Is It Possible We Were Wrong About Chizik?
by Jay Coulter on Feb 2, 2009 4:00 AM CST
in Football
15 comments
Look for Chizik's hard work to pay dividends on Wednesday.
Gene Chizik's first team has yet to take a snap, but his stock is rising faster than Super Bowl ad prices. What a difference two months makes. Is it possible that Auburn fans overreacted to Chizik's hiring? Should we dare suggest that maybe, just maybe, athletic director Jay Jacobs got it right? The question is too much for most fans to wrap their minds around.
As President Obama embarks on his first 100 days, he could learn a lot from the new guy in Auburn, Alabama. By all measurements, Chizik has outperformed everyone's expectations. He's assembled a coaching staff that appears capable of going toe-to-toe in recruiting with Nick Saban or any other coach in the SEC. The high school talent that has visited campus in recent weeks is some of the best to come through town in years.
What a journey this recruiting year has been. Tommy Tuberville fires out of the gate and leads the country in number of commitments by late fall only to lose his job at the most inopportune time. Chizik is then hired without the support of nearly anyone in the Auburn family. He responds by somehow managing to hire some of the most talented recruiters in the country. The fruits of his labor and talent appear likely to payoff on Wednesday when high school recruits sign on the dotted line.
If you like fantastic finishes, this is your week. Auburn is in the running for several high profile athletes and may well have to wait beyond Wednesday to find out how they do. The big prize that awaits is Oklahoma City running back David Oku. An early Tennessee commitment, new Auburn coaches Curtis Luper and Trooper Taylor have now pushed Auburn to the top of the pack.
After visiting this weekend, Oku, the nation's ninth-ranked running back, now says Auburn has a real shot. "I feel like the visit helped (Auburn)," said Oku. "It was such short notice. Coach Luper called and said to come down and see if I liked it. Going down there has given me a lot to think about. I had not been down there in almost two years. It's great to me. The visit really helped out a lot and that's why I'll go past signing day to give it a fair opportunity."
After this weekend, Auburn also appears to be in the running for Army All-American offensive lineman Corey Gaines. The Tallahassee, Florida native appeared headed to Ole Miss until his visit to Auburn. He called the visit to the Plains a "10" and says the Tigers are definitely now in the running.
Auburn coaches want Gaines to switch to the defensive side of the ball, something that Auburn Assistant Coach Tracy Rocker seems to have successfully sold Gaines on. "I'm really confused right now," says Gaines. "I had my mind set on Ole Miss but Auburn is a nice place. Coach Rocker really wants to coach me and he's the best of the best. That kind of threw me for a loop so I just have to pray about it with my family."
Auburn coaches continue to take full advantage of their Oklahoma ties, bringing in Tulsa tight-end Tracy Moore for a visit on the final weekend. Already committed to Oklahoma State, Moore is considered a long-shot to end up at Auburn. Coaches would like to move the three-star athlete to wide receiver. He set a school record this past year with 71 receptions for 1,023 yards and 15 touchdowns. He rated this weekend's visit a "9" and said the primary reason he visited was because of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. "I have been knowing about Coach Malzahn since my sophomore year when he was at Tulsa," said Moore. I pretty much know everything. You have got to love that offense he runs. It is hard to stop."
Auburn enters this week ranked 15th by Scout Inc. and 19th by Rivals Inc. in recruiting. Considering where they were in December, this is pretty impressive. Should they sway a few of this weekend's visitors, look for them to possibly move into the top 10 by the end of the week. Give Chizik and his staff an "A" for effort.
You can watch wall-to-wall coverage of National Signing Day on Wednesday over at ESPNU and ESPN 2. Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville will be working for both channels, giving his insights into the day's happenings. Go ahead and take a day off, it looks like it may be worth it!
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Possible, yes.
Probable, no.
But Chizik has the ultimate advantage here: he can knock one out of the park and make everybody happy.
Orange and Blue Hue: The World through GATOR-colored Glasses -- http://www.orangeandbluehue.com
Any sane person...
would have had huge issues with hiring Chizik. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a top tier program hiring a losing coach to replace a very successful one. To hire a coach who is 5-19 and not scream bloody murder would have shown that the program had lapsed into apathy which is way worse than just being bad.
Chizik HAS assembled an impressive staff of quality coaches AND recruiters, and I am very pleased by the aggressivenees they have shown outside the region. Hopefully that will continue as the presence of those coaches fade in Big 12 territory. All that being said, winning football is not about recruiting, its about coaching up talent and formulating a winning strategy and gameplan, and executing that plan every week. David Shula recruited well but we all saw him look like deer in the headlights when a game was on the line and he had to make a decision.
