ESPN+ College Football SP+ preseason projections

[AU9377 6,057]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:02 PM, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Too many people act like we weren't approximately 5 plays away from being 9-4. Texas A&M and Georgia are really the only 2 that we were pretty far from competing with and you have to figure we'd lose 2 others that we lost. It's not crazy to expect that we'll bounce back. 

This sounds so familiar.

[Mikey 16,781]

14 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

Still kinda new here. Haven't read many of your posts.. But I'm gonna hazard a guess and say u are/were a Malzahn man. BTW. My original post wasn't ridiculous.  There are some on here who's hate for Harsin far outweighs their hope for LONG TERM success for AU.It really don't matter who the coach is to them, it could be Harsin or someone else. They are so blinded by their Gus love,  they want nothing positive to come out of AU or whoever the coach is.

Name them.

Most of us would like nothing better than for Harsin to lead AU to a 15-0 record and national championship next year. However, judging from what we've seen so far, that, or even a winning season, is about as likely as pigs growing wings and flying.

[NWALA Tiger 3,695]

6 hours ago, Mikey said:

Name them.

Most of us would like nothing better than for Harsin to lead AU to a 15-0 record and national championship next year. However, judging from what we've seen so far, that, or even a winning season, is about as likely as pigs growing wings and flying.

Don't have to name them. They name their selves with their posts. The man has coached 1 season and on top of that has had to overcome a bogus investigation that done nothing but made his job even harder.. Give him time to implement his changes? I've said on here ad nauseum, wins and losses determines his fate. Everything else that people are up in arms over don't matter. If we go by your analysis,Pat Dye would have been gone after his first year. Gus had 8 years. Can't u give Harsin 2 or 3 b4 wanting to run him out of town?

Edited February 22, 2022 by NWALA Tiger

[Mikey 16,781]

3 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

If we go by your analysis,Pat Dye would have been gone after his first year.

That's wrong. With Dye, progress could be observed even from day one. Now, after 14 months with Harsin at the controls, there isn't one thing about the AU football program that is in better shape than it was the day before Harsin's hiring was announced.

Look at what we've got: Five game losing streak, with at least two of those losses to teams with inferior talent.

Fruit basket turnover with hiring/firing/quitting of assistant coaches.

Pedestrian recruiting of the normal high school/JUCO players. (9th in the SEC) Disastrous handling of the transfer portal (Gained 5, lost 20.) Check out Dye's 1982 recruiting class, it's the same time frame as Harsin's 2022 class.

A head coach who needs the importance of building relationships with alumni and high school coaches explained to him.

Workers in the athletic department unhappy with their day to day jobs.

Actions requiring an investigation. No, deeds reaching the level of firing for cause weren't found, but there were plenty of other things that had to be addressed.

So far, it isn't looking good. Spring practice and the few weeks after that will tell us whether next year's team will rise to the level of 5-7 or if we'll be stuck at 4-8 or worse..

[NWALA Tiger 3,695]

35 minutes ago, Mikey said:

That's wrong. With Dye, progress could be observed even from day one. Now, after 14 months with Harsin at the controls, there isn't one thing about the AU football program that is in better shape than it was the day before Harsin's hiring was announced.

Look at what we've got: Five game losing streak, with at least two of those losses to teams with inferior talent.

Fruit basket turnover with hiring/firing/quitting of assistant coaches.

Pedestrian recruiting of the normal high school/JUCO players. (9th in the SEC) Disastrous handling of the transfer portal (Gained 5, lost 20.) Check out Dye's 1982 recruiting class, it's the same time frame as Harsin's 2022 class.

A head coach who needs the importance of building relationships with alumni and high school coaches explained to him.

Workers in the athletic department unhappy with their day to day jobs.

Actions requiring an investigation. No, deeds reaching the level of firing for cause weren't found, but there were plenty of other things that had to be addressed.

So far, it isn't looking good. Spring practice and the few weeks after that will tell us whether next year's team will rise to the level of 5-7 or if we'll be stuck at 4-8 or worse..

