Staff Changes

[TitanTiger 21,242]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.

Those defenses weren't his most of the time. They were more Chiz's midweek & late week alterations. I'm not saying bring Roof back. As WDE said it would cause a recruiting backlash due to our Rivals negitively recruiting the crap out of it. I'm just saying Roof never really had a fair shake @ AU & that's unfortunate.

Well he still was the DC and that doesn't explain the lack of player development and progress his defenses made throughout his tenure.

Actually it very easily could. Kids that have completely gameplan changes late on game weeks could easily be overflooded mentally thus lowering the focus on fundamentals.

If your going to say Chizik had a lot to do with his failures, well one can argue maybe it was Chizik's game plan against bama in 2009 or Oregon in the 2010 championship game. It still goes both ways, and the same defense that was one of the worst in AU history in 2011 played pretty well against Virginia under Chizik in the bowl game.

You're missing part of the point. Complete gameplan changes 2 or 3 days before a game puts kids at a serious disadvantage. On Oregon the staff had more than a month to get everyone on the same page for that game. Om Virginia it was Chiz''s the day he fired Roof so there was no late meddling to be done and then it still was a meh show by the D. Again, I'm not saying it happened before every game, just that it happened often. Chiz may have very well not meddled late before the 2009 IB.

I agree, if Chiz did change the game plan it would have put AU players at a disadvantage. You still have to think though, if Chiz is a defensive guru and the head coach he must have felt some kind away about Roof's game plans.

He definitely is a defensive man. He has done wonders at UNC.

Interestingly, when looking at common opponents, Chizik's defense at UNC wasn't any better than Roof's at GT. UNC gave up 60 more yards per game but only about 3 points less per game than GT vs their common foes (Clemson, Virginia, VT, Miami, Pitt and Duke). Not to mention, GT's other opponents (Georgia, Notre Dame, FSU, Tulane, Alcorn St) were much tougher than UNC's (South Carolina, Illinois, NC State, Delaware, North Carolina A&T). And one could argue that UNC's defense had the benefit of being paired with one of the best offense in the country while GT's defense suffered from their offense being mediocre and one-dimensional.

Finally, one could argue that the caliber of player GT is able to get is certainly less than that of UNC, much less most of the other teams on their schedule.

[DAG 34,763]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.

Those defenses weren't his most of the time. They were more Chiz's midweek & late week alterations. I'm not saying bring Roof back. As WDE said it would cause a recruiting backlash due to our Rivals negitively recruiting the crap out of it. I'm just saying Roof never really had a fair shake @ AU & that's unfortunate.

Well he still was the DC and that doesn't explain the lack of player development and progress his defenses made throughout his tenure. If your going to say Chizik had a lot to do with his failures, well one can argue maybe it was Chizik's game plan against bama in 2009 or Oregon in the 2010 championship game. It still goes both ways, and the same defense that was one of the worst in AU history in 2011 played pretty well against Virginia under Chizik in the bowl game.

Chizik gets all the blame but no credit.He was the head coach for the national championship season was he not.And as for the control freak BS there is no bigger control freak on the planet than saban and it seems to work out for him.

Chiz was and he does deserve credit.

And Saban isn't as big of a control freak as you think. Saban is hands on but he lets his assistant's do most of the coaching. A big reason why uat has been so good.

This is pretty accurate. I never got the feel that Saban was this insane control freak. You can even see that with the way he has adapted his offense to fit the mold of the day. He pretty much lets Kiffin does what he wants under certain parametes I presume.

[DAG 34,763]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.

Those defenses weren't his most of the time. They were more Chiz's midweek & late week alterations. I'm not saying bring Roof back. As WDE said it would cause a recruiting backlash due to our Rivals negitively recruiting the crap out of it. I'm just saying Roof never really had a fair shake @ AU & that's unfortunate.

Well he still was the DC and that doesn't explain the lack of player development and progress his defenses made throughout his tenure.

Actually it very easily could. Kids that have completely gameplan changes late on game weeks could easily be overflooded mentally thus lowering the focus on fundamentals.

If your going to say Chizik had a lot to do with his failures, well one can argue maybe it was Chizik's game plan against bama in 2009 or Oregon in the 2010 championship game. It still goes both ways, and the same defense that was one of the worst in AU history in 2011 played pretty well against Virginia under Chizik in the bowl game.