So far I like what I see, I’ve almost have forgotten that the guy is working on a ten game losing streak….but not quite. I am going to need to seee results on the field and fortunately he has really competant co-ordinators to assist him. I’m still a skeptic until proved otherwise.
On what day did the Lord create Bear Bryant and couldn't he have rested on that day too?
I Agree Angus.....
Chizik has done an excellent job at recruiting, but there is no getting around the fact that the actual hire at the time was a bad hire. Jay Jacobs may come out looking like a genius but it will have been a crap shoot to get there. I am rooting for Chizik as hard as anyone…..but I can’t judge his ability as a head coach just on what he has done on the recruiting trail. Hell Tuberville had some very good recruiting classes but he mainly had what many considered average recruiting classes…..but he won with those average recruits. Ron Zook consistantly compiled one top recruiting class after another…..didn’t cut the mustard though did he. More recently Ed Oregeron recruited very well for Ole Miss…..last I checked Houston Nutt really appreciates his effort. I would go and say that Mike Shula recruited that great at Bama but he did as well as one could expect with the scholarship limitations that they were under…….the only thing I will say there is that he was a bad hire because of his lack of experience and the situation was horrible…given time he may have been a better coach than how he will now be remembered there. I am optimistic about Chizik but final grades won’t come out until next december.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Too early to say
the guy has hired some coaches that look good (Rocker/Trooper Taylor/Luper/James Willis—oops never mind on that last one) some that seem to look good (Malzahn but was it really his offense that did well at Arkansas, and he was co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa— and the whole Springfield H.S. thingie makes me skeptical on how great he is. The reviews on Malzahn appear very much like the same reviews of Franklin written this time last year)
And then there are the “meh” hires - Roof and Boulware. Meh. I know Roof defenses improved at Ga. Tech, Minnesota, but he seems the run of the mill defensive coordinator. Think about the post Shug Jordan DC’s at Auburn -- Roof would rank ahead of PW Underwood and Alex Gibbs’ son and maybe, maybe Lovett, but behind Orgel, Hall, Oliver, the Chiznik, Muschamp, Rhoads. So ‘meh’.
And all the coaches maybe great, but these guys have never coached together as staff (yeah Luper and Trooper on the same staff at OSU). That is very important and the sum may very well be greater than the parts—but it may be less than the parts. But the Chinzink obviously did a cock up on his staff at ISU, bringing a total of one guy to come with him (and I could be wrong, but I don’t think Rhoads is keeping anyone there from the old staff). I was going to say that Chizick asked a total of one, but we don’t know if he asked other ISU staffers or not and they just said “no”. But until we see these guys perform there is no telling whether its a good staff or not.
The Willis thing and the Dunst thing make me question the Chizzick’s ability to take good decisions.
So I remain from Missouri on the Cheznict.
Roof has done a more than respectable job....
as DC everywhere he has been…..you just have to remember where he has been. Ga Tech….not a place that recruits well enough to put up a top defense every year……Duke even more of a talent waste land…..Minnesota hardly a Big 10 Powerhouse. Malzahn ran “his” offense at Tulsa and he installed his offense at Arkansas but had the play calling duties taken from him by the self admitted “micro-manager” Nutt. The Willis thing as you put it smacks of Jay Jacobs and the Powers that be. The “Durst” thing is kind of a mystery but then again its not a game changer….we do still have Ryan Shoemaker on the team and Shoemaker has shown the ability to do the job well. Also, of note….Durst’s story of I can’t afford it may be true but if he is making his grades he should be eligible for more student loans and his current student loans would not be acruing interest yet and not be in repayment unless he drops out of school (speaking from experience….you will never borrow money cheaper). It sounds more like he was giving an ultimatum and Chizik told him not to let the door hit him in the ass. I am simpathetic to Durst but at the same time I’m not the coach. Back to the calibre of coaches that Chizik has brough to AU…..I have every bit of confidence in the coaching staff he has put together as individual coaches. Will that translate to great staff chemistry? Only time will tell but it is promising especially when one reviews the recruiting effort that has been displayed to this point. As far as the ISU staff he put together goes…..you can’t compare one to the other, not alot of the coaches that would come to AU would have considered moving to ISU (thats a literal deadend for coaching careers).
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
Ooops! I don't know what happened there. Disread the dumbfingered post.
