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Worst Auburn coaching staff ever?
Posted on 10/2/22 at 1:58 pm
Posted on 10/2/22 at 1:58 pm
Question for the old timers... is this the worst staff we've ever had? I really started following on the tail end of Terry Bowden but every coach since then has had some good and some bad. I can't figure out the good with Harsin & Co. It's actually crazy that Harsin is only our fourth coach since 1999... I don't think a lot of SEC programs can say that.
Recruiting - Worst I can remember. Low rankings combined with not recruiting positions of need (Oline)
Transfer Portal - Massive losses, not filling needs
Staff Retention - High turnover of key staff, very public and embarrassing
Gameplan- Maybe decent here? Hard to say because we have good first halves
In Game Adjustments - Absolutely terrible, worst second halves I can remember
Have we ever had someone worse?
From my memory:
Tubs - Had stout hard nosed defenses. Stopped recruiting at the end but talented rosters along the way. Never got the most out of his offensive talent.
Chizik - Stacked talent. Gave us 2010. Couldn't figure out offense and had the 2012 team (which was talented) quit.
Malzahn - Couldn't recruit Olinemen because off his odd scheme. Rule changes hurt his offensive scheme and he couldn't adapt. Really needed a special set of players for his offense to work (in the SEC) which he didn't seem to consistently bring in.
Recruiting - Worst I can remember. Low rankings combined with not recruiting positions of need (Oline)
Transfer Portal - Massive losses, not filling needs
Staff Retention - High turnover of key staff, very public and embarrassing
Gameplan- Maybe decent here? Hard to say because we have good first halves
In Game Adjustments - Absolutely terrible, worst second halves I can remember
Have we ever had someone worse?
From my memory:
Tubs - Had stout hard nosed defenses. Stopped recruiting at the end but talented rosters along the way. Never got the most out of his offensive talent.
Chizik - Stacked talent. Gave us 2010. Couldn't figure out offense and had the 2012 team (which was talented) quit.
Malzahn - Couldn't recruit Olinemen because off his odd scheme. Rule changes hurt his offensive scheme and he couldn't adapt. Really needed a special set of players for his offense to work (in the SEC) which he didn't seem to consistently bring in.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:01 pm to ALhunter
I'm 31, it's the worst staff I remember having.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:09 pm to ALhunter
Historically? Probably Earl Brown (1948-50) who had a 3-22-4 record at Auburn over 3 years.
Only modern-day consideration? Yes, Harsin and his staff take the cake.
Only modern-day consideration? Yes, Harsin and his staff take the cake.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:09 pm to ALhunter
Worst by far and even comparing other AU staffs to this one is an insult to those other staffs
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:14 pm to BlackStandard
quote:This is nothing like hiring Barfield over Davis when Shug retired. Read about PJ Underwood. His fellow coaches didn't like him, and his players didn't like him. He was more profane than Rick Trickett as well. This will be an easy transition comparatively.
I'm 31, it's the worst staff I remember having.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:19 pm to ALhunter
I remember when Shug Jordan was head coach. He was a good one but things seemed to decline a bit towards the end. The Barfield years were not great but there was a winning season (8-3) in 1979. The Pat Dye era was good. We won about 70% of the games we played. The first few years of Terry Bowden were good. I will never forget the Florida game in 1994 when Auburn beat Florida in the Swamp. Fans stopped the bus as it returned to Auburn and the players got off and signed autographs. We had a few good years under Tubs and a great year under Chizik. Then there was Gus. The notable thing about Harsin is the division within the fan base. In over 50 years I have not seen a coach at Auburn who had so little fan support. His personality and poor job performance play a role in that it seems.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:32 pm to LRB1967
quote:
In over 50 years I have not seen a coach at Auburn who had so little fan support. His personality and poor job performance play a role in that it seems.