You're missing part of the point. Complete gameplan changes 2 or 3 days before a game puts kids at a serious disadvantage. On Oregon the staff had more than a month to get everyone on the same page for that game. Om Virginia it was Chiz''s the day he fired Roof so there was no late meddling to be done and then it still was a meh show by the D. Again, I'm not saying it happened before every game, just that it happened often. Chiz may have very well not meddled late before the 2009 IB.

I agree, if Chiz did change the game plan it would have put AU players at a disadvantage. You still have to think though, if Chiz is a defensive guru and the head coach he must have felt some kind away about Roof's game plans.

He definitely is a defensive man. He has done wonders at UNC.

Interestingly, when looking at common opponents, Chizik's defense at UNC wasn't any better than Roof's at GT. UNC gave up 60 more yards per game but only about 3 points less per game than GT vs their common foes (Clemson, Virginia, VT, Miami, Pitt and Duke). Not to mention, GT's other opponents (Georgia, Notre Dame, FSU, Tulane, Alcorn St) were much tougher than UNC's (South Carolina, Illinois, NC State, Delaware, North Carolina A&T). And one could argue that UNC's defense had the benefit of being paired with one of the best offense in the country while GT's defense suffered from their offense being mediocre and one-dimensional.

Finally, one could argue that the caliber of player GT is able to get is certainly less than that of UNC, much less most of the other teams on their schedule.

Good stats. You have a point. Maybe we are just cursed at AU haha.

[alexava 6,974]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.

Those defenses weren't his most of the time. They were more Chiz's midweek & late week alterations. I'm not saying bring Roof back. As WDE said it would cause a recruiting backlash due to our Rivals negitively recruiting the crap out of it. I'm just saying Roof never really had a fair shake @ AU & that's unfortunate.

Well he still was the DC and that doesn't explain the lack of player development and progress his defenses made throughout his tenure. If your going to say Chizik had a lot to do with his failures, well one can argue maybe it was Chizik's game plan against bama in 2009 or Oregon in the 2010 championship game. It still goes both ways, and the same defense that was one of the worst in AU history in 2011 played pretty well against Virginia under Chizik in the bowl game.

Chizik gets all the blame but no credit.He was the head coach for the national championship season was he not.And as for the control freak BS there is no bigger control freak on the planet than saban and it seems to work out for him.

Chiz was and he does deserve credit.

And Saban isn't as big of a control freak as you think. Saban is hands on but he lets his assistant's do most of the coaching. A big reason why uat has been so good.

This is pretty accurate. I never got the feel that Saban was this insane control freak. You can even see that with the way he has adapted his offense to fit the mold of the day. He pretty much lets Kiffin does what he wants under certain parametes I presume.

i think he is a control freak but focused enough to be involved in the game plan that it don't get pushed back to a late week interference in changing it. He is on top of it Sunday morning.

[McLoofus 35,182]

This is the thing that makes me lean toward it being a Chizik problem. Both Roof and Van Gorder were successful and improved whatever defense they inherited at multiple stops before and after Auburn. But under Chizik, they fielded terrible defenses. That tends to make me think it was less them and more CGC.

CEJ also failed miserably despite a good resume and having a lot of talent on hand...

I am not even sure Roof was fired. I think it is reasonable to believe he left because of the interference. More mutual than anything. I still not sure I would want Roof. It would be a proverbial smack in the face to Chizik too.

...and he also effectively quit as much as he got fired. I've always maintained that something happened midseason 2014, and from what our insiders have suggested here and just putting the pieces together- there's not a DC in all of college football who wants to keep his job who would have single covered Amari Cooper for an entire game in 2014- it's pretty easy for me to believe that he got fed up with the meddling from the PTB and went on a mental vacation beginning in October. (The business with Whitehead certainly didn't help, but I'm not sure he alone created a giant schism in the locker room.)

It's concerning that Gus and the PTB might not be seeing eye to eye on this hire.

[Wareagle1092 0]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.

