anyone think gene helped gene with our turnaround?

[aubiefifty 17,487]

i bet gus got a valuable lesson or two from watching mistakes gene made. not bashing gene at all. i wish him the best. but gus got out at the right time before the auburn world collapsed and then when he came back he already knew a whole lot of what not to do.was it not state we were down to in the fourth quarter and gus called a timeout and told his guys "is this not fun"? the man had me then and with the class he has shown this year i will be a huge gus fan for a long long time.

[auburnatl1 5,565]

Good points. More than just Gus (though he was there at point blank range), I think the whole coaching community and beyond got some lessons learned from the 2012 auburn phenomenon/implosion. I know of a friend's son whose doing his sociology thesis on it. When the dust settles, and gene's got some perspective on the documented discipline, offensive philosophy flip-flops, team culture, ect. mistakes that we know of , as well as other bad screw-ups that had to have happened that we don't, he needs to write a book. It would be a must-read from everyone from coaches to MBA students. The 10 commandments, or so, of what never, ever to do when leading anything.

I would suggest Gus not write the preface.

[selias 2,398]

Other than the talent on campus? I don't think so.

[Tiger 8,835]

I think what 3-9 is making us forget is what type of rehabilitation the program needed after Tuberville's final year. We thought that was rock bottom until 3-9 rolled around. We thought the program was in shambles then and we were ecstatic to get 8 wins in Chizik's first year. He deserves credit for that at least. The fact that we have already reached 8 wins after the total train wreck last year was is incredible. THAT was the worst year in program history (0-8) (which Chiz also deserves 'credit' for)

We are one win away from tripling our win total from last season. Wow.

[aucanucktiger 1,810]

A huge mistake Gene made was parking the strongest talent he brought to the table...assembling & coordinating defensive juggernauts...when he became the guy at the top. Malzahn has Lashlee, but he clearly is a co-OC. Maybe Gus learned from Gene in that regard.

[Eagle Eye 7]

My question is if he was such a bad coach, how did he win the National Championship? Did we just have that much talent? :S What happened that made him go 3-9 his last year?

[Strychnine 1,804]

I was reading a thread on an Arky board last week (they have a strange infatuation/hatred thing with Gus). One of the posters said something to the effect of it not being hard to win at Auburn, that it is instead hard to lose. He went on to say that the monumental failure of Chizik cannot possibly be understated or fully understood. I laughed about it when I read it, then thought about it.

Auburn has generally had little trouble getting good players. We've had a good/great back every year, going back into the 90's, that are names even current recruits would recognize. Chizik's time here brought what everyone considered to be fantastic recruiting classes, so the talent was apparently in abundance. Winning a BCS National Championship certainly did not hurt our recruiting efforts. In 2011, we saw the groundwork for 2012 emerging; we were completely dominated by the conference's best. Granted, they were all good teams, but that's what we're supposed to be as well. Once Gus was gone, it appeared as though the glue that held the offense together for those 3 years was gone. The defense was never good enough to win on its own, and that was clearly demonstrated by 2012. Tuberville lived and died by his assistants. Bad OC hires and execution almost cost him his job in 2003, and did in 2008. Chizik appears to have been the same kind of HC, as Loeffler hasn't gone on to make VT's offense look any better than ours did. To what extent Chizik meddled is something we will likely never know, but it apparently extended to strength and conditioning, as the same players look very different now. We didn't seem to see much player development either, and it takes more than simply signing 4-5 star guys and letting them do whatever.

[Tiger 8,835]

There are 2 ways to look at it IMO. People will say he can't be terrible he won a BCS Championship. And some people will say he is terrible because he went 3-9. Personally I think his ceiling was 8-5 barring a generational talent (which he got). Best way to really see how good someone's career is to take away their best year and take away their worst year and average it out. Thats about 8 wins for Chiz.

[Tiger 8,835]

Can anybody explain to me WHY exactly Chiz undermined Yox's authority? Like what were the supposed benefits in doing so?

[selias 2,398]

There are 2 ways to look at it IMO. People will say he can't be terrible he won a BCS Championship. And some people will say he is terrible because he went 3-9.

Even Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl...

