ITKLance Thompson was hired today to serve under newly hired Auburn defensive coordinator, Will Muschamp. Thompson, who was serving in his third tour of duty with Alabama head coach Nick Saban, previously left Alabama to join the University of Tennessee coaching staff.

Thompson’s claim that the Vols would soon “build a fence around the state of Tennessee” (in recruiting) become a punchline as the Tide continued to cherry-pick whomever they wanted from the Volunteer state in accumlating year after year of top recruiting classes.

Ever so hungry to feed the eager aubies more morsels of hope that the nightmare is almost over, state media is trying to sell this as Auburn “hiring Thompson away from Alabama.”

But when a coach is told he needs to find other employment by the first of the year and lands job #2, that doesn’t exactly translate to anyone hiring him “away” from job #1.

Coach Thompson
Fact is, when a cancer is removed, and someone else scoops it up and inserts it into their system, it becomes their problem.

But this isn’t the first time cancer has traveled from Tuscaloosa to Auburn. The names Bill Oliver and Ellis Johnson come to mind. Expect similar results.


(Follow ITK on Twitter for Bama news, commentary and smack.)

57 thoughts on “Alabama removes a cancer from coaching staff, Auburn scoops it up”

  1. Peachy, here’s your “spin.”

    Now show where ITK said Thompson was the salvation you suggested he said.

    I’ll hold.

    No I won’t.

    The process happens every year. It’s not a spin; it’s a characteristic.

  2. Montgomery WSFS 12 TV just reported that Auburn “snatched away” Thompson from Alabama.

    That is some spin right there, nuf to make ya dizzy.

    Saban a ever had a problem building a quality staff. He won’ t start now.

    1. Auburn “snatched away” Thompson much like someone might “snatch away” a wart taken off one’s butt cheek. There isn’t a damp eye in Tuscaloosa (or close to the situation) about that happening. This whole Muschump experimental implosion is going to be fun to watch.

  3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Do you guys feel better now? Good lord, I have never before in my life seen another group of people spin things to fit their narrative, as I have when I rarely visit this place.

    1. You will be singing a different tune in a couple of years…Actually, AUBS never learn from past mistakes

    2. Get ready, when you least expect it, Lance will be like “Gone with the wind”, now he is aubies problem, along with the rest of his baggage.

  4. Auburn has a peculiar interest in trying to grab Alabama magic.

    Pat Dye Bill Oliver

    And I had a typo on my last post

    WSFA Channel 12, an Auburn station

    Create your own success Boogs! Oh yeah, you can’t.

    Well keep trying to glom on to the Crimson Tide

    You suck at everything, including the Tiger nickname which is the most common in all of sports

    Yes you are common

    1. Doug oh dougie dougie doug!

      You are right my friend!

      This is an inside joke

      Did you have a bad day?

      Did you die?

      Read a book

      Orgeron back to LSU

      Alabama is SEC champion and everyone else

      Tryin too hard to catch up

      ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

      TIDE

      ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

  5. Yeah, I’m noticing the same thing; the “spin” is that he’s coming from Alabama.

    That’s the same “spin” we’ve heard for years now on every Alabama coach of any kind going anywhere else for any reason whatsoever.

    The “spin” isn’t on our end. That’s the funny part. When people like Doug and AUTiger and peachy point out about how we’re trying to “spin” the story, it’s kinda ridiculous.

    Actually, no. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

    For one, I don’t think we ever once wrote anything here about Thompson at all whatsoever. If we gloated about his hire or bathed in the greatness of his recruiting talents, maybe then I could understand the idea of spinning it when he left?

    Only problem is, we didn’t. Personally, I barely knew anything about him at all. The University of Alabama never really let out much information about him or his work. The only things we really have are results and a decision.

    The only thing we don’t have is a “spin.”

    Seriously, this whole “spin” crap, I don’t understand where it’s coming from except that I think the only reason anyone thinks that way at all is because he was coaching at the best college football program in the country and it’s really as simple as that.

    Therefore, Roll Tide.

    1. Coaches leave Saban’s staff for three reasons:

      1. For promotions – ala Jim McElwein, Kevin Steele, Jeremy Pruitt, etc.

      2. For demotions (being encouraged to go elsewhere) – ala Thompson

      3. As defections – ala Thompson when he went to UT, then later came crawling back (and this usually because they are disgruntled egotists who don’t know their place)

      Trust me Auburn, you just got yourself a jewel. A jewel, I tell you. He’ll wear out his welcome before the semester ends.

  6. I also love the argument that Auburn “dominates” with “taking” coaches from Alabama.

    Meanwhile, Alabama doesn’t “take” coaches from Auburn.

