not quite sure how firing Bowden was a mistake . .he took a team with 5 NFL running backs (Bostic, S. Davis, F. Beasley, T. Richardson, and H. Morrow) and made it a team last in the nation in rushing. He had numerous players getting in trouble with the law and severed ties with most Alabama high schools. His program lacked integrity and character and it took CTT some time to redevelop those relationships. By the way, if he is such a great coach, he wouldn't still be on ABC, heck, John Mackovitch was even given a 2nd chance. . . as far as the beating bama saving cTT's job . .if beating a 4-8 team in disarray saves your job . that's a problem. I'm not sure why I'd rather be a bama fan then an Auburn fan though . .bama will just get worse over the next 3-4 years after they graduate another HUGE class of seniors and probations really starts to limit their numbers . .
I agree with you Chuck on beating a 4-8 bama team isn't much to hang your hat on but he sure is. He has beaten them 3 out of 4 times though. I am curious your thoughts on how the "Board of Trustees" (Lowder et al) handles and controls the president, Howsel and the athletic program. Do you think that it is good for Auburn or bad? PBJ at bama isn't much better either.
Re: Money for school If I could afford to give that kind of money to LSU I would expect and demand that my input on who was hired as football, basketball & baseball coach as well as chancellor and university president carried a hell of a lot of weight.
Jetstorm, good post, you're exactly on the money with your comments. The problems reach well beyond CTT, past the AD & President, and directly to the BoT. Specifically, Lowder and Rane are once again exerting undue influence over processes/decisions that SHOULD be the sole domain of the President. CTT & staff have eared and deserve more respect than is being demonstrated by the Administration. While there are a great number of the AU faithful that were highly disappointed, they mainly have only themselves to blame for buying into the media hype. I mean, c'mon........ a National Championship when you've got (a) a new OC that is unfamiliar with the offensive system, (b) a young, inexperienced secondary with practically no depth, (c) the 3rd QB coach in as many seasons, and (d) perhaps the worst special teams squad in the entire conference....... and all of this was known prior to the start of the season. Now, because of the poor & unclassy manner in which this matter is being managed by the Administration, the Auburn "rank & file" alums are going nuts. I'm certainly not wealthy enough to justify the 200 grand type of donation, but I have already notified President Walker that I am witholding further donations to the annual Fund, as well as my corporate match, season tickets, and my company's events budget. Summarized, it's only about $4,800 annual, but I know many other AU alums that have taken similar actions. Many of these folks wanted CTT gone, but they won't stand for treating a good man in this manner - it is definitely NOT what being an Auburn person is about. Wish : If I controlled the situation, there are four moves I would make immediately to restore credibility and success to the program: 1) Change the BoT bylaws to reflect a diminishment in "direct" influence that BoT members have over the day-to-day operations of the athletic programs. This is NOT Lowder's personal franchise. 2) Fire David Housel and hire an AD who has a pair. Housel, well known for his considerable media prowess, has allowed runaway expectations to fuel an unmanagable situation and has become nothing more than a puppet for Rane/Lowder. His obvious silence on the current matter indicates that his priorities are Lowder/Rane, not the University and it's supporters. 3) Remove Pat Dye (and other former coaches) from the circle of influence. I respect PD, and he did many great things for AU, but his time has past and he needs to go quietly into the night. 4) Immediately announce a decision. I realize that they are hanging CTT out there while waiting for their selected coach (probably Petrino) to finish his regular season commitments, but why can't they just accept the heat from their actions for a week while waiting. It's just not right to treat ANYBODY the way they are doing. Say what you want about CTT, but currently the program is significantly better that the trash-heap he inherited from ToT.
Cadillac - Good post brother. I have to be honest, if indeed these rumors are true, I sort of feel sorry for Tuberville, putting all the past aside between LSU and Tuberville, I think Auburn may have mishandled this... Although its hard to feel sorry for a guy who will get 3 million bucks to mow his lawn for the next 3 seasons (Or whatever the buyout is) he was one dropped pass away from a similar season where he got a huge raise and an extention. My point, although it was funny to discuss the Auburn troubles, this is the mans life and I think he may have been railroaded a bit. Auburn had a bad season, Tuberville over the last few years has seemed to become a pretty classy guy (See the last two LSU games- Him and Saban are friends). I dont know, I guess I have mixed emotions, LSU loses a nice villian to spice up fall football. But on a personal note, aside from the Money, Tuberville I think is taking the shaft on this one. Just my opinion.
