the new deal also helped fend off an open job at Arkansas (Malzahn’s home state, where he was a high school coaching legend and assistant for one year with the Hogs). None of the above is Greene’s fault, it was a vacuum of athletic department leadership that nature abhors, so Leath stepped into it. With a coach thought to be sewn up for the foreseeable future, Greene mostly took charge of the rest of the athletic department. Within 18 months, he did not exactly make friends in the department due in large part to cutting budgets across the board 10%, including to a baseball team that had just made the College World Series and a men’s basketball team that had just made the Final Four, increasing tensions with its head coach, Bruce Pearl. By mid-2019, Leath was out, replaced by former president Jay Gouge, and Malzahn made it through the 2019 and ’20 seasons before being fired in December 2020. Greene took charge of an Auburn athletic department that underwent substantial change during his tenure. Jake Crandall/USA TODAY NETWORK Influential boosters orchestrated a palace coup and ran Malzahn out of his job with a hefty buyout that came with it. They tried to put their own guy into the job but backed down after—in part—a social media campaign spooked them. In the Auburn tradition of one leadership void after another, Greene stepped in and ran a conventional search that landed with an unconventional name in then-Boise State coach Bryan Harsin. Harsin’s hire is not why Greene no longer has his job, but it certainly didn’t help. And there have been rumors about Greene’s involvement in multiple other administrative searches across the sport as it became increasingly apparent he wouldn’t get a contract extension. Greene also saw some of his power in the athletic department wane after the university’s COO, Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, was brought in to help oversee athletics. In February 2022, boosters were back again trying to drum up anything that would stick to fire Harsin. He stood firm on the money owed to him, nobody found anything concrete after an internal investigation and Harsin remains head coach. Many sources expected Harsin and Greene to be let go together after the season if the Tigers had a rough year on the field, but the end came now and Greene departs to, as the release put it, “explore other professional interests.” If you’ve followed along thus far you’ll know that Auburn functions via dysfunction almost exclusively. This current spate of tumult comes from the artist that gave us such hits as JetGate, Cam Newton’s recruitment and a probation scandal that cost the program a shot at a title in the early 1990s—and that just scratches the surface. Auburn has another new president, Christopher Roberts, and again the question begs: What type of program does it want to be, and who is really in control? Auburn is no stranger to scandal or dysfunction but there is one common denominator over the last 40 years you have to give to them: winning. There will be usual suspects if Auburn opts to go in-house: Tim Jackson, head of Auburn’s booster organization or compliance director Rich McGlynn. Former NFL CIO and Auburn alum Michelle Mckenna is also a name to know as the search gets going. Auburn could also opt to go the search firm route and pull in another outsider, but it’s unclear how much has really changed on the inside. There’s a best case scenario here where Auburn seriously contends for the SEC West on the back of a good defense and it makes firing Harsin politically untenable, just like Malzahn in 2017. The football program moves on amicably and tensions are cooled. A new AD could enter that situation in conjunction with a flourishing men’s basketball program and there’s some modicum of stability. But if Auburn does poorly on the field and the folks who don’t like Harsin push to get their way, there could be a brand new AD either trying to hire a new coach in the midst of massive headwinds they may not fully understand or an AD coming into a job with a new head coach they had no say in hiring, plus all the issues that can come if that head coach isn’t the right guy. This is Auburn. Which one do you think is more likely?

“The apparent political dysfunction with Auburn is truly legendary" News of Allen Greene stepping down from his position as Auburn’s athletic director moved swiftly on Friday with a pivotal football season less than nine days away. Former Duke Athletic Kevin White strongly reacted to the news on Auburn’s now-former AD. “For what it’s worth,” White said via press release. “The announcement today via Auburn is terribly disturbing, to say the very least, perhaps closer to utterly shameful!” Read more Auburn Sports: Allen Greene stepping down as Auburn’s athletics director Auburn adds second four-star wide receiver to 2023 recruiting class The latest on Auburn’s quarterback battle, Zach Calzada’s progress after injury White is familiar with Greene from working together at Greene’s alma mater, Notre Dame. Greene also worked with White’s son Danny when Greene was the AD at Buffalo before making the trek to Auburn. Duke’s emeritus Athletic Director went on to critique what he believes to be a toxic culture at Auburn. “The apparent political dysfunction with Auburn is truly legendary,” White said. “More specifically, this particular leadership transition, unequivocally, ascends Auburn to the “cat bird” seat, in terms of being “tone deaf” nationally.” White ended his message by calling Green a “rockstar” while further chiding Auburn. “Therefore, this is clearly a “death blow” moment,” White said. “As the greater enterprise of college athletics swirls via unprecedented chaos.” Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.

