Published January 11, 2011 - 4:11pm
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“Race was the # 1 factor. You can say it’s not about race, but you can’t compare the two resumes and say he deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume.”
-Charles Barkley, Auburn Alumni
“We want a leader, not a loser.”
-Unidentified Auburn Fan (after Chizik’s hiring)
Hindsight is 20/20, or so they say. As Gene Chizik lifted the ball off the BCS Championship Trophy last night, the hindsight was crystal clear. Of course, it was only a little over 25 months ago that Auburn fans were preparing for the arrival of their new coach, Turner Gill. Gill had done an amazing job at Buffalo and captured the MAC Conference Championship and was the clear cut choice to take the position vacated by Tommy Tuberville. Then Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs shocked the fan base by hiring Chizik and saying “I know that we have found the right fit for Auburn.” Within seconds, many fans were calling for Jacobs head and his job. This was the worst thing that could have happened.
It didn’t take long for Auburn’s most famous alum, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to find a camera and start adding fuel to the fire. Barkley was enraged and took his usual stance that Chizik got the job because he was white. Barkley is so predictable when it comes to situations like these that most sports fans were asking when and not if he would get on his soapbox.
To his credit, Chizik took the high road. He went out and did his job and never complained. He understands that pleasing an entire fan base is an impossible task. He also understands that the difference between the fans loving you or hating you can be as little as 1 point. He also understands football the way I would want my coaches to understand the game. Nothing too flashy, leave the offense and defense in the hands of their coordinators and sit back and manage the game. If you have a chance to win the game on a last second play, make sure you opponent doesn’t get another second to run another play. Don’t make it any harder than it should be.
So, here’s to you Coach Chizik, for your calm in the midst of criticism and your willingness to take the road less traveled. Congratulations on your National Championship. Thanks for helping the SEC maintain is dominance over the PAC 10, Big 10, Big 12 or any other conference that looks really fast against teams on their schedule, but seem to slow down considerably. War Eagle to you Gene!
And to Charles Barkley or the guy waiting at the airport to let Jay Jacobs know Chizik’s record as a head coach, please come forward and tell us what you think of him now. Accountability will make you a better man, so please Sir Chuck, step forward and admit you were wrong. Airport guy, come out of hiding and recite the numbers 14-0. I’m sure you were in line to buy your national championship t-shirt this morning. Or you were probably rolling Toomer’s Corner. As Rocky said after beating Ivan Drago, “if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change,” and as of last night, a lot Auburn fans changed and became fans of Gene Chizik.
Barkley should shut his mouth and work on his god awful golf swing.
Seems like somebody always pulls the race card.
AMEn you know its always gonna bepulled ( race card that is ) I wasnt happy when he was hired but hey I love the way he plays the full game and not waste the last 30 secs WTG GENE YOU HAVE SHOWED EVERYONE HOW TO BE A GOOD COACH !!!!!!!!!
As an Auburn fan, I’ll say this in the nicest way possible. Charles Barkley needs to shut up and go away. He was great for Auburn as a player, and for a short time in the NBA, but when he started spitting on little girls in the NBA stands, and yelling racism at every Auburn hire, he lost all relevance as a spokesperson for Auburn University. I’m not going to sit here and state that I was a fan of the Gene Chizik hire. I was one of those blinded by his 5-19 record at Iowa State. However, when the hire was made, I supported Jay Jacobs decision 100%. He’s as much an Auburn man as there is, and he knows the business of college sports a lot better than I do.
I agree. Sometimes former players need to realize that they are just that (FORMER PLAYERS). He is not responsible for hiring a coach or making any relevant decisions at the university (Thank God). He should just keep quiet and fade out of the spotlight, like all the other Former Athletes!
agree
No quality winning coach wanted the job… They all hear the stories about Lowder and Auburn.
Only a coach with two losing seasons at a third tier Big 10 school was willing to put up with the payola system.
Charles wasn’t wrong, and without the fluke of Newton, Chizik is 6-6 this year, at best.
You could say the same thing about Meyer’s tenure at Florida if he did not have the “fluke of Tebow”. Fluke or whatever, gotta have the right players, good coaching, and little bit of luck.
First, hats off to Chizik for proving the naysayers (I was one) wrong. The true test of whether Newton was the difference or Chizik is only as good as his prior record will bear itself out in the years going forward.
