SB Nation User Blog: crashmattb

Interesting Article - Tommy Tuberville: A Dollar Short

crashmattb — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:25:37 -0000

I know some of you are still having a hard time coming to the reality that Tuberville and Auburn have parted ways after a decade on the Plains, and how could any Tiger fan not be disturbed by what's occurred over the last few days. To say that the situation got out of hand is putting lightly. However, my take on this situation is a little different from some (or most) of you in that I believe Tuberville ultimately had a major flaw that he just couldn't overcome. Coach Tubs inability to find consistency with the offense during his tenure (despite his ability to almost always have strong defenses) became a troubling problem that he never seemed to have an answer for. I know guys, at this time most of you are hurt by what has transpired in Auburn, but his flaw was eventually going to lead him to this day (whether this year, next year or 5 years from now). I came across this article this evening on Scout.com and thought I would share with the rest of you Tiger fans.

Tommy Tuberville: A Dollar Short

Tommy Tuberville: A Dollar Short

By Matt Zemek

Staff Columnist

Posted Dec 3, 2008

Of all the big-name coaches to lose employment in 2008, Tommy Tuberville gave America the best example of how college football coaching can closely resemble the national economy, and more specifically, the sagging auto industry. A coach's surprising downfall wasn't so much the product of a failure to deliver results as it was a lack of executive responsibility and decision-making poise.

It's not fair, mind you--few things in the world of SEC football coaching are--but there is an unmistakably potent symbolism surrounding Tuberville's resignation after 10 solid seasons as the pilot of the Plainsmen. In the year of the bailout, a man not inclined to run away from a challenge was made to submit to a larger reality he didn't control.

At the end of his sideline stay in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Tubs was told by the world of pigskin politics that it was time for him to go. Just why did this dogged and generally successful competitor, who held onto his job with legendary tenacity after a stormy 2003 season, get pushed aside now? It couldn't have been his 85 wins, good for an average of 8.5 victories a season (many of those seasons being 11-game sojourns, and not 12). It couldn't have been his six-game winning streak in the Iron Bowl, a game that--if lost--can push out successful coaches like Bill Curry, whose 1989 SEC title didn't seem to matter that much at rival Alabama. It couldn't have been his spectacular 2004 season, in which Auburn went undefeated and had an even better case for a shared national title than it did in Pat Dye's magnificent 1983 campaign.

No, the toppling of Thomas Tuberville occurred for a deeper reason, a reason not that different from the three-ring circus involving General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Want to know why the Auburn outlook turned from faith to fatigue, and from trust to tension, in this last leg of Tuberville's tenure as the top Tiger? Very simply, Tuberville burned through offensive coordinators the way the Big Three auto makers have burned through cash in recent months. Despite having just one hugely crummy season--not enough, on the merits, to get him axed in a fairer world--Tuberville resigned because he was no longer seen as the man in charge of his ship. Too many panicky, reflexive, knee-jerk decisions with respect to his offensive tacticians drained away the last reserves of patience possessed by both the power structure and the proletariat on the Alabama plains.

When confidence crumbles, leadership is lacking, and history repeats itself, a football family can only take so much. He didn't deserve this fate--not when he won so consistently in the face of better-endowed and ascendant programs at LSU, Florida, Georgia, and (once again, after a break during the DuBose-Franchione-Price-Shula years) Alabama--but Tuberville knows why he's no longer Auburn's head coach today.

When a head coach fires one offensive coordinator after a particularly bad season, it's good leadership. But when that same head coach fires second and third coordinators not too many years later, the same act--robbed of its virtuous elements--begins to be seen as proof of an inability to hire the right guy in the first place. Instead of building a better automobile after many years of strong sales, Tuberville thought he could cosmetically redefine the branding at Auburn and win with a different marketing approach. The late-2007 flirtation with Tony Franklin's spread turned out to be the most conspicuous and--not surprisingly--the most dramatically devastating example of this dynamic.

By sampling and then discarding a number of coordinators--with former colleague (and soon-to-be backstabber) Bobby Petrino departing for Louisville after the 2002 season--Tuberville, a defensive guru, lost the ability to convince his fan base that the Tigers would be an elite team every year. Auburn outfits might have been bowl-bound SEC West contenders every season, but as long as these coordinator conflicts continued, 10-win seasons--indicators of a particularly powerful program--would only arrive on an occasional basis, and in the SEC, that's not enough at a school that has come to expect supreme success. The smooth run of 2004-'06 under Al Borges brought Auburn its period of sustained high-level excellence, but as soon as Borges lost his play-calling mojo in 2007, Tuberville encountered a final series of fights--with Borges and, soon afterward, with Franklin--that ultimately knocked him to the coaching canvas.

