Who would have ever thought that only two years removed from winning a BCS championship, Auburn's first in almost 50 years, head coach Gene Chizik would be spiraling toward obscurity and getting booted off the Plains?
Well, that's what happens in the SEC. After finishing 14-0 in 2010 and defeating Oregon in the BCS title game, Auburn finished the following year with an 8-5 record and will probably wrap up the 2012 season at and embarrassing 3-9. To make matters worse, Chizik has beaten in-state rival Alabama only once, in a thrilling 28-27 come from behind victory in Tuscaloosa. In the other two games in which Chizik has been the head coach at Auburn, the Tigers have been outscored 68-35 by the Crimson Tide and Chizik's teams trail the series at 1-2. Barring an unforseen collapes of the Alabama football program, that margin looks to expand to 1-3 on Nov. 24th, when the Tigers roll into Bryant-Denny Stadium once again to take on what will probably still be the No.1 team in the country.
Sure, Auburn lost Heisman winner Cam Newton and 1st round draft pick Nick Fairley to the NFL after the 2010 season, and some rebuilding is to be expected, but this 2012 season has been an utter embarrassment down on the Plains. This begs the argument --would the combination of Newton and Fairley have been enough to propel almost any other team to a BCS title? Was the caliber of the 2010 Coach of the Year masked by two phenomenal players to the point that we elevated the man to a level that he had no business being elevated to? Well, he finished his tenure at Iowa St. with a record of 5-19, so one would think that the Tigers had an idea of what they were getting themselves into. Maybe they saw the perverbial diamond in the rough when they gave Chizik the keys to the castle and the reigns to the Auburn football program. I'll admit, I was among doubters when he first took the job at Auburn, but by the end of his second year, he had won a BCS title. For those keeping score, that's one year quicker than it took Alabama head coach Nick Saban to lead the Tide to its first of what has now become 2 championships in the past three years.
Doubt seemed to fade quickly after the 2010 season, but fast forward to 2012, and Chizik's true colors are beginning to shine through. Don't get me wrong, the man seems like a nice enough guy. He cares about his players and is genuinley concerned for their well-being, both on and off the field. But that's not enough in the SEC. If you want to stick around, the formula is simple: WIN.
Alas, there isn't much optimism on the Plains right now. After major coaching changes that were intended to improve the Tiger program, Auburn has plummeted to the bottom of the SEC. Now, I for one will always contend that Auburn is a 2nd tier school in the SEC, and will always be the little brother to the big bad Crimson Tide, but 3-9 is unexceptable even by Kentucky standards.
Expect Chizik to be let go shortly after the massacre in Tuscaloosa in three weeks. Losing to Nick Saban is perfectly acceptable. Losing to Alabama, (when you're the head coach of the Auburn Tigers) is not taken lightly. And in the SEC, losing every conference game in a single season will not be tolerated..
So to Gene Chizik I say this --Keep your head up kiddo, and if you can't find another coaching job on par with the big boys in the SEC, there's always guidance counselor.
Until next time, Roll Tide!
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