By Shane from Centerpoint
The former Auburn coach sat there with a huge smile plastered across his face. Pat Dye appeared secure and comfortable for the first time in years. Jay Gogue, the current Auburn University President (who was supposed to be the man in charge of the new head coach hiring), was nowhere to be found. Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words – this one was priceless. Finally, Dye had his man – he said so himself in his letter to Tiger Unlimited Fund members. If Gogue hired Gene Chizik and Dye was not involved, then somebody please explain why Dye was present and Gogue was as far away as he could get?
Want more proof of Dye’s re-emergence? Joe Whitt, a long time Dye crony, was immediately reactivated and assigned his old stomping grounds around Mobile, Alabama. Just look at the list of names being considered as possible assistants: Rodney Garner (Terry Bowden fired him because of the appearance of improprieties), Stacy Searels, Kurt Crain, Wayne Bolt, Tracy Rocker, and Patrick Nix. All are favorites of one man – Pat Dye.
The hiring of Chizik, a loser as a head coach (5-19 at Iowa State), makes absolutely no sense when you consider the mandate laid out by Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs. He stated that the checkbook was open and Auburn was going to hire the best coach available. Using those criteria, the hiring of Chizik was a joke.
It is more than evident that Dye believes that a return to the eighties is the solution to Auburn’s problems. None of the potential candidates “fit†his plan because most of them have no interest in being told whom to hire on their staff.
Why didn’t Pat just take the job himself? He, along with Lowder and Rane (a loose cannon who fashions himself as a coach anyway), evidently believe they can do a better job running the program than any of the “hotshots†who wanted to try their hand at taking the Tigers back to the top.
Why would anybody with a sound mind go down there and get mired in the midst of the incestuous soap opera that Auburn has become? Tuberville finally tired of Dye constantly looking over his shoulder, making suggestions for him to follow and knifing him in the back every time he made a mistake.
How many major college football programs have an ex-coach, who was removed from office because the NCAA caught the school cheating under his watch, remain on that schools payroll and participate in the hiring of that institution’s new football coach?
Let’s face it, Buffalo’s Turner Gill didn’t lose the Auburn job to Gene Chizik – Auburn President Jay Gogue lost the power struggle to Bobby Lowder. The rest of the so-called coaching search is nothing but smoke and mirrors.
Certain members of the Auburn “family†are delighted by the direction that the university has taken. They are way out-numbered by fans and others who are simply baffled by the shenanigans involved with Chizik’s hire and who simply have no choice but to shut-up and like it.
Personally, I believe that Auburn is embarking down a dangerous path. The NCAA will take notes, while watching the same old song and dance happen right in the scope of public view. As much as I would like to think that this hire was done by the book, my common sense tells me that this was done the Dye Way.
Tommy Tuberville ex-communicated Lowder, Rane, and Dye after the infamous “Jet Gate†incident of 2004. He forgot that time was on their side. They sat around like hungry vultures – waiting for Tubby to fail. Now that he’s gone and Chizik (Dye’s personal puppet) is in place, the “old school†boys will start doing things the Auburn Way. One more thing, keep it down home cuz.
YO! Here’s a barnie, there’s a barnie, everywhere’s a barnie when ‘Bama loses a game. GET A LIFE, PEOPLE! The main reason I check this site out is for the comedic aspect and it usually delivers, I must say. Let me throw this at you Aubies; I liken a large percentage of you MORONS to politicians. One moment you’re for something, the next you’re against it. When the announcement of Gene Chizik’s hiring was made it was like armageddon had arrived. The AU Family was upset. Now that your coach has hired some good assistants y’all act like the guy’s a genius. Keep it up, guys! Us Bammers are getting a big kick out of it!
And bammers never turn on a coach, right?
Fran’s the Man! No, we mean Fran blows!
Price’s the Man! No, he can’t coach!
Shula’s the 2nd coming! No, he was all we could get!
Rodriquez Rocks! No, we never wanted him anyway!
We didn’t want Saban anyway – he is a cheat and couldn’t coach his way out of a paper sack at Miami! Oh, he’s coming? – yeah – he is the best!
Bammer –adjective
1. likely to change, esp. due to caprice, irresolution, or instability; casually changeable: fickle weather.
2. not constant or loyal in affections: a fickle lover.
BAMMER……I think you need to check Shane’s columns for the past year…the majority have centered around Auburn. If anyone has been fixated on Auburn, it would be bammers.
In fairness, when Chis was hired, there were a few fans at the airport that booed the decision. And most others, including myself, were scratching our heads over the unconventional hire. But time has proven that the decision may not have been bad.
You guys are the joke! The last 20 years, and last 20 coaching hires have proven that!
YO! “Reality King,” let me refresh your memory. The ‘Bama Nation turned on Fran because of the way he LEFT. This guy preached to the players about “holding the rope” in order to keep any of them from transferring and when he got a chance to jump ship he was off like a shot to Texas A&M. Mike Price WASN’T HERE LONG ENOUGH for anybody to turn on him! As for Mike Shula, sure WE COMPLAINED but never turned on the guy. Rich Rodriguez was only a CANDIDATE who could have had the job if he wanted it. The only time we “hated on” Nick Saban was when he was at LSU. I would dare say that most of us didn’t think we had a chance to get him! Personally, I was hoping that we had a chance at hiring him but didn’t think it would happen. The next “shout-out” goes to “Bamasux;” yeah, the head coach’s office door has been like a turnstile. Certain people have made serious mistakes in Tuscaloosa. The hiring of Gene Stallings was an attempt to bring the family back together AND IT WORKED for awhile. When Mike Dubose was named head coach everything started to unravel. There have been some tough times, and here’s some advice: there are 3 people at Auburn that need to leave Chizik alone. If you want him to have a chance at success, those three (y’all know who I’m talking about) NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EQUATION. Its not gonna happen anytime soon but if you want him to have a chance, those guys need to get out of the way. They are nuisances.
You are right about the three nuisances. But they have had their place. In 2003, when a team we would later learn was made up of 4 first round draft picks, pitifully underperformed, their meddling caused Tommy to get off his ass. This past year, the Lowder gang wanted Tommy to shake up the coaching staff by hiring new blood. He would not, so he got fired. Despite all of Tubs virtues, his loyalty to his coaching friends ran the program into the ground.