Second, as for Urban Meyer, people forget that he went undefeated at Utah with Alex Smith and won his 1st title at Florida with Chris Leak (recruited & signed by Ron Zook) not Tebow as the starter. As much as we love to hate Meyer is success is not solely due to the “fluke” of Tebow.
Your last statement is spot on…coaching, talent, & a bit of luck make championship teams.
You are kidding right? Nick Fairley alone would win us more than 6 games, and I love how people overlook the speed we have at wide receiver in Zachory and Blake, as well as the great hands on Adams.
Let us also not forget our All American left tackle, and senior dominated O line. We also have O Mac who had the highest yards per carry average in the entire nation, and a thousand yard rushing true freshman who broke the legendary Bo Jacksons record.
You are kidding if you think this team would be 6-6 maybe you didn’t realize that Malzhan is the best offensive coordinator in the entire nation. Let me give some facts about the guy since you clearly don’t know his offensive statistics. These stats are taken straight from wikipedia but they are 100% accurate, and it shows the pure dominance of his offensive philosophy considering he led the nation in total yards multiple times in the last 5 years
During the 2007 season Malzahn emerged as one of the premier offensive coordinators in the nation, as Tulsa ranked 1st in the nation in total yards per game, ahead of Texas Tech and Hawaiʻi, and with a more balanced attack than both teams. The Golden Hurricane also ranked 3rd in the nation in passing and led their conference in scoring. Tulsa became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in a single season.
After the regular season, Malzahn interviewed for the open position at Arkansas once Nutt resigned in November 2007.
In 2008, Tulsa was again the nation’s most prolific attack, leading with nearly 7,980 total yards of offense averaging 570 yards per game. The Golden Hurricane were ranked 2nd in the nation in scoring behind Oklahoma, scoring over 47 points per game. Tulsa not only ranked 2nd in the nation in scoring that year, but finished with the 2nd highest scoring offense in the history of major college football. The offense was also the nation’s most balanced attack, ranking 5th in the nation in rushing and 9th in passing. The Tulsa quarterbacks finished 3rd in the nation in passing efficiency, behind only Oklahoma and Texas.
This will all be answered next season. Auburn will get their chance to show how much Newton helped their team, when he is gone next year! That is when Chizic will show how good a coach he is. No one will really know until next season. There wera at least 4 games that would have been loses if not for Cam Newton!
I want to be the guy that said I told you so, I didn’t look at what he did at a doormat school in the big 12. A school that could not recruit in state because of their big Brother Iowa, and could not compete with Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska. I looked Chizik and said here is our guy, he went 14-0 his last season as a defensive coordinator at Auburn, and 14-0 as a defensive coordinator at Texas and won a national championship.
I think its funny to look back now and say look at how much better Iowa state is doing in the 2 seasons since Chizik left just because of his recruiting, but I won’t be that guy because everyone can say they were not against the hire of chizik… I just wish I had it recorded so I could put these fans in their place 2 seasons later.
Obviously one thing we can say about both Chizik and Meyer: they know how to recruit for what they need.
Dabyrdman makes my point by listing the QB’s Urban recruited for his system. Chizik came into Auburn seeing the attrition and lax recruiting of the past few years and was smart enough to find some JuCo players who had already gotten the experience needed to step in and immediately make a difference. He plugged the holes left by Tubberville so that the positions that were already filled (O-line) could be better utilized. Yes there’s more work to be done as they continue to recruit those that will move on, but I think it shows he had foresight in that regard.
I hope they have recruited for positions in the upcoming years as well as they did for this past year. Since I’m not an Alabama fan, I don’t assume I should receive the NC trophy every year, but I’ll definitely look forward to our next opportunity to play in the big game!
now again…. what was it that Tommy Tubberville did wrong?
this is the same Auburn fanbase that booed Chizik’s hiring
Of course it is! They didn’t even give the guy a chance, at first. NOW they do because they have a national championship. I wonder if this same fan base will be saying “yeah” to Chizik next season without Cam Newton to save many of their games?
Explanation for simple minded people……(UAT fans)
1 idiot yelling at the airport does represent the fan base!
1 washed up basketball player does not represent the alumni!
Paul Bryant is dead!
I swear ! Theres always gotta be some sore loser that has to put their 2 cents in , Yes Csm was a GREAT PLayer etc . but HEW ASNT THE WHOLE TEAM . He will tell you that if it wasnt for the lineman the running backs etc he couldnt have done it on his own ……. stop and think before you speak