Those defenses weren't his most of the time. They were more Chiz's midweek & late week alterations. I'm not saying bring Roof back. As WDE said it would cause a recruiting backlash due to our Rivals negitively recruiting the crap out of it. I'm just saying Roof never really had a fair shake @ AU & that's unfortunate.

Well he still was the DC and that doesn't explain the lack of player development and progress his defenses made throughout his tenure.

Actually it very easily could. Kids that have completely gameplan changes late on game weeks could easily be overflooded mentally thus lowering the focus on fundamentals.

If your going to say Chizik had a lot to do with his failures, well one can argue maybe it was Chizik's game plan against bama in 2009 or Oregon in the 2010 championship game. It still goes both ways, and the same defense that was one of the worst in AU history in 2011 played pretty well against Virginia under Chizik in the bowl game.

You're missing part of the point. Complete gameplan changes 2 or 3 days before a game puts kids at a serious disadvantage. On Oregon the staff had more than a month to get everyone on the same page for that game. Om Virginia it was Chiz''s the day he fired Roof so there was no late meddling to be done and then it still was a meh show by the D. Again, I'm not saying it happened before every game, just that it happened often. Chiz may have very well not meddled late before the 2009 IB.

I agree, if Chiz did change the game plan it would have put AU players at a disadvantage. You still have to think though, if Chiz is a defensive guru and the head coach he must have felt some kind away about Roof's game plans.

He definitely is a defensive man. He has done wonders at UNC.

Interestingly, when looking at common opponents, Chizik's defense at UNC wasn't any better than Roof's at GT. UNC gave up 60 more yards per game but only about 3 points less per game than GT vs their common foes (Clemson, Virginia, VT, Miami, Pitt and Duke). Not to mention, GT's other opponents (Georgia, Notre Dame, FSU, Tulane, Alcorn St) were much tougher than UNC's (South Carolina, Illinois, NC State, Delaware, North Carolina A&T). And one could argue that UNC's defense had the benefit of being paired with one of the best offense in the country while GT's defense suffered from their offense being mediocre and one-dimensional.

Finally, one could argue that the caliber of player GT is able to get is certainly less than that of UNC, much less most of the other teams on their schedule.

Are you trying to say that Roof would be a better candidate than Gene Chizik???? How long has Ted Roof been at GT and how bad was UNC last year Defensively. Look at the numbers when GC was the DC at Auburn compared to when Ted ROOF was anywhere. No comparison, Chizik is a better recruiter, players coach, game planner, and has a much better resume than Ted Roof would ever have. I think Ted Roof is grateful to Chizik for his only ring by the way.

[keesler 5,957]

This is the thing that makes me lean toward it being a Chizik problem. Both Roof and Van Gorder were successful and improved whatever defense they inherited at multiple stops before and after Auburn. But under Chizik, they fielded terrible defenses. That tends to make me think it was less them and more CGC.

We had an Ellis Johnson problem too though.

[aubiefifty 18,244]

The thing that scares me about Ted Roof is his defenses declined during his time at Auburn.People questioned that the Auburn players were not playing to their potential or developing under Ted Roof. I wouldn't mind seeing Paul Rhoads or Gene Chizik come back before Ted Roof. Rhoads faced similar issues as Ted Roof in 2008, with a bad offense under Tommy T. and his Tony Franklin experiment. Rhoad's defense still ranked in the top 30 nationally in overall defense, 10th in yards per play and 15th in scoring defense.

after firing chiz and hiring gus who worked for chiz and then asking him back might not be a good thing. i doubt very many coaches would take that sort of thing in stride. and i say that knowing chiz loves auburn. does that make sense to anyone else?

[PoetTiger 1,901]

Roof seems like a true professional, and I could not personally imagine him wanting to come back to Auburn. Specifically with so many saying Gus is coaching for his job next season. Regardless of reason his defenses have never impressed me and he was not the best recruiter, statistically speaking anyway.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

no, it is best if chizik goes on his merry way, and we go a seperate way...would not be a good thing

[TitanTiger 21,242]

Are you trying to say that Roof would be a better candidate than Gene Chizik???? How long has Ted Roof been at GT and how bad was UNC last year Defensively. Look at the numbers when GC was the DC at Auburn compared to when Ted ROOF was anywhere. No comparison, Chizik is a better recruiter, players coach, game planner, and has a much better resume than Ted Roof would ever have. I think Ted Roof is grateful to Chizik for his only ring by the way.