7 potential candidates for Auburn’s next athletics director Updated: Aug. 26, 2022, 3:29 p.m.|Published: Aug. 26, 2022, 3:27 p.m. 7-9 minutes Allen Greene’s tenure at Auburn has come to an end. The embattled athletics director announced Friday he will be stepping down from his role effective Aug. 31, informing Auburn president Dr. Chris Roberts of his decision this week. Greene’s decision to step down to pursue other interests comes 4 1/2 years into his initial five-year contract with the university. Hired in January 2018, Greene’s contract was set to expire in five months, and despite early conversations about his future with Roberts this summer, the school’s new president did not express plans to extend Greene’s contract. Read more Auburn sports: Former Duke AD Kevin White calls Allen Greene’s ouster “utterly shameful” Final projections for Auburn’s 2022 season-opening depth chart The latest on Auburn’s quarterback battle, Zach Calzada’s progress after injury Now Auburn is in search of its next athletics director to lead the program. Auburn athletics chief operating officer Marcy Girton is serving as the department’s acting athletics director until an interim is named. The interim will stand in until Roberts and Auburn leadership can conduct a national search to identify a permanent replacement for Greene. Auburn’s next athletics director will be its 16th all-time. While the search is just getting underway, AL.com has reached out to various sources to help identify seven potential candidates to keep an eye on for the job. Here’s a look at each candidate, with a brief rundown of their resumes: Rich McGlynn, Auburn executive associate athletics director, compliance McGlynn is one of two internal names to keep an eye on as Auburn moves on from Greene. He has worked inside Auburn’s athletics department since 2006, joining the university after spending five years working at the NCAA. During his time at Auburn, McGlynn has overseen the compliance department, and he played an integral role in guiding Bruce Pearl and the men’s basketball program through the NCAA investigation stemming from the 2017 FBI investigation that ensnared former assistant coach Chuck Person. McGlynn is well-liked by Pearl, and he has the backing of some of the university’s most influential boosters. Tim Jackson, Auburn executive associate athletics director, development Another in-house name to keep in mind is Jackson, who has been with the university since 1988, starting out as a graduate assistant under Pat Dye for two years before becoming assistant strength and conditioning coach in 1990 and being promoted to Auburn’s conditioning coach the following year. Jackson went on to work as Auburn’s director of athletics ticket sales from 1992-2004. In his current role, he oversees Tigers Unlimited, the fundraising arm of Auburn’s athletics department. John Hartwell, Utah State athletics director A native of Mobile, Hartwell has been Utah State’s athletics director for the last seven-plus years, taking over that position in June 2015 after spending the prior three years as the athletics director at Troy. He was interested in the job at Auburn the last time it was open, before the Tigers ultimately hired Greene. While at Utah State, Hartwell rebranded the athletics department’s fundraising arm, creating Aggies Unlimited to help put all donations to the program under one umbrella. Prior to that, during his tenure at Troy, Hartwell led efforts to upgrade multiple athletics facilities and unveiled a $25 million North end zone project for the Trojans’ football stadium. He also hired Neal Brown, who is now at West Virginia, and negotiated an apparel deal with Adidas. Along with his experience as an AD, Hartwell also boasts nine years of experience in the SEC, previously serving as the No. 2 athletics administrator at Ole Miss from 2003-12. Mark Ingram, UAB athletics director Ingram has served as UAB’s athletics director since May 2015, and during his tenure he helped lead the resurrection of the Blazers’ football program after it was shut down in late 2014. He also helped secure the approval of Protective Stadium, the new stadium in downtown Birmingham that opened last year and which UAB calls home, as well as the program’s recently opened football practice facility. Since he has been at UAB, the program has also enjoyed record-setting fundraising, with more than $100 million in cash and pledged donations to the athletics department. Ingram also has SEC experience on his resume, spending five years as senior associate athletics director at Tennessee, his alma mater. With the Vols, Ingram was responsible for the planning and strategy of a capital campaign that raised $336 million during his tenure. Randy Campbell, Campbell Wealth Management A former Auburn quarterback who led the Tigers to the 1983 SEC title, Campbell returned to his alma mater in 1992 as Auburn’s quarterbacks coach during Pat Dye’s final season, coaching both Stan White and Pat Nix that year. After getting out of coaching, Campbell began a career in life insurance and wealth management. He established his company, Campbell Wealth Management, and is currently based in Birmingham. Campbell has remained close to his alma mater, working hand in hand with Auburn in fundraising efforts, serving as Birmingham co-chair during the university’s most recent capital campaign. He has also helped raise millions of dollars for the university through its charitable planned giving program. Michelle McKenna, founder and CEO of The Michelle McKenna Collaborative A native of Enterprise, McKenna is an Auburn graduate and an established executive with more than two decades of experience as a senior leader at Disney, Universal and, most recently, the NFL. She served as the NFL’s chief information officer for a decade, leading the league’s digital and technology strategy. Among her many accomplishments in that role, she helped the NFL produce its completely virtual draft in 2020 amid the pandemic. She currently serves as CEO of The Michelle McKenna Collaborative, an advisory company she launched in April. McKenna was in consideration for Auburn’s AD opening back in 2017 before ultimately withdrawing from the search process. A source indicated to AL.com that McKenna is interested in the role this time around as well. David Benedict, UConn athletics director Another familiar name for Auburn is Benedict, the current athletics director at UConn, where he has served since March 2016. Prior to his time in Storrs, Conn., Benedict was the chief operating officer at Auburn (his replacement on the Plains, Marcy Girton, is now acting AD until an interim is named). He was previously a candidate for Auburn’s AD opening in 2017 before agreeing to a restructured contract at UConn. While with the Huskies, Benedict helped finalize and orchestrate UConn’s move to the Big East, as well as the “bold” decision to have the university’s football team play as an FBS independent. During his time at Auburn, Benedict oversaw the day-to-day operations of the athletics department, and he was responsible for developing long-term plans for the departmental budget, facilities, staffing and strategic goals. He was also key in negotiating the school’s nine-year contract extension with Under Armour as the official apparel brand of the Tigers. He also served as a men’s basketball sport administrator and helped support football administrative staff. Tom Green and Nubyjas Wilborn are Auburn beat reporters for Alabama Media Group. John Talty is the senior sports editor and SEC Insider for Alabama Media Group. You can follow them on Twitter @Tomas_Verde, @nwilborn19 and @jtalty.