The fact remains.. He has had one year..Why can't people understand?? His fate is not determined by most of the stuff u listed.. Let me know his record after couple more years , then it's open for debate. Until then he deserves a fair chance to sink or swim.

[Mikey 16,781]

22 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

The fact remains.. He has had one year..Why can't people understand?? His fate is not determined by most of the stuff u listed.. Let me know his record after couple more years , then it's open for debate. Until then he deserves a fair chance to sink or swim.

Originally, I thought Harsin or any new coach deserved three years to either succeed or fail. The thing with Harsin, there is no sign that anything has been improved. Zero. If someone is building something, he picks up hammer and nails, starts building and pretty soon, the progress, even if slow, is obvious.

Since you brought up Pat Dye, one thing about Dye's first team was they fought until the very end of every game. Narrow loss to powerful Tennessee in Knoxville when AU had the ball inside the Vol's five yard line when time ran out, for example. Once could see progress. All we saw after mid-season this past year is second-half collapses. The team didn't improve, it got worse.

[NWALA Tiger 3,695]

49 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Originally, I thought Harsin or any new coach deserved three years to either succeed or fail. The thing with Harsin, there is no sign that anything has been improved. Zero. If someone is building something, he picks up hammer and nails, starts building and pretty soon, the progress, even if slow, is obvious.

Since you brought up Pat Dye, one thing about Dye's first team was they fought until the very end of every game. Narrow loss to powerful Tennessee in Knoxville when AU had the ball inside the Vol's five yard line when time ran out, for example. Once could see progress. All we saw after mid-season this past year is second-half collapses. The team didn't improve, it got worse.

I agree, 2nd half of season team wilted. But I never saw them quit. Its wins/ losses, simple as that. Now what he does with recruiting, staff selection etc will help determine how much he wins.  But to me, he has to have a fair chance. 1 year isn't enough time. He is recruiting against our own administration's bungling of an investigation,  in addition to Saban, Smart and Fisher. Fair game to judge progress after this coming season . Too soon to do it now.. IMO

[Hank2020 3,381]

27 minutes ago, NWALA Tiger said:

I agree, 2nd half of season team wilted. But I never saw them quit. Its wins/ losses, simple as that. Now what he does with recruiting, staff selection etc will help determine how much he wins.  But to me, he has to have a fair chance. 1 year isn't enough time. He is recruiting against our own administration's bungling of an investigation,  in addition to Saban, Smart and Fisher. Fair game to judge progress after this coming season . Too soon to do it now.. IMO

I agree with your summation. I would also add that fans are should be rowing the boat. Don’t mean we aren’t looking at the direction the boat is going but should be rowing. Not rowing or rowing against isn’t supporting the team (Harsin is a part OT the team). Fans not on board has in reality probably little impact actually to game outcome though so most important is what you bring up (team togetherness).

[aubaseball 2,860]

All this comparing coaches is complete nonsense.   It’s a completely different level/era of college football.   What Dye did or didn’t do can’t be compared to what Harsin is or isn’t doing.   It’s foolish and really shows a lack of understanding of sports in general.   Another thing I would question (and that would go for any coach hired) is only giving a coach one year.   Unless that person is committing blatant violations or criminal behavior, to judge someone on one year is ridiculous.   
 

[JerryAU 1,893]

1 hour ago, NWALA Tiger said:

I agree, 2nd half of season team wilted. 

If they wilted last season, Lord help them this year.  That thin depth will catch up pretty quickly after they face LSU/UGA/OleMiss back to back starting Oct 1st.

There's no point in arguing whether CBH deserves 2-3 yrs before he's judged.  He's here to stay and he will be judged every single day he's employed as Auburn's HC. 

Judge - Compare - Analyze - Critique - Scrutinize -Judge some more - Compare some more...that's how the SEC operates.  No coach gets a breather unless he wears gold & black for Vandy.