Good Bye Ted, We Hardly Knew You
by aubtigerman on Dec 8, 2011 5:47 PM CST
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PrintIt came as little surprise when news came that Auburn Assistant Coach Ted Roof was leaving the Plains to take a similar position at Central Florida.
When a defensive coordinator for a major college program has been in charge of a defense that has given up four blow out losses including a big one at home to their No.1 rival, the usual result is that coach will be moving on shortly after the season. That is especially true when that college program is Auburn University, a place that has always been a bulwark of defensive football.
It doesn't matter that he had to work with units that were hampered by injuries and youthful inexperience. With Coordinator's, success is measured in results. No other position on a coaching staff gets more credit or more blame than the offensive and defensive coordinators. Even the most tenacious Roof supporter had to know after the Iron Bowl that Coach Roof would be working at a different place next season. Such is the life of a college coach.
I believe Ted Roof is a good coach and a good man. Before his Auburn tenure Roof was a success everywhere he had been. And I believe he will be successful at his next stop
People in the business all like Roof. I know high school coaches that know the man and attest to the quality individual that is Ted Roof. I have been told that you can't find a nicer guy in the coaching profession. I had the pleasure of meeting him once and found him to be every bit the great guy that I had heard about.
I was particularly impressed with an article written by Phillip Marshall yesterday about Roof as a good coach and a good person. He said that Roof always handled himself with class.
"He never once complained ...As the screams of those who didn't know or didn't want to know what he was up against grew louder, he never once tried to shift blame.
The young men who played for him know he had their backs, know he cared, and they love him for it. His departure won't be easy for them to swallow.
I'll never forget the locker room after Auburn beat Oregon in the BCS Championship Game. New York Times sports writer Pete Thamel asked a smiling Roof if he expected to be able to keep the national championship. Roof, at first, didn't understand the question. Then, as it dawned on him what Thamel had said, the expression on his face changed. The glare that came next was priceless.
As Thamel went away to try to ambush someone else, Roof looked at me and said "Who is that guy?" I told him, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Never heard of him," he said. I was disappointed Thamel wasn't around to hear that."
For me folks, that's class. You can read the entire Marshall piece at Auburn Undercover.com
Now that Ted is gone though, Auburn has three weeks to get ready to play Virginia in the Peach Bowl. Will they face the Cavaliers with a new Defensive Coordinator? If so, who might be the next Auburn DC?
As usual in these circumstances, a lot of names are being thrown around. Some that might be on Coach Chizik's list and some that have never crossed his mind. Only Gene knows. I hope for recruitment reasons that he hires someone soon. But he may have to wait till some of the best prospects are through with their bowl games.
In the mean time I'm thankful for the three years of hard work, long hours, and class that Roof gave to Auburn University. Good bye Ted and best wishes.
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I'm going to miss Ted Roof.
I really hope that the folks at UCF appreciate him more than we apparently did. He is a classy guy and played a role in us winning the MNC last season.
Great write up, ATM.
It will be interesting to see who comes in next. My feeling is that whoever it is will be expected to produce results and fast. Depending on the personality that may or may not work out well for us……
"We see the door; we're here to knock it down"-Cam Newton
by Tiger on the mountain on Dec 8, 2011 2:42 PM CST reply actions
Thanks for reminding us
that for every gripe we have, personnel-wise, there’s an actual person to put a face to it.
I’m very glad that he hit the ground running, as far as having the UCF position lined up. While the financial sting of being let go might not hurt so much when you’re pulling down six or seven figures, there’s still the underlying assertion (made by someone) that you’re not good enough at something to which you’ve committed massive amounts of time, effort, and dedication.
And thanks too, for the excerpt from the AU Undercover piece. I can appreciate the media doing their job, but Pete Thamel asking that question in that context just demonstrates a fundamental lack of tact and whatever else it is that decent people have that prevent them from making tremendous asses out of themselves. That question couldn’t have been asked in a post-game presser? Really? Ass.
"The ball will be spotted at the six-inch-yardline."