Allen Greene leaving doesn’t bode well for Bryan Harsin Published: Aug. 26, 2022, 4:23 p.m. 5-7 minutes Athletics director Allen Greene stepping down clears the way for the next major move by Auburn’s powerbrokers. And that would be firing the football coach who Greene hired. Bryan Harsin will begin the season coaching on borrowed time. The proverbial hot seat has been cooking for some time. If Auburn loses to Penn State and LSU, then Auburn could be in the market for a new football coach before anyone else. Auburn might need that long to convince someone half decent to take the job. Barn gonna Barn, as they say in the SEC. RELATED: Allen Greene stepping down as Auburn AD RELATED: Seven potential candidates for Auburn’s next AD RELATED: Former AD calls Green’s ouster ‘utterly shameful’ GOODMAN: Did Bryan Harsin already miss on Auburn’s QB? It’s always messy at Auburn, in other words, and so it was on Friday when word of Greene’s departure came with football season a week away. Auburn begins the season next Saturday, Sept. 3, with a home game against Mercer at 6 p.m. Greene will be history by then. His last official day of work at Auburn is Wednesday. I will miss Greene, who I thought was a good athletics director and great ambassador for Auburn University. Auburn has deep problems he couldn’t fix, though, and ultimately that’s why he’s leaving after just one contract. Greene exiting now allows Auburn to potentially hire a permanent AD before the end of football season. That timeline wouldn’t improve Harsin’s chances of surviving another season. None of this presents a strong image of Auburn, of course, but when has Auburn ever cared about perception? There will be plenty of names thrown around to be the next AD, but if Auburn was smart they’d hire a sports agent to run the department in this age of NIL. Oh, and guess who happens to be a well-connected sports agent with deep ties to The Plains? Pat Dye Jr. might not want that headache, but he’d at least take the phone call. Bruce Pearl would be a good AD for Auburn, too, and the state isn’t too far removed from Gene Bartow pulling double duty for UAB. Oh, and there’s this. Bartow’s son took over the Blazers after his dad stepped away from basketball. Just saying. Auburn’s all about family, right? They wouldn’t give Greene another contract despite his department’s success outside of football, and so his exit from Auburn isn’t a huge surprise. I am shocked, though, at the timing, and that Greene would go out before the eve of football season. It feels like a general walking out of camp the night before battle. In the SEC, one of the most important responsibilities of an athletics director is to help the football coach recruit players. This sets Auburn football back just as Harsin appeared to be gaining some momentum. Greene will be successful wherever he goes and no matter what he does. He helped raise huge sums of money for football and basketball, and that was his primary job. When you’re the athletics director in the SEC, however, there’s one task that’s more important than any other. It’s hiring a football coach. Blowing it means you lose your job. Greene blew it. Harsin has been gasping for air in the SEC ever since he was hired, and Greene is the canary in the coal mine. Greene will soon be unemployed, and that’s all you need to know about what Auburn thinks of Harsin. After Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was fired in 2020, an influential set of Auburn boosters wanted the next coach of Auburn football to be Malzahn’s defensive coordinator, Kevin Steele. Greene wanted to hire his own man, and he settled on an outsider from Idaho. It has not gone well. Auburn football dropped its final five games of the 2021 season, and then lost quarterback Bo Nix to Oregon and defensive coordinator Derek Mason to Oklahoma State. It got ugly after that. Harsin fought off an attempt by Auburn’s administration to have him fired in February, and he then spiked the football on his own university at SEC Media Days. “There was an inquiry,” Harsin said. “It was uncomfortable. It was unfounded. It presented an opportunity for people to personally attack me, my family, and also our program. And it didn’t work.” It wasn’t Greene leading that witch hunt. Auburn’s president and members of the board went over the AD’s head and launched an internal investigation in the football program. An outrageous precedent was set, Auburn boosters actively trying to find dirt on its own football program. Harsin can coach his way to a winning season with Auburn, but it’s going to be tough against the hardest schedule in the country. He’s going to need all the help he can get, but where’s it coming from now that Greene is out? Like usual, it will be a fascinating football season at Auburn for all the weirdest reasons. Harsin was living with Greene on a deserted speck of dirt in the middle of Lake Martin before Friday, but now Renegade Island is down to its final pirate. The football coach went through the backdoor at SEC headquarters during Auburn’s internal investigation, but now the trapdoor awaits. Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.