Other than this forum can you quantify the lack of fan support for Harsin? Also do,you think Kirby or Saban are Mr Personality? How about Mike Leach, that dude thinks he is a fricking pirate and is weird as hell. How about Gus he was weird as hell and had the personality of a 2x4.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:40 pm to SingleMalt1973
You only get to be a jackass when the team is winning.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:47 pm to ALhunter
Are we including all the previous players that are on the staff too?
Cadillac? RB coach
Ethridge? Dback coach
The RBs and the dbacks are actually playing pretty good though for the most part.
Cadillac? RB coach
Ethridge? Dback coach
The RBs and the dbacks are actually playing pretty good though for the most part.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 2:48 pm to LRB1967
Most all of these guys are jackasses. The only ones I ever met in person several times that were not was Bobby and Terry Bowden. Worked at a golf course in Bham during the summer for years. The Bowdens played there for a week during July almost every year. I can honestly say they were the most real semi famous people I ever met.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 3:19 pm to BlackStandard
If not the worst, definitely the dumbest.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 4:43 pm to CorchJay
quote:
Eastlake golf course
Nope Eagle Point, which no longer exist. They played the Kenny Morgan classic there. Kenny Morgan was Bobby’s coach at Samford. The guy that owned Eagle Point was on that team.
This post was edited on 10/2/22 at 4:43 pm
Posted on 10/2/22 at 5:16 pm to i am dan
quote:
Are we including all the previous players that are on the staff too?
I mean the staff in aggregate not "OK Cadillac is a good coach". All previous staffs there were some things they did well, some things they did poorly. This staff I can't come up with the positive side of that equation. Though in all honesty the defense played well this past week.
This post was edited on 10/2/22 at 5:17 pm
Posted on 10/2/22 at 7:42 pm to ALhunter
quote:Ted Roof
In Game Adjustments - Absolutely terrible, worst second halves I can remember
quote:Gus had how many OCs?
Staff Retention - High turnover of key staff, very public and embarrassing
quote:Gus signed top 10 classes, filled with skill position players. High ranking, low results. I'm old enough to remember people saying past good coaches didn't worry about stars, they'd coach them up. Gus signed stars and coached them down. Remember all the guys who got drafted and weren't ready for the next level? Ricardo Louis was very vocal about that. On the flip side, Peterson at Boise was famous for taking guys, 2 and 3 stars, and beating the shite outta everybody. Dammit I so much hate to bring up this name, but it is what it is. Saban. He takes good HS players, and makes them NFL stars. Thankfully, he's on the edge of retirement.
Recruiting - Worst I can remember. Low rankings combined with not recruiting positions of need (Oline)
I think Harsin is a good coach, just not a fit for our program. Back in the day, we gave Barfield 5 years to do something. Those days are gone. We are in the time of instant results, regardless of the situation a coach was hired into. Keep in mind, Gus left the cupboard pretty bare.....and our fans are bitching about instant success based on bringing guys in thru the portal. Like there is an infinite number of players, ready to jump ship, that are way better, and willing to come.
Posted on 10/2/22 at 9:15 pm to greygoose
Fine I'll bite haha...
So Ted roof who's defense in his second year, in the last three games of the season held teams to 12 points in the second half (Alabama, SEC championship, national title game).
I just rechecked 2011 and we got the brakes beaten off of us plenty of times but didn't have second half meltdowns like this (at least on D) with maybe the exception of LSU.
How many left in one month? How many times did he lose both coordinators over the course of a couple of months?
Failing to recruit olinemen and evolve the offense after rule changes caused Malzahn's decline. Show me a team in the last 25 years that has won an SEC conference title or a national title without a stacked roster of 4 and 5 star players.
Harsin isn't just failing to sign Olinemen... he's signing neither Olinemen or highly talented players at other positions.
quote:
Ted Roof
So Ted roof who's defense in his second year, in the last three games of the season held teams to 12 points in the second half (Alabama, SEC championship, national title game).