Disappointed
I’m actually disappointed to hear Roof is leaving. I may come across as old school for todays win & produce immediate results at all costs attitude, but as far as I was concerned, every coach on staff should have a year or two free pass to relieve some pressure. I expect our coaches and players to work hard every year, but I’m not expecting BCS every year, that would be great, but i don’t expect it. I feel as though we’re losing a class individual, and really wish that weren’t the case. Keep in mind that Coach Chizik is an ex D coordinator and i’m certain is heavily involved in the Defense, an indictment of the defense is just as much against him as Coach Roof. I truly believe Coach Chizik & Company are doing great things with our program, building it up for the long term, they just caugt a few breaks and won a National Championship before they were expecting too and I hope we as Auburn fans won’t turn that against them. This one National Championship was sweet enough to satisfy me for life, but that won’t stop me from hoping & cheering for one every fall, WAR EAGLE, good luck Coach Roof!
auconyers
by auconyers on Dec 8, 2011 4:06 PM CST reply actions 5 recs
I may come across as old school for todays win & produce immediate results at all costs attitude, but as far as I was concerned, every coach on staff should have a year or two free pass to relieve some pressure.
Then count me in with the old school club. Rec’d
by Jumpn_JackFlash on Dec 8, 2011 4:16 PM CST up reply actions
Rec'd a second time from another "old school" member....
I don't troll so I reserve the right to berate trolls as I see fit.
Just so you know I won't forget.....LSU Jonno predicted we would finish 5th in the west in '11.
Agreed.
…..I’d have liked to see what he did with a good D-line and secondary at the same time. We’re just now beginning to get to where we need to be in the secondary in terms of talent.
......Drowning in cool elixir.
Rec´d for old school.
Stallings once replied to coaching merry go rounds that it used to be that after you had a disappointing year, you regrouped. At that time Osborne was winning national championships with a staff that had been largely made up of assistants who had been there for a long time.
Finebaum wanted Kines fired after 2002, when we played a lot of frosh and soph, and never liked him despite our 2003 and 2004 seasons. Fortunately, we didn’t think short term.
Personally, I was never impressed with Roof. However, your 2010 squad was #1 in the SEC and #9 nationally against the run, pressured the QB, forced turnovers, and stopped Oregon.
I hope you can get an excellent DC and we can see a return to the Auburn defenses of old.
PS
Don´t go after Smart. You did get Oliver.
"The same things win today that have always won, and they will win years from now. The only difference is the losers have a whole new bunch of excuses why they don’t win or can’t win."-Bear Bryant
Robot Chicken Star Wars should be canon.
by the thin red line on Dec 9, 2011 8:11 PM CST up reply actions
Liked...
..Brother Bill’s D’s. Too bad Auburn hired him while the offense was falling down and going BOOm. Oliver was the master at disguising coverages. Really could get quarterbacks second-guessing themselves, and stopped the run well. He ran the 3-4 at Auburn before it was cool.
......Drowning in cool elixir.
Just saw where KU hired Weiss, NC already got USM guy
Seems like potential spots for Gus are dwindling.
I just hope they erect the Saban statue/altar/shrine before he leaves
Things change folks... they never stop changing. And when they do... you might want to make sure you are still breathing and not in a comfy box!
The thing to take away in this is that Auburn handled this with class. You can’t look at our defense and say that we were getting any better. Can you? I can’t. In fact… it had progressively gotten worse. We are in the SEC. Speed and smaller players doesn’t work that well. I don’t like the 3-4. That leaves the only other viable alternative the Tampa Two, as the way to win here. And Roof’s spin on that… just didn’t work.
Well, regardless of what Coach Roof brought to the table… AU needed a change. I think I have seen every gammet of how this is done. Does anyone remember Tommy Tubervilles way of doing it… and how it got his last year? Do I need to say the name Tony Franklin??
How this transpired was classy. Based upon what I have seen I can’t see any other way to classify it. Bravo Auburn. Bravo Chizik. Bravo Roof. For the record it was hard not to like Coach Roof. But you could tell by the end of this season that Roof knew that the hand writting was on the wall. His demeanor had changed from “I am a professional” (in how he dressed) to “I don’t care what you think”. That isn’t a healthy way to promote your career. Still, personally, I was more impressed with the improvement of the defense during the course of the year… even though we were still losing big… it was more of our Offense simply sucked.
I got a funny feeling that Gus is still trying to save face and leave. However, his sex appeal has all but evaporated. We may be sorry that he stayed. There might not be anything there BUT a highschool coach. Still – he is a likeable guy. I can live with him staying if he could only shut his wife up. If he is able to do that… maybe he deserves OC of the year award? LOL.
WDE
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