How close are we?

[leglessdan 1,934]

Tre Mason.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. I think the whole team is up for "auditions".

[AUTiger2012 84]

Lets be realistic here lol.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Cody Parkey.

[PoetTiger 1,901]

Tell me one returning player on the 2012 team who has a position locked up? I dare you!

Dismukes,..Dee and Corey if they come back...

[leglessdan 1,934]

Lets be realistic here lol.

My post is the only thing realistic that's been said. I don't think any of the players have a free pass.

[AUTiger2012 84]

I never said they had a free pass, but tell me, who really has the skillset and experience to start over Tre, Parkey, or Lemonier (if he comes back).

[leglessdan 1,934]

I never said they had a free pass, but tell me, who really has the skillset and experience to start over Tre, Parkey, or Lemonier (if he comes back).

Well, for one, CAP doesn't look that bad so he might have a shot, but honestly like I said before they all have to go through the gauntlet. This should be an awakening for a lot of the current players. So...we will soon see who wants to put in the effort or put in the transfer.

[Rednilla 5,439]

Yes, they all have to go through the gauntlet. Every single year. Yet there are some that seem to shine out as obvious starters.

Josh Holsey might should be added to that list, seeing as how he was the only corner who could successfully play tight man coverage. Greg Robinson and Chad Slade likely have spots fairly well in hand, also.

[selias 2,398]

LBs are shaky at best

DL play is non-existent

QB play is spotty

Our most proven WR just graduated

Our most proven TE just graduated

DBs don't know what an INT is

OL play is streaky

We've got a VERY long way to go

This is why I don't agree with recruits jumping ship. I know that we have a new staff but these guys could have a real shot of coming in and playing right out of the gate.

Exactly. We can still sell playing time.

[Plaric 4]

Kinda sad that four years in to recruiting major classes and we can still sell playing time lol

[selias 2,398]

Kinda sad that four years in to recruiting major classes and we can still sell playing time lol

4 years of recruiting "great" classes and we have no standout players. There's a reason Chizik & Co are gone.

[Plaric 4]

Kinda sad that four years in to recruiting major classes and we can still sell playing time lol

4 years of recruiting "great" classes and we have no standout players. There's a reason Chizik & Co are gone.

I agree....just kinda laugh at the situation ya know?

[selias 2,398]

Kinda sad that four years in to recruiting major classes and we can still sell playing time lol

4 years of recruiting "great" classes and we have no standout players. There's a reason Chizik & Co are gone.

I agree....just kinda laugh at the situation ya know?

I haven't stopped laughing since the midpoint of this abysmal season.

[keesler 5,943]

Kinda sad that four years in to recruiting major classes and we can still sell playing time lol

It's very sad. AU football should be cocked and loaded right now, ready to dominate on the field and primed to reload for years to come. In reality it still feels like we're freakin suffering from scholly reductions and sanctions.

[aucanucktiger 1,858]

Differences between recruits that signs to play for a defending national champ versus the type that signs on to play for an 8 - 10 win team? Cam never played for a below average team until the NFL. Did we sign guys in 2011 that never had adversity as athletes? Some key players gave up by halftime this year and last (even LSU's dumb as rocks fullback commented on it).

re the original thread, we arguably have a tougher schedule in 2013 so an admirable effort by all may still quate to 4-5 losses...all to top 25 opponents...again.

[rollsroyce5 0]

Yes, they all have to go through the gauntlet. Every single year. Yet there are some that seem to shine out as obvious starters.

Josh Holsey might should be added to that list, seeing as how he was the only corner who could successfully play tight man coverage. Greg Robinson and Chad Slade likely have spots fairly well in hand, also.

I would say Avery Young before Greg Robinson. The OL completely caved after the true freshman went down.

[rollsroyce5 0]

Differences between recruits that signs to play for a defending national champ versus the type that signs on to play for an 8 - 10 win team? Cam never played for a below average team until the NFL. Did we sign guys in 2011 that never had adversity as athletes? Some key players gave up by halftime this year and last (even LSU's dumb as rocks fullback commented on it).

re the original thread, we arguably have a tougher schedule in 2013 so an admirable effort by all may still quate to 4-5 losses...all to top 25 opponents...again.

Great points. Haven't heard it put in quite that perspective before.

[keesler 5,943]

Differences between recruits that signs to play for a defending national champ versus the type that signs on to play for an 8 - 10 win team? Cam never played for a below average team until the NFL. Did we sign guys in 2011 that never had adversity as athletes? Some key players gave up by halftime this year and last (even LSU's dumb as rocks fullback commented on it).

re the original thread, we arguably have a tougher schedule in 2013 so an admirable effort by all may still quate to 4-5 losses...all to top 25 opponents...again.

It's high time Auburn gets back to being a top 25 team - I see no reason why this coaching staff can't develope and utilize the players we currently have on the roster, prepare them, and coach them up to make the freaking top 25. I look forward to the day when I can look at our schedule and not get nauseated when I see the likes of Arky/aTm/LSU/UGA/UAT on there. I hope to be like my LSU buddy, and "know" our team can beat any opponent on the schedule, on any given day.