My $0.02 Now I dont blame the season on Campbell. He has good numbers for the attempts at passing that hes had. But can you blame the guy for not wanting to throw it when your recievers cant seem to hold on to it, or when the OL isnt blocking for you and you are running for your life?? The OL didnt do its job in opening up too many holes for the running game either. I was disappointed in this season just like everyone else. But I wasnt sipping on Orange and Blue NC-laced Kool-Aid before the season either. I had hopes of winning the SEC, and if anything else just came from that, then I would have been happy with that, but I was just going to take it all as it came and not put the horse in front of the cart. Hell even Tubbs said before the season that we were ranked higher than we should have been. Its not like we can just go out and tell Sporting News and USA Today to just not rank us or something, we have no control over what they print. And for the most part every one I know was taking the season one game at a time too, no one was screaming from the rooftops that we were going to win the Sugar Bowl. Yea Im sure some people were, but everyone has those out there fans who like to make bold predictions. As far as the Tubbs situation, I dont think he should be fired. The way I see it, firing him will only do more harm than good. And this whole Petrino coming back thing, why would I be excited about that?? Id be excited if they brought him back as OC, but that wont happen. He only had one season at AU and Im just not sold on taking a mid-major coach and throwing him into the fire here. It just doesnt look like a promising situation. Despite what some of you think Tubbs has taken our program and turned it around. Hes brought in great talent, raised the graduation rate, gotten rid of the criminals and thugs, and the man is a great recruitter. I dont see how bringing someone new in is going to help any of that. I think we need to find a good QB oriented OC, who will fix the passing game WITHOUT abandoning the run. Basically the whole Offensive coaching staff will be changing at the end of the season IMO. But thats just my honest take on the situation! WAR DAMN EAGLE!!
Cadillac.. I am glad to finally see an Auburn fan point to the real problems that they face and that is the control freaks. I could not imagine being the AD there and not have any decision making powers other than what temperature the Natitorium water is. (yes I know Auburn won the national championship in swimming) My point is that these people were hired in to do a job and not able to execute what they are hired to do. The inmates are running the asylum. I think it is bad for Auburn and hope that the Auburn fans take back THEIR program. Cut them off at their lifeblood and see if they react. Start talking with your checkbooks and see how long bobby and jimmy last. REVOLT!!!
Is it too late? The damage is done in my opinion. The way this thing was mishandled there is no way to win for Auburn. If they fire him they will be ripped apart by alumni and media. If they bring him back they will be ripped apart by the alumni on the other side of this and the media will eat them up anyway for the way they treated CTT. Auburn posters, is it possible to cut the head off this monster or do you just have to grin and bear it?
Posted by wvtiger: "Auburn posters, is it possible to cut the head off this monster or do you just have to grin and bear it?" wvtiger, That is a great question. I think it might be possible, but the correct course of action that would accomplish this might be too difficult to ascertain without the unification of a huge majority of interested alumni. I don't think that will happen because both sides have lots of supporters and there are a ton of folks that could care less who is in charge. The other big obstacle is the lack of information with which to base one's opinion on. Really, I don't have any idea of what the Auburn University policies and procedures are regarding the management of the athletic department and the board of trustee’s role. However, after reading lots of articles and posts by people that are supposedly "in the know," all I can do is consider the actions of the players involved in light of what is reported and speculate as to what might be the situation. Most reports are mere speculations and as far as I can tell, the internet posts are just opinionated guesses. The trustees either respond to inquiries with denials or complete silence. The only people that speak in opposition of the Board of Trustees are former University employees or people with no power behind their voice. In an attempt to answer your question though, I would say that we Auburn fans just have to grin and bear it. I am not saying that this is the right attitude to have, but it appears to me that the power brokers at AU have the system beat. Taking the power brokers out would require action by the Alabama State Legislature, and the powers that be already have that base covered. If you want to be Governor of Alabama, apply for campaign contributions at Colonial Bank in Montgomery. The only bright point about this is that even though the athletic department is totally under the control of one person or maybe two or three people, at least the overall state of the department is healthy and thriving under their leadership in spite of the clouds that appear around the athletic complex every 5 years or so. Dave