[Strychnine 1,804]

Can anybody explain to me WHY exactly Chiz undermined Yox's authority? Like what were the supposed benefits in doing so?

As I said, we'll likely never know to what extent Chizik meddled. I have no idea if he undermined Yox's authority, or if Yox even had any authority to undermine. If it was up to Chizik to enforce discipline, and he wasn't doing it fully or consistently, then you have your recipe for losing control of a team. It looked more to me like he let the players get away with too much for too long, allowing the wrong culture to permeate the team, and his attempt to regain control was too little too late. I doubt that he intentionally cut Yox's legs out from under him, as that would simply make no sense. I'm purely speculating, as that's really all we can do.

[AUGradinTX 0]

My question is if he was such a bad coach, how did he win the National Championship? Did we just have that much talent? :S What happened that made him go 3-9 his last year?

I had to stop and respond to this. So, sorry if someone has already made the same point. Many of the players on that team were CTT's recruits and had gone through a couple of years under his tutelage. Then shows up a phenom QB with incredable leadership qualities to motivate them.

When CTT's work ethic and Cam Newton were no longer here, there was only a group of kids coached the CGM way. That way turned out to be the wrong way.

[Eagle Eye 7]

You mean CGC?

[autigeremt 6,827]

There are 2 ways to look at it IMO. People will say he can't be terrible he won a BCS Championship. And some people will say he is terrible because he went 3-9.

Even Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl...

Very true.

[tiger3 0]

My question is if he was such a bad coach, how did he win the National Championship? Did we just have that much talent? :S What happened that made him go 3-9 his last year?

He had cam and fairley in 2010 and Gus did a great job with the offense and thats why we won it.. it certainly wasn't the great coaching display he showed us! Then Gus left and it was all just down hill from there

[WarTiger 3,966]

Who cares? What difference does it make?

[NoALtiger 3,875]

Good grief I hate mid-week. Come on gameday. Ha!!

[jvilletiger 0]

Pride comes before the fall. Chizik came in humble and ready to work, after the Iowa State debacle. Then he wins the NC, and he loses his mind! In the words of Ron Burgandy, "that escalated quickly!"

[Tiger 8,835]

True, in his book he also comments on how being a HC was the first time he didnt have a direct impact on the game (calling plays) and how it was difficult for him. He probably had ego issues with the press Gus was getting and thought he should start meddling.

[milehighfan 1,240]

Whatever it was the mindset with this years team is vastly different. This team goes in thiking it can win. Lat year, I guess they wondered if they could win.

[Rednilla 5,404]

I don't think Chizik is a bad coach...but I do think he is a bad HEAD coach. At this point, it's hard to argue that the BCS Championship had a lot more to do with Malzahn than with Chizik. It was the offense that carried the team, after all, and we saw how the offense deteriorated as Gene got more and more involved with it. Combine that with the turnaround of this season, and it's hard for me to think the primary component of the 2010 success was anything but Gus and his offense.

Chizik did an admirable job of handling the negative media, however, and he deserves credit for that.

As for Gus learning from Chizik's mistakes, well, yeah, I'm sure he did, just as I'm sure he learned from the mistakes Houston Nutt made at Arkansas when Malzahn was turning heads in Fayetteville. The man is brilliant; he likely learns as much as he can from every outlet he can.

[NCTiger 0]

I don't think Chizik is a bad coach...but I do think he is a bad HEAD coach. At this point, it's hard to argue that the BCS Championship had a lot more to do with Malzahn than with Chizik. It was the offense that carried the team, after all, and we saw how the offense deteriorated as Gene got more and more involved with it. Combine that with the turnaround of this season, and it's hard for me to think the primary component of the 2010 success was anything but Gus and his offense.

Chizik did an admirable job of handling the negative media, however, and he deserves credit for that.

As for Gus learning from Chizik's mistakes, well, yeah, I'm sure he did, just as I'm sure he learned from the mistakes Houston Nutt made at Arkansas when Malzahn was turning heads in Fayetteville. The man is brilliant; he likely learns as much as he can from every outlet he can.

Spot on Red and if we continue to win what you pointed out above will be where the story line on Auburn shifts from Cam/luck/one man team/hate to Gus was the driving force........Auburn is back.......where we should have been after 2010.

War Eagle !