Does Auburn Want To Be More Than Just A Football School?

by auburn91 Mon May 12, 2008 at 06:56:48 AM EDT

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Does Slater stay?
Few will argue that Auburn’s athletic program is in solid shape top to bottom. Most of the non-revenue sports are competitive in the SEC. Some are tops in the country – see men’s and women’s swimming.

The same cannot be said for two of the three teams that drive revenues for all the other sports. Taking football out of the equation, Auburn’s two other money sports, men’s basketball and baseball continue to struggle on the field and at the box office.

Following Sunday’s loss at Ole Miss, the baseball team has all but been eliminated from this year’s SEC Tournament. For those keeping score at home, it’s the fifth consecutive year that Auburn has been unable to punch its ticket to Birmingham.

Like basketball coach Jeff Lebo, Auburn's Tom Slater is expected to be given another mulligan at year’s end.

The question is why?

Many will point to Slater’s group and say this team is talented, but very young. Some will say wait until next year. We’ve all heard it before. In fact, we heard it back in February when athletic director Jay Jacobs defended Lebo.

Just wait until next year. We’ll get’em then.

Would Tommy Tuberville be afforded the same courtesy if he were in their shoes? Would the athletic department scream from the roof-top demanding that fans be patient and give him another chance?

Can you picture this:

"I realize that Tommy has struggled, but he’s had some tough luck. I’m completely confident that once everyone is healthy next year we’ll be competitive again. I don’t like missing a bowl game for four consecutive years either. And I certainly don’t enjoy losing four straight to Alabama," said Jay Jacobs after losing again to Alabama on Saturday.

"Fans have to realize that Tommy is building a program from the bottom up. He can’t help that more than half his team quit when he got here and he’s struggled to recruit since. We were two healthy players away from an invitation to the Independence Bowl."

Does anyone think for a minute that Jacobs or the board of trustees would take this approach with Tuberville? The question begs, why do they do it for basketball and baseball?

It’s time the athletic department expect the same excellence from baseball and basketball that it does from football. Auburn has been too bad for too long in both sports. Both are big business now – especially in the SEC. For Auburn to not be competitive every year is unacceptable.

Four years is plenty of time to build a program in any sport. The time for excuses is over. It’s time for Auburn to decide whether they want to be just a football school or play all three big boy sports.

The next several weeks will tell the tale.

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Tags: Auburn baseball coach Tom Slater's job is on the line, Will Auburn's Slater survive? Tommy Tuberville, Jay Jacobs, Jeff Lebo, Auburn blogs, Track'em Tigers, com, Jay Coulter (all tags)

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  • For starters, (none / 0)

    .....you've got to have more than one starting pitcher, and one relief man that you work to death. After 4 seasons, you'd think... This year's team wins on Friday, gets our hopes up, then opponent bats go crazy all weekend. There seems to be a distinct lack of long-ball hitters, too. We are middle-of-the-pack, in hitting, but the runs aren't getting driven in. We're tied for 11th in home runs, and 9th in RBI's. And, we lead the league in number of times caught stealing. Someone's making some mistakes on those signals...

    .....We're mired around 8th place in earned run average, but that's only because of excellent fielding. We're in 11th place on strikeouts.

    .....So, Auburn is where they are, due to not scoring enough, along with some less than average pitching. After 4 years, is it a teaching problem, or a recruiting one? Either way...

    by Acid Reign on Mon May 12, 2008 at 01:03:59 PM EDT

  • Recruiting to blame? (none / 0)

    I'm in agreement about the unreasonable loose-rope policies for both Lebo and Slater. It's typical for fans to call for changes when your teams aren't performing up to your standards, but these coaches have few excuses to lean on. Sure, Lebo had to deal with sanctions and a crap-hole for a arena, but Cliff Ellis still managed to be competitive. Hard to believe that the excuses of "lack of depth and inexperience" can be used for every Lebo team. Put up or hush up, Jeff. Stop waiting for that new arena to build the program.

    As for Slater, I think he's a good coach. Unfortunately, good doesn't win you championships...or take you to the SEC Tournament for that matter. I was only able to attend Auburn baseball this year when they visited Vanderbilt, but three things stood out to me...

    1.)Vandy recruited baseball talent from Maine to California, and those guys were ball players. How far out of the South does Slater even look? I count 3 out of SEC country...and 2 of those are from VA.
    2.)I've never seen more undisciplined batters than AU's players. I was amazed to watch players not even swing until 2 strikes were already on top of them. And just like strategy out of little league, the Vandy pitcher would sling out the old curve and get our boys to chase an unhittable strike 3. This wasn't just one player. Nope, several followed the same hitting "strategy." Guys, this isn't a good sign when your batters are undisciplined at the plate. Coaching should've corrected that much earlier in the season.
    3.)Pitching sucked. We went through 4 pitchers on the Sunday finale.

    Lets hope either the young AU team matures in time for a competitive run next year. With top-notch facilities, this baseball program shouldn't be struggling like it has.

    by crashmattb on Tue May 13, 2008 at 12:44:13 AM EDT

  • That's quite a brush-back pitch, Jay... (none / 0)

    But valid points, nonetheless. I can't even pretend to know what's best for Auburn baseball.  all I can do is remember the decent teams we had under Hal Baird...

    by War Eagle Atlanta on Tue May 13, 2008 at 11:59:39 AM EDT

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