[aucanucktiger 1,858]

Differences between recruits that signs to play for a defending national champ versus the type that signs on to play for an 8 - 10 win team? Cam never played for a below average team until the NFL. Did we sign guys in 2011 that never had adversity as athletes? Some key players gave up by halftime this year and last (even LSU's dumb as rocks fullback commented on it).

re the original thread, we arguably have a tougher schedule in 2013 so an admirable effort by all may still quate to 4-5 losses...all to top 25 opponents...again.

It's high time Auburn gets back to being a top 25 team - I see no reason why this coaching staff can't develope and utilize the players we currently have on the roster, prepare them, and coach them up to make the freaking top 25. I look forward to the day when I can look at our schedule and not get nauseated when I see the likes of Arky/aTm/LSU/UGA/UAT on there. I hope to be like my LSU buddy, and "know" our team can beat any opponent on the schedule, on any given day.

Interesting to make comparisons to our 1992 team, Dye's last (which performed poorly but was loaded with talent) and we know what wonderful game day coaching by Tator Tot did with that group in 1993 with a very difficult schedule (including beating #1 UF).

[manthatsnice 0]

We win those games and we still have the same coaching staff and we are complacent with 6-8 wins a year.

Some folks were perfectly fine with AU "exceeding expectations" and said so on many occasions when the 2011 team got their arses handed to them by our biggest rivals. In the current SEC environment, an 8 win season is considered mediocre now, anything less than that is poor.

Actually you could argue the opposite. Since the SEC is stronger now than it has ever been, there are only so many wins to go around. Bammer, AU, USCe, UF, UGA, A&M, UT, LSU are all about equal in talent and coaching. Usually one or two of those 8 will stand out (like bammer and LSU right now, but it fluctuates every few years). It wasn't so long ago that the AU/LSU game always determined the west and UT/UF always determined the east. Now it's bammer/LSU in the west and USCe/UGA/UF in the east. UT has fallen in the east and AU has fallen in the west, but you can count on both coming back.

I'd say an 8 win season would be about average for the "big 8" and would be considered "good" for the SEC teams not in the big 8. With the parity in the "big 8" all of them are not going to go 10+ wins every season. It's mathematically impossible.

I'm sure bammer, UF, UGA, A&M and LSU fans would agree with you that 8 wins per season is average. Perfectly acceptable, I'm sure.

/sarcasm

My goodness, how far have we sunk?

[DunderMifflin 60]

If I am coming into a program, what better situation to go into than one where you are on more equal footing with the returning players because of the new staff? The returning guys will have spring practice as a head start but that is all. I realize this is a slight exception since Gus has been here but nobody will have the same position coach.

Most other programs you will be way behind the returning players who already have "their spot" and have built a relatiinship with the coaches over years.

[Plaric 4]

We win those games and we still have the same coaching staff and we are complacent with 6-8 wins a year.

Some folks were perfectly fine with AU "exceeding expectations" and said so on many occasions when the 2011 team got their arses handed to them by our biggest rivals. In the current SEC environment, an 8 win season is considered mediocre now, anything less than that is poor.

Actually you could argue the opposite. Since the SEC is stronger now than it has ever been, there are only so many wins to go around. Bammer, AU, USCe, UF, UGA, A&M, UT, LSU are all about equal in talent and coaching. Usually one or two of those 8 will stand out (like bammer and LSU right now, but it fluctuates every few years). It wasn't so long ago that the AU/LSU game always determined the west and UT/UF always determined the east. Now it's bammer/LSU in the west and USCe/UGA/UF in the east. UT has fallen in the east and AU has fallen in the west, but you can count on both coming back.

I'd say an 8 win season would be about average for the "big 8" and would be considered "good" for the SEC teams not in the big 8. With the parity in the "big 8" all of them are not going to go 10+ wins every season. It's mathematically impossible.

No such thing as the big 8....there is the big 6 and that is all.....

[manthatsnice 0]

We win those games and we still have the same coaching staff and we are complacent with 6-8 wins a year.

Some folks were perfectly fine with AU "exceeding expectations" and said so on many occasions when the 2011 team got their arses handed to them by our biggest rivals. In the current SEC environment, an 8 win season is considered mediocre now, anything less than that is poor.

Actually you could argue the opposite. Since the SEC is stronger now than it has ever been, there are only so many wins to go around. Bammer, AU, USCe, UF, UGA, A&M, UT, LSU are all about equal in talent and coaching. Usually one or two of those 8 will stand out (like bammer and LSU right now, but it fluctuates every few years). It wasn't so long ago that the AU/LSU game always determined the west and UT/UF always determined the east. Now it's bammer/LSU in the west and USCe/UGA/UF in the east. UT has fallen in the east and AU has fallen in the west, but you can count on both coming back.

I'd say an 8 win season would be about average for the "big 8" and would be considered "good" for the SEC teams not in the big 8. With the parity in the "big 8" all of them are not going to go 10+ wins every season. It's mathematically impossible.