I do some consulting work for a guy that resides in Dallas but is originally is from Arkansas. This guy called me several weeks ago just to tell me that Malzahn is the Real Deal. He said that Malzahn absolutely ruled the state of Arkansas in H.S. football. Malzahn has held enough positions that any major flaws probably would have been exposed by now. Malzahn has some really stellar reviews from a number of independent sources on the internet and elsewhere. Even the recruits are drooling at his success. I predict that the biggest problem with Malzahn witll be retaining him on staff.
The chemistry of the coaching staff is always a question with any new coaching staff as well as any existing staff that encounters attrition. If Chizik has made good solid hires, these mean will find a way to work together because their livelyhood depends on it.
The Willis thing more likley about Jay Jacobs than Chizik. Although Durst got a raw deal in my opinion, I doubt that Chizik can justify having (3) different kickers on scholarships.
Although Chizik was nowhere on my list of candidates, the man has worked relentlessly during the short period of time that he’s been on the job and he may be on the verge of signing a Top 10 recruiting class without having a full coaching staff.
I say let’s all take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy the breath of fresh air that the program seems to be experiencing these days.
My 2cents
I started saving every negative article about Chizik I came across early on in this thing (no shortage of content there), with the slight suspicion that he was being too easily dismissed.
Most of the criticism of the hire seemed founded on two assumptions. One, that Saban’s and UA’s rise were unstoppable, and two, that all there was to Chizik was a 5-19 record. Both of those assumptions may ultimately prove true, but certainly neither looks as sound as it did in early December.
Chizik absolutely deserves credit for assembling a formidable staff and elevating Auburn’s recruiting efforts.
I won't concede I was wrong about Chizik until he starts winning games
Right now, I’m pleasantly surprised with the job he’s done assembling a staff and recruiting, but at the end of the day, you could have Mike Martz as your OC, Dick LeBeau as your DC, and have a 5-star player at every position, but if you go 2-10, you’re not doing the job right.
The artist formerly known as...
Mr Redbird @ Viva El Birdos
PowerOfDixieland @ Track Em Tigers, other SEC blogs
Chizik is ...
… a problem. It’s an even worse hire today than it was earlier. The man is arrogant, pompous, and definitely a “me first, screw the team” type individual. If you haven’t done so, I encourage you to listen to some of the replays of his interviews. Just count the number of times he says “I” … there’s no rocket science necessary to tell he’s not a charismatic leader. At 5-19, he certainly doesn’t have the credentials/credibility to carry him.
As for his staff, they are undeniably good. They put forth a brand of football that is exciting to 17-18 year olds. With UT, they are also just about the highest paid around …
And yes, the average outside assessment (I use that term loosely) of the recruits has picked up as well. How many of them have you heard say they came to look at Auburn because they wanted to play for Chizik? Even more telling, how many would you want dating your sister/daughter?
And then there’s Willis … and Durst …
I’ve frankly tried to hold back and give the man a chance. Unfortunately, every time he opens his mouth he reminds me he’s just not a fit.
He reminds me of Terry Bowden … enough said.
Ever wonder why God painted a beautiful sky blue and a breathtaking sunset orange?
You must be freaking Kreskin.....
to be able to tell all of that from the limited amount of exposure we have had to Chizik.
I would have gone to bammer if my grades hadn't been good enough to go to AU
I say...
Give the man a chance. After we hired both Bowden AND Tuberville, I had a similar WTF response, but those two paid dividends in the first and second years, respectively, much to my surprise and delight. Quite frankly, I feel much more comfortable with Chizik at this point than I did with his predecessors.
I don’t really care too much about recruiting class rankings, but I’d be curious to see which team that just fired a coach has a higher rated class than we do…
by War Eagle Atlanta on Feb 2, 2009 4:43 PM CST reply actions
I do like everything Chizik is doing so far, Im not nearly as pissed as I was when he first came on board. Yet he still hasn’t done anything on the field to prove Jacobs made the right choice. Will he be able to get the best out of the coaches and players is a whole different story. Talent alone doesn’t win games(i.e. Noter Dame). This guy may just be a good salesmen. We wont know until September to see if the product works.
1990 National Champions- Colorado Buffalo's
1913,1957,1983,1993,2004 National Champs- Auburn Tigers
WAR EAGLE!
Go Coach Chiz!!!! Prove the doubters and unfaithful wrong!
I liked the hire from the start. Yeah , I know what U R thinking…. but really, the guy had an ausome defense here and at Texas. No reason to think that he would not build a great defense here again. I know that wasn’t the prob last yr. all those issues were addressed when he convinced Malzahn to join him here in the SEC where football is king, and where the big ten wants to be(LOL a little inside joke 4 my bud, sorry)
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