The difference between selling family and being family

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers are fierce rivals. I don’t think there is any possible way to find a pair of teams who hate each other more than these two. The two teams are constantly locked in a battle for in-state supremacy. In 2007, that battle reached another level when Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa to become the head coach of the Crimson Tide. Almost immediately Auburn, who had been ahead of their rival for several years, found themselves once again on the back burner. So what do they do? They fire their coach and hire a new one.

And then the Auburn Tigers decide to try a new tactic. I’m not talking about the reported rumors of negative recruiting and pay-for-play schemes that have been spreading since the arrival of Gene Chizik, I’m talking about the idea of the “Family.” Since Gene Chizik’s arrival in 2008, Auburn fans have been using this term more and more often. They are just one, big happy family down there on the Plains.

This, however, is nothing more than a charade. That football team is most certainly not a “family.” All thuggish/brutish behavior exhibited by Auburn players aside, let’s talk about a far more recent event that has convinced me more than ever of how bogus this “Family” concept is when it comes to the Auburn football team. Both the University of Alabama and Auburn University had players declare for the NFL draft this past week. Julio Jones, Marcell Dareus, Mark Ingram, and Dont’a Hightower showed up for a press conference hosted by their coach, Nick Saban. Ingram, Dareus, and Jones all declared for the draft while Hightower announced his intentions to return to play at Alabama. Nick Saban applauded each of their decisions and strongly endorsed their intentions.

Switching gears to the other side of the state, Cam Newton, Nick Fairley, and Darvin Adams all declared themselves eligible for the draft. Instead of a press conference, however, Newton declared his intentions in an ESPN interview that looked like it was done in absolute secrecy inside his bedroom closet. Nick Fairley, showing how much he loved Auburn University, decided to announce his decision to enter the draft via a press conference at his old high school. So much for keeping it all in the family. And then there is Darvin Adams. Hell, no one from Auburn even bothered to tell the press that Adams had declared himself eligible until a couple days after he had done so.

Compare Auburn’s approach to that of Alabama’s and decide who the real family is. There was Nick Saban, at a live press conference featuring some of the best players from his team, strongly endorsing their intentions to enter the NFL draft. He gave off the impression that he genuinely cared about the future of his players. Now contrast that with Gene Chizik and the Auburn Tigers. There was no press conference, there was no strong endorsement from their head coach. Hell, all three of them seemed to announce in absolute secrecy out of fear of repercussions from their so-called family.

In the case of family, Nick Saban was the one man who acted more like a father. Instead of encouraging them to do what was best for the family, he told them to do what was best for them. Based on the silence from Gene Chizik, I will have to assume the opposite with him is true. The Auburn Family is nothing more than a cult with one purpose in mind: to win no matter what the cost.