not that i have seen. i would be shocked if it was not soon after the premier.

when you run your mouth you will get push back. i call her the bat lady....................

i am just worried about you jj........

correct me if i am wrong but did not trump discuss this off and on? if so why is it political now and not for him? plus i am pretty sure biden stated he was going to look into it.

trump has left JJ a charred corpse on the side of the road.

i have no idea bro i went to JR College. i need three classes to graduate but rock and roll called...................

Don Jr. Posts 'Dick Pic' Of Dad After Affidavit Release: 'Redact This!' Mary Papenfuss Fri, August 26, 2022 at 10:13 PM·2 min read In this article: Donald Trump 45th President of the United States Donald Trump Jr. American businessman and son of former U.S. President Donald Trump Always the intellectual, Donald Trump Jr. on Friday came up with an innovative way to respond to the public release of the affidavit supporting the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago. He posted a photo of his dad, Donald Trump, in his golf duds with a long black bar over his crotch, and said: “Redact this!” The former president’s thumb is hooked in his belt in the shot. Trump fans swooned over the length of the black bar, with one drooling: “Hang in there, Mr. President!” The crotch shot wasn’t all Donald Jr. came up with, but it was the most “graphic.” Mostly he mocked all the redactions in the affidavit, which the Justice Department had explained were necessary to protect witnesses, the names of FBI agents and other details of the investigation of his father. Threats against the FBI have skyrocketed in the wake of vicious attacks against the bureau by Donald Trump, federal authorities reported earlier this month in a joint intelligence bulletin released by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Ricky Shiffer was killed by police earlier this month after attempting to breach an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Shiffer frequently posted violent messages on Trump’s Truth Social platform and appeared to be incited by Trump’s angry tirades against the FBI. The affidavit, although heavily blacked out, detailed repeated requests by federal officials for boxes of documents that the former president had stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate when he left the White House. It showed that highly classified information was haphazardly stored at the private country club that includes his residence. The information contradicted Trump’s claim that officials only had to ask and they would have been given the material. The National Archives first reached out about retrieving records from Mar-a-Lago in May 2021, according to the affidavit. Trump’s aides responded later that year that they had 12 boxes ready to be picked up, and the National Archives eventually left with 15 boxes in January. FBI agents searched Trump’s Florida estate on Aug. 8 and took away dozens of additional boxes, including 11 packets of classified documents. Among that set was a batch labeled with the highest classification markings, meant for review only in secure government facilities. Justice Department prosecutors filed the redacted affidavit at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, late Friday morning after Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled on Thursday that he had accepted the redactions prosecutors had proposed. He described the redactions as “narrowly tailored to serve the government’s legitimate interest in the integrity of the ongoing investigation and are the least onerous alternative to sealing the entire affidavit.” This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. man i love huffington post. she used to be a regular on the bill maher show. anyway the point where it is observed trumps fans swooning over the size of the penis. i mean you cannot make this up. some of you right now are trying to figure out how to get the unredacted dick pic..............

finally it seems like we are fighting back and have someone giving it right back to the republicans and i am loving it. they are making a bunch of folks look stupid.

i think this has been posted in another thread but it is important to me so i gave it more press. and before you younguns pop off smart or stupid i joined the service when name was going on.

be careful he will be slinging empty beer cans at you. hell i mow his lawn just to keep him off of me.................grins.