    But who looks the fool? Apparently it only depends on which side of a county line you stand on.

    The perception for the past several years is if anyone is good enough for Nick Saban to approve of his hiring at any time ever then he must be good enough for everyone else.

    While we’ve seen that plenty before and without results outside of McElwain, that’s about as much as I’ve evern known about Thompson.

    1. Challenge

      Can anybody show me proof that the University of Alabama has ever “hired away” a coach from Auburn????

      The Crimson Tide does not want Auburn coaches.

      Auburn falls all over themselves to get any semi- warm body that has ever coached at Alabama

        1. Kinda, but good point.

          I remember Willis at Auburn, then Chizik was hired.

          He fired everyone, replaced the whole staff.

          But then he said Willis could stay. I remember that part only because everyone else was gone.

          That was after the season was already over, and then like two weeks later, Saban hires him.

          I remember thinking how weird that was. Does anyone else remember that? He was at Alabama for the 2010 national title but still wasn’t with Alabama a whole year even. I always wondered about James Willis.

      1. Hunter – shut the hell up. You make yourself out to be a bigger idiot every time you make a key stroke. If you are going to sling shit, at least learn the facts.

        1. Bill Oliver….who Auburn hired back from Alabama after he won another national title at Alabama?

          Or are you talking about the part from the 60’s?

          He has a point, at least. Hunter, that is.

  7. So, I don’t get it. Was he going to be fired from UA or not? If he was, could you please post a link that confirms that. If he wasn’t, then all this drabble has been one big spin. If you don’t know or there is no confirmation either way, then all this drabble has been one big spin.

    Was he a cancer? Your post says he was. Do you have evidence or confirmation of this? Please post a link.

    See, I don’t know much about him, other than my UA friends have said he is a good recruiter and coaches linebackers. I don’t know much about his production on the field other than Alabama normally has very good linebackers. From the looks of things this year, Alabama’s shortcomings on defense were due to the secondary (at least they were in the Auburn and Ohio State games.

    I would just like a little more clarification about this commentary on Lance Thompson before I decide whether this is a good hire or note. Thanks for the help.

      1. @Gibson – but that’s your “spin,” don’t you see? Even if you don’t mean to (thanks to the media, perhaps), it’s there and it doesn’t have to be.

        For example, remember when tOSU would have won the national championship against Notre Dame instead of Alabama but they were ineligible for post-season play implicitly because of Jim Tressel’s documentation of knowing about players’ rule-breaking?

        Do you remember tOSU firing Jim Tressel?

        Do you think you could please post a link showing that tOSU was going to fire Tressel?

        Because they didn’t. He “quit.”

        Cam Newton left Florida for the bright pastures of…Blinn College. Why? Do you have a link you could post that says Florida wouldn’t have kicked him off the team?

        Alabama is probably the best example. When has Alabama fired any coach or assistant under Saban, officially, that is? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is the one who lent a student money, and even he was fired after the money had been repayed out of a necessity.

        So did every coach or assistant Alabama has “lost” over the past 8 seasons really just get “taken” by another team, right under our noses? That’s a lot of coaches and assistants, don’t forget.

        Other than that, a “firing” isn’t a necessity. It’s just not. It’s about the kind of respect Alabama teaches rather than preaches. You don’t have to outright fire a guy. Have you ever been fired? If not, it might be hard to see the difference.

        For another recent example, take Nussmeier the year before where Saban was inherently furious with him and perhaps would have fired him outright…except the new job he got was already a side effect of what he might have been potentially fired for. Talking to Michigan seriously about moving in October during a title-run season isn’t exactly professional, not to mention his performance results as well.

        But he wasn’t fired. He didn’t have to be. When people call that level of respect a “spin,” yeah, it bugs me.

        Then again, I shouldn’t expect them to understand. I think you can, though. When all other programs fire coaches and assistants following a big loss like LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma, etc., they seem to assume NOT firing a coach who gets a new job means he was “taken,” no matter how rarely Alabama publicly “fires” anyone characteristically. If anything, it’s a pattern of behavior predictable enough to at worst call it something other than a media spin on Alabama’s behalf.

        Which leads me to your final question; “I would just like a little more clarification about this commentary on Lance Thompson before I decide whether this is a good hire or note.”

        The truth is, I don’t know. But who does? Why does anyone think Thompson is some kind of home run? You mentioned your Alabama friends said Thompson was a good recruiter. I admit I don’t follow recruiting as closely as some, but I barely remember ever hearing anything about Thompson, even with recruiting (which I heard plenty of from other coaches and assistants, including from active players long after the fact mentioning other coaches by name, never Thompson). I could speculate about how good he was or wasn’t, but then I’d be spinning it just as bad or worse as the ones who are saying Thompson’s hire is some sort of “big get” for Auburn.