The revolving door at the offensive coordinator position--and the scattered, impulsive way Tommy Tuberville dealt with that part of his coaching staff--robbed Auburn of needed consistency, and made the program appear unsteady heading into 2009 and beyond. For all he had done to stabilize the Tigers in the decade since the soap-operatic departure of Terry Bowden, Tuberville ran into his own death valley of drama. By gobbling up offensive coordinators and then spitting them out a short while later, the Auburn coach who won so consistently for a long time suddenly saw the landscape shift, and this time, his own head was on the chopping block.

It was said for many a year in America that "What's good for General Motors is good for the country." The same was true for Tommy Tuberville at Auburn. But it's a different world now, in so many ways. Right or wrong, fair or foul, a winning coach could no longer run through offensive coodinators like water. A brain drain occurred at a proud football program, and as a result, the man called Tubs was drowned by the flood he himself created on the plains of Alabama.

Demise of Auburn Continues

crashmattb — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:27:18 -0000

Where does our program go from here? I wanted to be optimistic this week thinking that cutting lose Franklin would bring our team together and all focus would be on kicking lowly Arkansas's butt. Instead, we just got embarrassed by another inferior team. By the way, here's a stat that shows why we shouldn't have even been in this game...Arkansas outgained Auburn 416 to 193 yards tonight. I also ask this, can Tuberville survive this type of season?

Tiger Blues in Nashville

crashmattb — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:57:10 -0000

Good evening (morning), Auburn fans. Yes, that sick feeling in your stomach is well justified after watching our Tigers accomplish something Auburn hadn't done since 1955...lose to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Unfortunately, I was there to witness the historic win (loss) in person. First off, let me congratulate the Dores on finally beating my Tigers for the first time since before my parents were even born. Their coaches wanted it more, and their team wanted it more. Heck, their fans wanted it more. And in a way, I wish I couldn't say that this loss is a huge surprise. Honestly folks, we've had to endure watching 6 games of an under-performing offense and pathetic (ignorant, bush-league, horrible) play-calling. So, what happened this evening at Vandy Stadium was...in a way...inevitable.

At the beginning of the game our team looked prepared and determined to win this game, and our offense moved the ball very well. Of course, we were running that "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense instead of the spread formation. However, Franklin's play-calling showed very early signs of ineptitude when AU failed to score despite being inside the 5 yard line for 4 full plays. I was 8 rows up from the end zone and watched in amazement as Ben Tate was pounded up the middle on pretty much the same play on 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down, and even 4th down. Franklin's lack of creativity in that situation was absolutely mind-blowing. As much speed and versatility that our many backs have, Franklin chose the "stuff it down their throats" maneuver with no success.

And so after a stop by our defense, we got the ball back for another shot. We managed to move the ball well very well with a 9 play, 49 yard march ending with a Rod Smith TD reception. Game on! And before we knew it, the AU defense picks off a pass by Nickson giving the ball right back to the offense again. The AU offense takes advantage by only taking 2 plays to score on the Dores. At that point all I could think about it is how much better our offense looks, and even thought that the rout of the Dores was on its way. Then...Wes "sophomore blues" Byrum misses a simple extra point. What? Really? Well, the way our offense looks, I don't think one point will matter. With 3:09 left in the 1st Quarter that should have been a justified thought, however it would be the last time Auburn got the opportunity to put points on the board.

What we saw tonight was more confusing than any loss should have been. How does an offense go on a 1st quarter tear to 13-0 (should've been 21-0) and then completely drop off the map? They simply didn't show up once Byrum missed that extra point. Why? Well, I will admit that the players made some mistakes and missed several opportunities to gain the momentum back, but this was a loss predicated by the offensive coaching. There was a change in philosophy at some point where Franklin was allowed to switch back to his spread formation and the Auburn offense never found rhythm once that switch was made. That is why we as a fan base are truly justified in questioning the competency of Tony Franklin. This guy really has no clue...

I do agree that our offense has been in decline since the 2005 season, and Tuberville most definitely deserves to shoulder some blame for this team's performance to date. However, the Al Borges days seem like a dream compared to what we had to endure tonight. I've never seen a coach misuse so much talent as Tony Franklin has done this season. At this point I believe we may have just witnessed the end of his career at Auburn, although Tubs may keep him around until season's end. So where do we go from here? Does Auburn return to the Power-I offense and begin to fully utilize the talented running backs? Does the Chris Todd era officially come to an end as well? I'm at a loss when thinking about where the Auburn season goes from here, but Tubs needs to take full control before this completely tears the team apart.

What makes it all worse is that I call Nashville home, and must endure some of the weirdest and most humbling taunts from a fanbase ever...from Vandy fans. Ouch!