Friday Ramblings: All Over The Place

College football's version of the CIA

LaVar Arrington just doesn't get it....

There is a ton of media coverage right now about the hire of Bill O'Brien as the new head coach at Penn State, and rightfully so. He replaces a man who had coached at PSU in some capacity for 62 years. That is a long time in this profession.

Replacing legendary coaches never seems to work out good for the new hires. I can think of several examples, like Ray Perkins of Bama,who replaced the Bear, and Earl Bruce of Ohio State who replaced Woody "Giving him the business" Hayes. Of course, Auburn is no stranger to this inevitable fact. After the retirement of legendary coach Ralph Shug Jordan, Auburn promptly hired Doug Barfield. We know that didn't go too well. Barfield went 27-27-1, before Miss State was forced to forfeit their two games against Auburn giving him an official 29-25-1 record. In his five years as AU head coach, Barfield never fielded a team that was victorious over Alabama.

So, history says this won't be a good venture for O'Brien.

Former Penn State players, past and present are upset. They want a Penn State guy to be their leader. Many have already spoke out against going outside of PSU for the new man, including Penn State legend and NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington.

Arrington needs to understand one thing, and one thing only. Penn State has to change it's entire image as a University, because of the terrible abuse that one of it's football coaches committed. The horrible and criminal acts of Jerry Sandusky has brought shame to Penn State, and the administration HAS to change the image of the football program. Bringing in a "Penn State guy" would be interpreted as giving the fox the keys to the hen house. Get a clue!

Exactly what happened..

BCS playoff...

It won't happen next year. You can guarantee it will happen very soon though. The BCS will institute a playoff system of some sort. In a story published by The Sporting News, we find this...

"It gets done," a high-ranking BCS official told Sporting News Monday evening.

Here’s how: over the next six months, the leaders of the sport will meet at least four times to iron out a plan that protects the importance of the regular season—the one aspect BCS leaders believe separates the game from every other—while embracing a new frontier for the poll-driven sport.

It begins Tuesday here in New Orleans with a meeting of conference commissioners, and includes meetings in Dallas in February and Miami in April. Another meeting in June is also likely, especially considering the magnitude of the potential change.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2011-10/lsualabama/story/even-with-playoff-coming-sec-still-big-winner-lsu-alabama-national-title-game#ixzz1j47R0YC3

As college football fans, we have been clamoring for a change since 2002. Nothing. The tragedy committed against Auburn in 2004 demanded a change. Nothing. Finally, after all the BS from the BCS, they finally have to admit, that a change is needed. The Bowl games would have, and should have been much different. The biggest loser this year? Arkansas. The Razorbacks had the right to compete in a BCS game, and yet were denied because nobody wanted a conference to dominate the BCS Bowl system. Too late!

Like it or not, the SEC dominated way beyond the imagination of the BCS brain-trust. Much to their dismay, trying to create conference parity has blown up in their face. The SEC is the big bully right now, and there isn't anyone who can knock 'em down.

2012 SEC schedules...

I am thankful that I was not selected to be on the panel for setting up this SEC football schedule. What an undertaking, and actually, I think they performed rather well. I visited the official SEC website, and found this as part of their release...

The 2012 schedule is not based on any other previous or future scheduling formats. The SEC Athletics Directors will convene in Spring 2012 to begin formulating scheduling principles for the 2013 season and beyond.

"The SEC transition team and our athletic directors did a great job with significant logistical challenges in a short time frame in developing the 2012 football conference schedule," said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. "The ability to come together for the conference is what makes the SEC so strong and that was evident yet again in this process."

It could not have been easy, but the key phrase in that statement is the very first sentence. It's clear that they do not intend to use this schedule as their platform towards future scheduling. Look for more changes, and chaos by some fan bases is those changes.

In case you haven't seen Auburn's 2012 SEC schedule, it's HERE.

You had me at hello Jordan-Hare...

If you haven't paid close attention to my many comments this week, I was more than a little excited when I learned that Brian VanGorder would be our next DC. In his opening press conference, he solidified that excitement with correctly pronouncing Jordan-Hare in this statement...

"I really, really can't wait to feel the excitement of being able to walk into Jordan-Hare Stadium"

Details are what makes the difference in preparation, and execution is what makes the difference in winning. BVG sure has started walking the walk of a man committed to excellence.

Which leads me to...

The comment of the week...

This week the winner is Col Angus with this remark...

Oh BVG is the real deal.

Dawg fan has been crying the blues ever since he left and lamenting the loss of fire and attitude that the defense had under his watch. He was considered Richts enforcer, the guy who made folks toe the line. You WILL play like your hair is on fire for BVG or you won’t play….he puts up with no BS….and he has the frame and physicality to back it up.

I know this, if you are playing for BVG AND CGC….you better bring you hardhat, lunch pail and blue collar work ethic or else you might as well go home because you aren’t going to enjoy your time on the Plains.

We already know that Chizik takes no amnesty when a player falls out of line. He has told us time and again "If you see him an Auburn uniform again, you will know that he has done what it takes to be back on the team". Added to that as proof, were the comments coming out of the practices leading up to the Bowl game this year. When Chizik took the reigns himself, every AU defender said they noticed a huge difference in the way they were preparing.

The fact that BVG was Chizik's only choice, "not five, not ten, but one", leads me to believe that they have the same ideas and philosophies as to how to achieve excellence on defense.

Recruiting...

Don't forget we will have an all day thread up on February 1st for National Signing Day. Things may not look so good right now, but trust me, it's all just a mirage. NSD will hold some BIG surprises for the Auburn faithful. Until then, remember the flip of a top ranked OT to Auburn. No matter what the reasoning, he chose Auburn, instead of anyone else.

My take...

There has been some very heated discussion on the site about our outlook, and consequential opinions, as fans. We have lovingly called each other a part of the gloom and doom crowd or a part of the happy shiny crowd. I actually think that is a natural, and healthy way to carry these differences of opinion. I truly enjoy the differing views, and appreciate that many are happy to share those views here.

With that said, I feel each of us should continue to expect bigger and better accomplishments of our athletic program. Not just football, every single aspect of our athletics. From the administration to athletes, to us as fans. Strive to be the best, without sacrificing the unrelenting support of our Tigers of all sports. It's the Auburn way.

WAR EAGLE!