        In other words, take out the “Alabama” part. What if Thompson hadn’t come back and stayed at UT, and now was coming to Auburn? Would there even be a story? I don’t think there would. That’s the guy we’re talking about.

        Personally, Georgia hiring Alabama’s assistant strength and conditioning coach seems like it would have more immediate and noticable impact…but for that story it was almost entirely crickets.

        To take it a step further, Georgia also hired another Alabama assistant coach recently. Did you read the uproar? Did you see a spin here or anywhere else?

        I didn’t.

        Anyone from Alabama heading to Auburn is a story, even if it’s for the wrong reasons. It’s simply a cultural characteristic, like it or not. If absolutely nothing else, tenure at Alabama helps you get a pay raise later anywhere else, even if for just one season.

        Nobody seems to have known much about Thompson in his tenure at the Capstone, and that alone speaks volumes. More people seem to know the names of more assistant coaches at Alabama than perhaps anywhere else, but Thompson was all but invisible and I don’t think that’s a coincidence, that’s all. If he was a cancer, it was perhaps a cancer by attrition; I could name virtually every other coach or assistant and their associated benefit to the program or a vocal citation from a player, but Thompson? I don’t mean to “spin” why we never heard about him doing anything, but merely to point out that we didn’t.

        More to the point, whoever replaces Thompson won’t get the same level of attention for it regardless, will he? That kinda shows where the spin really comes from in the first place. It may be the nature of media’s natural indulgence, but pointing the finger at Alabama instead shows just as much personal irresponsibility from the reader himself.

        1. I was just asking for clarification. I didn’t need an essay. ITK’s response was plenty. Thanks.

  8. ITK,
    You truly only see things in crimson colored glasses. First Brother Oliver was a great coach and pretty decent fellow. Sure he drank a touch too much, but I enjoy a bourbon every now and again myself. Secondly I can’t confirm or deny if Lance Thompson was a cancer or not. He was a outstanding recruiter, and pretty solid position coach. We’ve got bigger problems to me, Like Kirby Smart and Saban getting a little stagnant. Not to mention our lack of defensive backfield development with our corners. At times you sound like a guy that lost 24 nothing in 1 on 1 basketball, then blame the goal for your losing. Just accept it, we will bounce back because we are Bama. To blame or make fun of everybody who leaves is childish.

    1. @USAfap

      I think people are still blowing Alabama’s secondary, Smart, and Saban all out of proportion.

      For example, if Saban, Smart and Alabama’s secondary have a championship-calibur season in 2015, I don’t expect many people to think back and say, “we were wrong.”

      So when one person says “recruiting at Alabama is easy by nature,” I can’t disagree. And when someone else says “Thompson was a great recruiter,” I don’t really know if that’s true or not.

      And when people say Thompson was a great recruiter and he was at Alabama, I don’t think it’s a “spin” to question how much of that was on Thompson and how much was on Alabama. I simply don’t know.

      All I can tell you is I barely heard about him, particularly in recruiting, and particularly when compared to just about every Alabama coach or assistant over the past 8 years (esepecially 2014, for what it’s worth). Frankly, before this story I can’t remember the last time I even heard Thompson’s name whatsoever.

      As for, “to blame or make fun of everybody who leaves is childish,” this is an opinion blog. It doesn’t present itself as an impartial, objective news site, you know, the way the story coming out about Thompson’s leaving is doing but only by saying Auburn “took Thompson from Alabama.” If that’s not more childish, it’s certainly unprofessional for an accreddited news site (see links above). Had Thompson been at Tennessee, or had he actually been fired first the way Auburn often does and Alabama virtually never does, would they be able to write that Auburn “hired Thompson away from Alabama?”

      I’ll let you answer that one.

  9. And just like I said: SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!

    I think you guys covered just about every response I said you would have.

    You’re simply predictable at this point. Thompson is awesome and great and wonderful when he’s with Alabama.

    But he’s overrated, a terrible coach and has baggage when he goes somewhere else.

    Itll be funny to see if he comes back again in a few years how quickly he becomes great again in the Bama eyes.

    And is there any evidence at all that he was told to leave? Anything?
    Sounds like Bammers comforting Bammers to me.

    1. “Thompson is awesome and great and wonderful when he’s with Alabama.”

      Again, who said that?

      Besides you, that is?