Well first, Chizik isn't a candidate. He will not be the DC at Auburn.

But secondly, I'm just telling you what the actual numbers say. You can draw or make up whatever conclusions you wish from that. Here are the actual numbers:

UNC vs GT defenses against common opponents (Clemson, Virginia, VT, Miami, Pitt, Duke):

UNC: 456.2 yds per game, 26 points per game

GT: 390.7 yds per game, 29.2 points per game

And when comparing their overall season numbers, you have to take into account that GT played a much tougher overall schedule than UNC did. GTs other opponents this year were Georgia, FSU, Notre Dame, Tulane and Alcorn St. while UNC played South Carolina, Illinois, NC State, Delaware and North Carolina A&T.

And Roof significantly improved GTs defense his first season too. Chizik has had the advantage of coaching in better situations overall (schools with more history of success, bigger athletics budgets, etc) than Roof aside from Iowa State, which tells you that even good coaches can't always overcome the deck being stacked against them.

[PigskinPat 2,610]

no, it is best if chizik goes on his merry way, and we go a seperate way...would not be a good thing

Are we looking at Chizik??

[AUshyster 0]

I think Roof was a bad hire philosophically for Chizik (same with van Girder). Both have a complex system whereas Chizik has a line up and GATA philosophy.

I don't know about changing game plans midweek and whatnot, but I distinctly remember having what looked like a pressure called pre snap and once the offense shifted we would revert to our base...I think this was Chizik.

Also, I think it takes time to install the complete defense and if the head coach is constantly telling you to simplify, you are always installing or running only pay off your D.

I don't have a playbook of either Roof or van Girder, but do have one of Chizik's from '04 and it clocks in at roughly 75 pages, where Saban's '02 or '03 playbook is 200+ pages.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that whoever is hired needs time to install the whole D, and be given time to get it up and running. UAT was pretty bad on D in '07 but pretty dang good in '08. That's not enough time for recruiting to make up the difference.

[TitanTiger 21,242]

no, it is best if chizik goes on his merry way, and we go a seperate way...would not be a good thing

Are we looking at Chizik??

No.

[Butthead 525]

i think gus should hire spurrier to be his program advisor.

[Wareagle1092 0]

Are you trying to say that Roof would be a better candidate than Gene Chizik???? How long has Ted Roof been at GT and how bad was UNC last year Defensively. Look at the numbers when GC was the DC at Auburn compared to when Ted ROOF was anywhere. No comparison, Chizik is a better recruiter, players coach, game planner, and has a much better resume than Ted Roof would ever have. I think Ted Roof is grateful to Chizik for his only ring by the way.

Well first, Chizik isn't a candidate. He will not be the DC at Auburn.

But secondly, I'm just telling you what the actual numbers say. You can draw or make up whatever conclusions you wish from that. Here are the actual numbers:

UNC vs GT defenses against common opponents (Clemson, Virginia, VT, Miami, Pitt, Duke):

UNC: 456.2 yds per game, 26 points per game

GT: 390.7 yds per game, 29.2 points per game

And when comparing their overall season numbers, you have to take into account that GT played a much tougher overall schedule than UNC did. GTs other opponents this year were Georgia, FSU, Notre Dame, Tulane and Alcorn St. while UNC played South Carolina, Illinois, NC State, Delaware and North Carolina A&T.

And Roof significantly improved GTs defense his first season too. Chizik has had the advantage of coaching in better situations overall (schools with more history of success, bigger athletics budgets, etc) than Roof aside from Iowa State, which tells you that even good coaches can't always overcome the deck being stacked against them.

I never said GC was a candidate. All I said was if Gus wants to rehire a former Auburn DC I would rather him choose GC or PR. What is GT record and what is NC's record, who played for the ACC championship and who struggled in the ACC all year, and your numbers prove my point I would rather give up yards than points any day. Besides points determine's wins and losses I guess that is why UNC only loss 2 games so far.

[ellitor 33,783]

Roof seems like a true professional, and I could not personally imagine him wanting to come back to Auburn.

Word is he's interested.