No such thing as the big 8....there is the big 6 and that is all.....

Agree. And no way in hell would they say an 8 win season is "average" (acceptable).

[AcUmen 243]

We win those games and we still have the same coaching staff and we are complacent with 6-8 wins a year.

Some folks were perfectly fine with AU "exceeding expectations" and said so on many occasions when the 2011 team got their arses handed to them by our biggest rivals. In the current SEC environment, an 8 win season is considered mediocre now, anything less than that is poor.

Actually you could argue the opposite. Since the SEC is stronger now than it has ever been, there are only so many wins to go around. Bammer, AU, USCe, UF, UGA, A&M, UT, LSU are all about equal in talent and coaching. Usually one or two of those 8 will stand out (like bammer and LSU right now, but it fluctuates every few years). It wasn't so long ago that the AU/LSU game always determined the west and UT/UF always determined the east. Now it's bammer/LSU in the west and USCe/UGA/UF in the east. UT has fallen in the east and AU has fallen in the west, but you can count on both coming back.

I'd say an 8 win season would be about average for the "big 8" and would be considered "good" for the SEC teams not in the big 8. With the parity in the "big 8" all of them are not going to go 10+ wins every season. It's mathematically impossible.

I'm sure bammer, UF, UGA, A&M and LSU fans would agree with you that 8 wins per season is average. Perfectly acceptable, I'm sure.

/sarcasm

My goodness, how far have we sunk?

It would be impossible for UF, UGA, bammer, A&M, LSU, UT and AU to all win 10 games every season. All of those fan bases expect at least that every year, but the math wont allow it to happen.

Let's take the east for example:

UF plays UGA and UT and LSU every year

UGA plays UF and UT and AU every year

UT plays UGA and UF and Bammer every year

Each of those three east powerhouses have 3 huge opponents each year (4 if you now count USCe). Let's say UF goes undefeated (3-0). Let's say UGA is second with a 2-1 record. And let's say UT only beats bammer and goes 1-2. Well right there, UT is only guaranteed 10 wins (after only playing 3 games). They still have to face USCe and the rest of their east and west schedule. As we all know, in the SEC no win is a given anymore. So UT could easily go 8-4.

And there's no guarantee that UGA beats AU. They could very well lose that one and go 1-2 as well. Not to mention they still have to face USCe and the rest of the east and west schedule. They could easily lose to LSU or bammer or A&M, to make it 4 loses (assuming they lose to USCe as well). So UT and UGA could both easily go 8-4 in the same season.

As for UF, they have to play AU or A&M or bammer most seasons (possibly two of them in the same year). They could easily go undefeated in the east and drop two West games and finish 10-2.

Thus, you could easily see a season with the top of the east being 10-2 with the runners-up being 8-4. The numbers would work the same in the West.

Right now LSU and Bammer are a step ahead of the rest of the conference. You might have seasons like this where two teams dominate the rest, but that's still only two teams. The other 5 or 6 powerhouses WILL be disappointed. This will happen every year and is just a fact of math.

Do I hope AU becomes the top of the SEC? Yes. Do I think it will realistically happen year in and year out? No. Never has and probably never will unless AU resorts to bammer recruiting tactics. What I expect as a fan is for Gus to have AU in the running to win the west every year. I expect LSU and bammer to take the AU game seriously. I also expect him to actually win the west and have AU in Atlanta every 3 years. I think this is reasonable and not wacko like bammers who think a coach should be fired for not winning 3 MNC's in a row.

[AcUmen 243]

We win those games and we still have the same coaching staff and we are complacent with 6-8 wins a year.

Some folks were perfectly fine with AU "exceeding expectations" and said so on many occasions when the 2011 team got their arses handed to them by our biggest rivals. In the current SEC environment, an 8 win season is considered mediocre now, anything less than that is poor.

Actually you could argue the opposite. Since the SEC is stronger now than it has ever been, there are only so many wins to go around. Bammer, AU, USCe, UF, UGA, A&M, UT, LSU are all about equal in talent and coaching. Usually one or two of those 8 will stand out (like bammer and LSU right now, but it fluctuates every few years). It wasn't so long ago that the AU/LSU game always determined the west and UT/UF always determined the east. Now it's bammer/LSU in the west and USCe/UGA/UF in the east. UT has fallen in the east and AU has fallen in the west, but you can count on both coming back.

I'd say an 8 win season would be about average for the "big 8" and would be considered "good" for the SEC teams not in the big 8. With the parity in the "big 8" all of them are not going to go 10+ wins every season. It's mathematically impossible.

No such thing as the big 8....there is the big 6 and that is all.....

I disagree. The power has shifted. Take UT out of the big "6" because they haven't deserved it since Fulmer. Spurrier has proven that USCe deserves to take UT's place. In the west, A&M has proven they deserve not to kick anyone out, but to be added. So that will make a "big 7." And I have no doubt UT will be back strong in a couple years, so then it will become the big "8" as I originally said.

My point is the SEC is stronger than ever. The competition is insane. Not every team of the big "6" or 8 is going to go undefeated each year as ALL of their fans expect.