      The only thing “predictable” I see here is your behavior of judging people for things they simply didn’t say or do. If any Alabama you know actually did say anything so great about Thompson, you’re the one judging every Alabama fan for it. We’re not all tea-baggers either, for the record.

      And I explained above about Alabama virtually never firing anyone by nature. It’s predictably characteristic; you’re the one putting a spin on it because none of them were “fired” first the way other schools characteristicly do so often, such as yours.

      “And is there any evidence at all that he was told to leave?”
      Nope. And there never would be. Just like Nussmeier, for example. But since it’s Alabama you hate, what about the ones you don’t?
      Was there any evidence Jim Tressel was told to leave tOSU, or Cam Newton to leave Florida, for example?

      Do you remember Will Muschamp at Florida?

      Was Will Muschamp fired or did he resign?

      What about Gene Chizik? Did he resign or was he fired?

      The difference isn’t a “spin,” but instead the reality is it’s a difference of several million dollars a year. So go on, tell me Florida should have been a dlck about firing Muschamp, for Auburn’s sake, and why Muschamp shouldn’t get any credit for resigning instead and that’s what makes Alabama so closed-minded as to think Thompson must have been doing an A+ job at Alabama.
      You insist on proof Alabama wasn’t begging him to stay, why shouldn’t I insist on proof from you about how good of a job he did at Alabama that his being “taken” by Auburn is the home run you allege we all secretly think it is?

      And we’re the ones spinning it?

      My god peachy, I love you so much. I’m so glad you’re here again. Please write back. I can’t go on without you in my life, my special little Corky.

        1. Love!

          Sorry peachy. You’re the only one who actually thinks I was ever more impressed by and in love with Lance Thompson than I am with you.

          Then again, I never even said I liked Thompson. I can’t remember anyone ever writing anything about him here to be honest, so I’m not sure why you’re so convinced anyone thought he was Alabama’s salvation.

          I have talked about you though, so at least that’s no secret. I could listen to your child-tiger mind all day every day. Fascinating.

  10. I guess now that Kevin Steele has left Alabama for LSU, he was a cancer also, right?

    This article say Thompson was on his third tour with Saban?! Wow that must make Saban are real dumb ass or very slow minded that it took him hiring Thompson 3 times before he realized he was a cancer to his team.

    You gumps crack me up!

    1. Come on LMAO!

      You’ve been gone so long, I know you can do better than that!

      Well, maybe not, but still!

      I want to see you and peachy stand next to each other.

      Now kith…

      1. Ok Nope, so I see you ONLY addresed the Kevin Steele part of my comment, I guess that means I’m correct on the part about Saban hiring the cancerous Thompson not once, not twice but three times! I guess Saban is not the doctor you gumps are, right?! Are maybe he’s not the dumbass you gumps are! Which one is it nope? You can’t have it both ways!

        1. Both ways?

          What the hell are you even talking about? Dude, you are REACHING today, I mean good grief man.

          1. Thanks LMAO. Nothing better than an illegitimate insult from an internet troll to set me right after another long weekend.

    2. PSteele left for a promotion to DC. Glad to see you have returned from the void that is your life.

      Pay attention next time, if you can.

    1. He actually had some nice things to say about the “cancer”.

      Of course we’ve seen the spin after Alabama signed the Georgia kid they bashed Auburn for talking to

      1. Just not as bad as the spin you put on absolutely everything related to Alabama football, right peachy?

        *drops mic*

        I especially love the poetic justice of you expecting people to stay the same forever when it seems instead the only one who can’t actually change is you.

        Remember when pretty much all Alabama fans hated Nick Saban?

        They did.

        They hated him.

        I remember.

        It was when Saban was coaching at Alabama’s little homecoming school to the west, Louisiana State University.

        Times change. Things change. People change.

        Except idiots. They stay exactly the same.

        If you can’t see beyond your hate, at least don’t come here to pretend we’re all half as ignorant.

          1. @peachy

            What? Actually, no, I didn’t say that? So why do you believe something about me I didn’t say?

            That’s just weird man. It’s like you’re pre-judging me and my actions based on only one thing you know about me. I think they call that “prejudice” or something but hey, we’ll save that for next MLK Day, right peachy?

            Of course, it’s not all that funny at all to think of where we would be if people couldn’t change and grow the way MLK tried to teach people, including people like you peachy.

            I love your use of capital letters though. So charming, and such elegant prose, peachy.

            Hopefully we’ll know more on Ryan Anderson today, like the story in the link you posted shows.

            Or maybe you’ll spin that one afterwards anyway, minus the “maybe.”