I just rechecked 2011 and we got the brakes beaten off of us plenty of times but didn't have second half meltdowns like this (at least on D) with maybe the exception of LSU.
quote:
Gus had how many OCs?
How many left in one month? How many times did he lose both coordinators over the course of a couple of months?
quote:
I'm old enough to remember people saying past good coaches didn't worry about stars, they'd coach them up.
Failing to recruit olinemen and evolve the offense after rule changes caused Malzahn's decline. Show me a team in the last 25 years that has won an SEC conference title or a national title without a stacked roster of 4 and 5 star players.
Harsin isn't just failing to sign Olinemen... he's signing neither Olinemen or highly talented players at other positions.
This post was edited on 10/2/22 at 9:20 pm
Posted on 10/2/22 at 10:40 pm to ALhunter
quote:Auburn 2010. We had some good players, but nobody, and I mean nobody considered that team "stacked".
Show me a team in the last 25 years that has won an SEC conference title or a national title without a stacked roster of 4 and 5 star players.
quote:Roof was notorious for sticking to his gameplan, with no discernable adjustments at the half. There's a reason you haven't heard his name mentioned since Chizik was fired, almost 10 years ago.
So Ted roof who's defense in his second year, in the last three games of the season held teams to 12 points in the second half (Alabama, SEC championship, national title game).
I just rechecked 2011 and we got the brakes beaten off of us plenty of times but didn't have second half meltdowns like this (at least on D) with maybe the exception of LSU.
quote:Just going by memory, Lashlee was the longest tenured OC under Gus. After him, if was a constant changing of the guard, sprinkled woith, "I'm turning over the play calling" to "I'm taking over the play calling". Need I remind you that Gus banned his QBs from receiving private coaching until Stidham made it a deal breaker? Wonder why that was? Do you not remember all the highly recruited QBs that Gus turned into anything other than a QB? If you want to go down that road, how can you forget the very public firing of Tony Franklin, mid-season. If memory serves me right, he was replaced by a guy who went on to work for a trucking company.
How many left in one month? How many times did he lose both coordinators over the course of a couple of months?
Been a fan long?
Posted on 10/2/22 at 11:35 pm to ALhunter
Possibly the worst recruiting staff in AU history, but certainly since the early 1950's. This is why Harsin needs to go, the sooner the better. Each weak class makes the rebuild even longer for the next coach.
Posted on 10/3/22 at 10:36 am to greygoose
quote:
Auburn 2010. We had some good players, but nobody, and I mean nobody considered that team "stacked".
This is such a bizarre nonsense take. Define "stacked" if this isn't stacked:
One of the most unstoppable college QBs of all time.
Other guys who got some level of NFL time:
THREE runningbacks
Left tackle
right tackle
middle linebacker
tight end
wide receiver
three cornerbacks
both defensive tackles
3 defensive ends...
So 17 guys with some amount of NFL exposure on top of a Heisman winning and arguably the most unstoppable college QB ever... did you even watch that season?
quote:
Roof was notorious for sticking to his gameplan
Back this up with some stats please, or examples of multiple games where we gave up many more points in the second half than the first... I'll wait.
quote:
Just going by memory
Again, please tell me when we either had a coordinator leave after one month or had both offensive and defensive coordinators leave in a public embarrassing way to be hurriedly replaced. I'd even take an example when he hired one during an offseason and had to replace him the same offseason either because of a resignation or firing.
I'm not arguing that Malzahn had multiple coordinators over his 8 year tenure.
You don't give stats or information backing up anything you say. I'm not going to argue with your flawed memory of the past... It's like listening to an old second cousin talk about how bass were bigger back in his day at Thanksgiving.
Posted on 10/3/22 at 10:39 am to ALhunter
Meh. Not a lot of key contributors from that offense stuck in the NFL. Absolutely great and experienced college talent, but 1 key player was the difference between a 9 win team and a championship team.
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