Tommy Tuberville responds to Mike Lombardi’s heavy criticism of Auburn’s offense
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Tommy Tuberville isn’t the Auburn coach anymore, but he’s still going to bat for the Tigers.
Recently, NFL analyst Mike Lombardi (who used to be a GM in the league) was on his “GM Shuffle” podcast with former ESPN host Adnan Virk and absolutely blasted the Auburn offense.
First, Lombardi said that Stidham should have stayed at Baylor, then said he has no idea what Auburn’s offense is supposed to be:
“Jarrett Stidham, the kid from Auburn. Here’s this kid, he was a five-star, four-star kid at Baylor with Art Briles, okay? They have the absolute fiasco that happens there and then he decides to leave Baylor and goes to Auburn,” Lombardi says on the podcast. “Really if the kid was smart, he would have stayed at Baylor with Matt Rhule. Because if he plays with Matt Rhule at Baylor, he’s probably going to throw. He probably would have been a first or second-round pick. He’s easily better than Daniel Jones if he plays in an offense that would have highlighted what he can do.
“That offense at Auburn, I’m not sure what the hell it is. They run power, they run unbalanced… But anyway, that offense, seriously, might be one of the worst offenses in football, so you can’t evaluate a quarterback in it or they can’t train a quarterback, that’s the other thing. (Gus Malzahn) can’t train them.”
On Monday, Tuberville defended Malzahn while appearing on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP 105.5. He said it could have been just as much Stidham’s fault that the quarterback didn’t improve (via AL.com):
“How many championships has that guy won?” Tuberville said. “Gus is a good football coach. It all goes back to the assistants coaching their positions. Gus had a problem at coaching quarterback simply because he lost his quarterbacks coach a couple of years ago and bringing in a new quarterbacks coach sometimes doesn’t work.
“That’s unfair to say about Gus. He’s had very potent offenses over the years. Jarrett Stidham didn’t improve. Someone has to take the blame for that. Could’ve been Jarrett Stidham. Could’ve been coaching. Could’ve been scheme, but that’s water underneath the bridge. It is important everyone get on the same page for the season.”
Malzahn needs to choose a quarterback for the 2019 season, and he’s down to freshman Bo Nix and redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood. Will either of them be able to change the narrative about Auburn’s offense?
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