            For example, I can’t imagine you’ll be happy with the result, and then you’ll claim hypocrisy or corruption of some sort rather than care enough to think about what things like “3rd degree” and $500 bond mean (seriously, $500 bond, think about it silly). But we’ll see. Press conference is this afternoon and nobody is more tightly-glued to Alabama news as you.

            You sure do know how to hate, peachy. I was in Atlanta for MLK Day. My guess is you haven’t left your county in a very long time, but I encourage you to get out there and grow the hell up, think for yourself, and don’t blame the world for your problems the rest of your life.

            Nah, I’m just playing, peachy. I don’t want you to change or grow. I love you just the way you are. Please, continue.

          2. @peachy

            Found it.

            You did, right?

            I knew you did. You’re such a good short man.

            Anderson gets into an argument with a girl.

            Girl keys Anderson’s car (insert car conspiracy here).

            Anderson kicks girl’s car.

            Police arrive, vehicles damaged, no people injured.

            Both parties arrested for 3rd degree criminal mischief of less than $500 intentional property damage.

            Bond set at $500.

            Tim Irvin shows up and bails them both out.

            The end.

          3. Auburn?

            Wait, now you use Auburn for your litmus test of right and wrong?!

            Who the hell gives a rat’s ass how many damn dirty barn rats aren’t arrested?

            What kind of an idiot thinks that has anything to do with doing right or even not breaking the law in the first place? Martin Luther King was arrested, several times. I’m sure you knew that. Was he a criminal, immoral, or both? Neither? Did he hurt people? Did he use drugs? Did he steal?

            Hell, just as an example in your own selective timeframe, I don’t know what a guy like Nick Marshall COULD have done to get arrested whatsoever, certainly not for lying and stealing bad enough to get kicked out of Georgia.

            “But UGA didn’t press charges!”

            That’s interesting because I wonder if it was more than $500 just to reference your latest fodder?
            Regardless, that’s a civil case (compensation rather than punishment), not a criminal case like illegal drugs or something (punishment rather than compensation).

            “Hay! Nice try, Bammer! He wasn’t ARRESTED for the drugs!”

            Fun! Just don’t tell those guys in Oregon who weren’t even caught with weed and missed an entire national title game rather than a week-one pukefest.

            Er, I mean just the first half of the week-one pukefest, that is.

            Then there’s Tim Irvin.

            “You can’t prove anything Bammer!”

            Nobody can. Nobody would. That’s the point. You use arrests to show wrong but suggest non-arrests show right. It wouldn’t be so little-brother of you if it weren’t so obtusely antagonistic.

            In Tuscaloosa you will get arrested for punching or kicking a car…then labeled and reported nationwide with “domestic abuse” to boot. As they should? Perhaps, yes. I imagine they would also get arrested for drugs and physical violence against a person. Wouldn’t you?

            Not in Auburn though. Certainly not in your timeframe. But this was your idea.

            It doesn’t have to be illegal to be immoral or even outright wrong, and even if it is illegal, and even still if it’s reported to and recorded by the police, it doesn’t have to result in an arrest. That’s true for Alabama too, and any school for that matter. But I literally can’t think of any other school with anywhere near those conditions matching similar results. Can you?

            And not only does that not bother you, but you use it as a weapon, a show of righteousness?

            If that’s your litmus test for trolling people on right and wrong, it’s probably time for your weekly shower.

    1. Wait.

      You said you think Saban sounds upset about Thompson leaving?

      I didn’t get that, really. I know you’re trying to pretend whether or not Thompson was going to be fired is the point, which we already talked about how silly that is.

      Yes, silly.

      Because Saban doesn’t “fire” any coaches regardless, certainly not the way other schools do.

      But we talked about this.

      Right here.

      Same with Nussmeier. You knew that, right? Do you remember what he did or if he was fired?

      Oh, of course not.

      But that’s why you keep trying to use it as some sort of ammo?

      Your hate makes your brain quit like your football team so often does against Alabama. Even if I read it out loud to you there would still be this little-man-syndrome need to pretend you aren’t going to lose to Alabama again next year, that’s all I can figure.

      Or are you trying to say it was Saban that made the mistakes giving Thompson the opportunities? I don’t get it. Isn’t Auburn doing the same thing with Muschamp in his repeat run in Lee county? Will it be the same when he leaves (which he will)?

      Your ignorance warms my heart like a corndog in the microwave.

          1. Peachy did not say that Saban was doing the spinning, he said the spin (as “reported” on this site and nowhere else) that Saban pushed Thompson out is BS.

          2. It’s just too much spinning.

            I feel like I’m taking a hot salsa class up in here.

            Maybe Lance Thompson himself was a graduation present?

            Too much spinning.

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