Auburn: Trying to win at any cost
When Alabama hired Nick Saban, many people thought he would be successful. Most didn't realize how quickly he would find that success. After Saban's 2008 team beat Auburn 36-0, the Tigers fired Tommy Tuberville. While there had been a rough relationship between the Athletic Dept and Tuberville since the Bobby Petrino fiasco, there was obviously a concern that Auburn was falling behind. Alabama had just won a "recruiting national championship", was ranked #1 in the country, and had just drummed the Tigers.Â
A moment that I keep recalling is from the Paul Finebaum show. While rumors were swirling about the Tuberville regime, the wife of one of Auburn's assistant coaches called into the show. Big mistake. However, one of her comments intimated the true feelings on the plains. She said something to the effect that no one would keep up with Nick Saban without $100 handshakes.Â
Let's drop, for the time being, any accusations of cheating. We can still talk about an apparent desire to keep up with Alabama. Auburn (in particular, Trooper Taylor) targets kids of low maturity/character but high in talent. Often times these kids either have no strong family support structure (especially fathers or other males) or Trooper just bypasses the families altogether (e.g., Cyrus Kouandjo, Brent Calloway, Spencer Region, etc).Â
So, Auburn does whatever it takes to bring in kids that are talented, at least on paper. They fixate on this apparent talent, because the believe that's what wins games. And they must win. But many of the kids that respond to Auburn's tactics are the kinds of kids that also can't stay on a roster. Many are great kids, but the facts speak for themselves. Jonathan Rose, Zeke Pike, Michael Dyer, et al, are just examples of this. Auburn currently has only 75 scholarship players. They have basically self-inflicted USC type sanctions on themselves. Nearly half of Gene Chizik's first two classes are no longer on the team.Â
Many have praised Chizik for having the integrity to kick so many talented players off the team. I agree. It does show integrity. But it also shows that he has no control over the team.Â
Auburn offers these kids the lifestyle of a laid back/party atmosphere in order to have fun. They bring in kids that lack discipline and offer them an environment also lacking in discipline.
The "win at any cost" mindset can actually be quite paradoxical. It worked in 2010, but has failed pretty much every other year that Chizik has been at Auburn.
So, Auburn is again using the excuse that they are young. Why are they so young? Because they recruit players that can't stay on the roster. Two years removed from winning the BCSNC, Auburn is likely to go 5-7 or 6-6. In fact, Kirk Herbstreit stated that if Auburn can make it to 8 wins it would be "remarkable". What's remarkable is that the Alabama media hasn't said much about it.
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