[TitanTiger 21,242]

I never said GC was a candidate. All I said was if Gus wants to rehire a former Auburn DC I would rather him choose GC or PR.

So, you prefer Paul Rhoads. Because the other isn't worthy of discussion since it won't ever happen.

What is GT record and what is NC's record, who played for the ACC championship and who struggled in the ACC all year, and your numbers prove my point I would rather give up yards than points any day. Besides points determine's wins and losses I guess that is why UNC only loss 2 games so far.

Holy run-on sentence, Batman!

All this does for you (besides show a stunning disdain for punctuation and spelling) is show that you only interact with statistics in the most superficial and meaningless ways possible. As I showed, GTs and UNCs defensive stats are basically a wash. Only a field goal's difference in scoring. The real difference in their records is due first to UNC having one of the best offenses in the country (ranked 10th at 40.9 points per game) and GT having a very mediocre and one dimensional one, and second to the fact that GT played a harder schedule.

Stop while you're behind.

[Harp_AU2013 221]

PM says Diaz is a target. Do we actually have any reason to believe he has been contacted?

[aubie17 65]

The last word was that the focus was on a current SEC coach. Has the Roof conversation surfaced due to the SEC coach not being interested or Roof pursuing Malzahn?

[TitanTiger 21,242]

PM says Diaz is a target. Do we actually have any reason to believe he has been contacted?

My understanding is yes. But information on the search has been very sparse since Kelly turned us down. Gus isn't talking to much of anyone outside of whoever he's interviewing.

[aubiefifty 18,244]

free auburn fan club on facebook say marshall liststed roof,todd grantham,manny diaz, and of course allen. and the same post stated roof was very interested. i am not sure if he knows what he is talking about since so many names etc have been thrown around and for some reason i feel like pm is kinda poking fun at auburn from what i pick up for free and some of the auburn groups on facebook.

[martyb4au 0]

I always liked Roof as a person, hard to tell what his D would have been like on his own.

Seems to me we are trying to let coaches finish their bowl season for some reason:

*Roof has been available for a long time so we could have hired him at anytime

*Allen has been done for a week or so

Since we have not hired them yet, I don't think it is either one.

Maybe Grantham or Diaz since they play the same day we do.

[Wareagle1092 0]

I never said GC was a candidate. All I said was if Gus wants to rehire a former Auburn DC I would rather him choose GC or PR.

So, you prefer Paul Rhoads. Because the other isn't worthy of discussion since it won't ever happen.

What is GT record and what is NC's record, who played for the ACC championship and who struggled in the ACC all year, and your numbers prove my point I would rather give up yards than points any day. Besides points determine's wins and losses I guess that is why UNC only loss 2 games so far.

Holy run-on sentence, Batman!

All this does for you (besides show a stunning disdain for punctuation and spelling) is show that you only interact with statistics in the most superficial and meaningless ways possible. As I showed, GTs and UNCs defensive stats are basically a wash. Only a field goal's difference in scoring. The real difference in their records is due first to UNC having one of the best offenses in the country (ranked 10th at 40.9 points per game) and GT having a very mediocre and one dimensional one, and second to the fact that GT played a harder schedule.

Stop while you're behind.

Oh so Gt's offense is the problem now, well many would argue the offense was strength of GT in recent memory. Your making up a lot of excuses for Ted Roof, you must really miss the guy. Paul Rhoads did a much better job at Auburn than Ted Roof has ever done, in 2008 alone. I can argue that he went through more offensively than Roof ever has while coaching at Auburn. Tony Franklin was fired mid season and it was an absolute disaster. Oh yeah, thanks for pointing out my grammatical errors; maybe Ill hire you on as a tutor when I take English 102 next semester.

OOoo and since I refuse to take time out of my busy schedule to list irrelevant stats I'm missing your senseless point. The way I interact is COMMON sense, and I don't need Google to Tell me that Ted Roof was a failure as an AUBURN COACH. (Which was our initial debate I guess its the Alzheimer's kicking in my man). LOL and dumbass really?? My common logic upsets you just that much??? Just sad, you should know better, Titan tiger more like Ancient Tiger.

[au_bsci_04 407]

Roof said he hasn't talked to Gus, fwiw.

Feels like a Diaz/Grantham situation.