Two years after a BCS title, could Auburn’s Chizik get fired?
Brian VanGorder (right) watches his career path take a discernible downturn. (AP photo)
Even as Auburn was en route to the BCS title, there was something unreal about the journey. Not that the 2010 Tigers weren’t the nation’s best team. But you wondered how they got that way.
This is a reference to Cam Newton, but not in the way you’d think. Nearly two years after it was reported that Newton’s dad had sought $180,000 to send his son to Mississippi State, we await the first bit of evidence that Auburn paid, or even offered, anything beyond a scholarship. The NCAA investigated at length and found nothing untoward. So far as can be discerned, Auburn won with Newton fair and square. That said …
Newton blew across the Plains in the time it takes to change, er, planes at Hartsfield-Jackson. (OK, slight exaggeration. But only slight.) He arrived from Blinn Junior College in January 2010, took his team to 14-0 the next January and, Heisman Trophy in tow, was gone. He was an Auburn student-athlete for roughly a year.
Auburn began its championship run ranked 22nd in the Associated Press preseason poll — one spot ahead of Georgia, six spots behind Georgia Tech. The Tigers were 8-5 in the season before Newton, 8-5 in the season after Newton. Today they’re 1-4, the victory coming in overtime against Louisiana-Monroe. They just lost 24-7 at home to an Arkansas team that was outscored by 100 points in its two previous SEC games. Which brings us to the other part of the disconnect.
The 2010 national championship was won by Gene Chizik’s team. Is Gene Chizik a national championship coach?
Counting two seasons at Iowa State, his career record is 36-33. His record without Cam Newton is 22-33. His record before Cam Newton was 13-24. His record since Cam Newton is 9-9.
A BCS title should buy a coach a long honeymoon, but let’s remember that Chizik works at Auburn. Where Terry Bowden resigned under pressure 11 months after he’d led the Tigers to the SEC championship game. Where school officials were moved to take a clandestine flight to Sellersburg, Ind., to woo Bobby Petrino, then of Louisville, to fill the head-coaching position occupied by Tommy Tuberville. Where Tuberville himself was gone four years after an undefeated season.
Things happen faster in the win-or-else SEC, and Auburn occupies the epicenter of Football Gone Wild. The Georgia-Georgia Tech relationship has been described as clean, old-fashioned hate. There’s nothing clean or old-fashioned about the feelings Auburn and Alabama have toward one another. Theirs is the dirtiest form of loathing, updated daily.
Alabama again reigns over college football. It has won two of the past three BCS titles and is in Position A to claim yet another. For one year, Newton and Chizik and Auburn usurped Nick Saban’s throne, but that year seems now — heck, it seemed so even then — as the one-off to end all one-offs.
So today we ask: Could the coach who claimed a national championship in January 2011 get fired before 2012 is done? Anywhere else, you’d say no. Auburn, however, is not anywhere else, and this is among the worst Auburn teams ever. It ranks 113th among 120 FBS teams in total offense, 117th in scoring, 110th in passing efficiency, 75th in total defense and dead last in turnover margin. This with a new offensive coordinator (the overmatched Scott Loeffler) and a new defensive coordinator (Brian VanGorder, of whom you’ve heard).
According to Rivals.com, Auburn’s signing classes from 2010 through 2012 ranked fourth, seventh and 10th nationally. Continuity, alas, has gone missing. Nick Fairley, who won the 2010 Lombardi Trophy, arrived as a JUCO transfer and left for the NFL after two seasons. Running back Michael Dyer was the offensive MVP of the BCS title game and was kicked off the squad 361 days later. Auburn has begun each of Chizik’s four seasons with a different quarterback; the latest, sophomore Kiehl Frazier, has thrown eight interceptions against two touchdown passes.
The Tigers’ next two games are at Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. (They’re a six-point underdog against the Rebels.) If Auburn loses both, it could well finish 0-8 in SEC play — two years after going 8-0. The SEC has seen all manner of strangeness, but such a plunge would have no precedent. Then again, Auburn’s rise to No. 1 didn’t have many antecedents, either. Yes, Herschel Walker lifted Georgia from 6-5 to an unbeaten national championship in his first collegiate season, but he stuck around a couple of more years and the Bulldogs stayed really good. And nobody wondered if Vince Dooley, who’d won three SEC titles before Herschel, could actually coach.
The former Auburn coach Pat Dye, who seldom makes a lick of sense, recently claimed he wouldn’t trade Chizik “for 10 Sabans.” If Chizik keeps losing, Auburn might soon swap him for one Bobby Petrino.
By Mark Bradley
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403 comments Add your comment
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:23 am
“Your first lying post, made at 5:56 p.m. Oct 10, is there for you and the rest of the blog to see. So all of us are smart enough to know you’re a liar. Your subsequent posts indicate that you’re also ignorant, self-absorbed, and in denial. Proud of yourself?”
You’re still struggling aren’t you.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:25 am
“This is only a small number of issues that have occurred during Chizik’s time in Auburn.”
12 players were arrested in one season under CMR.
Several players from the “dream team” were kicked out of school by CMR.
AJ Green was suspended for violating NCAA rules.
UGA’s athletic director was caught having sex while drunk in a car.
UGA has a major problem with their football program.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:25 am
ckgator
October 11th, 2012
10:14 am
DawgNole – yes they did! I was at the Braves game to boot. Awful.
______________________
Hope you didn’t get hit with any trash. Had a bad feeling when the Braves lost like they did that we might be in for a rough weekend.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:26 am
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:23 am
“Your first lying post, made at 5:56 p.m. Oct 10, is there for you and the rest of the blog to see. So all of us are smart enough to know you’re a liar. Your subsequent posts indicate that you’re also ignorant, self-absorbed, and in denial. Proud of yourself?”
You’re still struggling aren’t you.
____________________
And you’re still lying.
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:29 am
DawgNole
The guys posting under Huh….is the same guy who comes on here anytime an article is posted about Auburn. He changes his handle, cuts and paste everyones comments, has no original comments except to lie about your comments, and proclaim how innocent and great Auburn is once people note how scummy he is. If he had a brain he would post his own comments and let them stand for itsself. He spends more time on the Auburn reports than anyone and apparently does not have a real job unless it is delivering pizza or something, maybe chinese food. Watch and see he will take your comments, and my comments and paste them. I think the guy must be mentally challenged or something.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:33 am
“And you’re still lying.”
No ma’am, I am not lying but keep on trying. Maybe one day you’ll hit on something that’s actually true.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:35 am
Under The Bleachers
What’s hilarious about your comment is the fact that you throw out childish insults, THEN pretend to be high and mighty.
Oh, and please prove your claim about me. Come on, ma’am. Prove it.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:35 am
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:29 am
DawgNole
The guys posting under Huh….is the same guy who comes on here anytime an article is posted about Auburn. He changes his handle, cuts and paste everyones comments, has no original comments except to lie about your comments, and proclaim how innocent and great Auburn is once people note how scummy he is. If he had a brain he would post his own comments and let them stand for itsself. He spends more time on the Auburn reports than anyone and apparently does not have a real job unless it is delivering pizza or something, maybe chinese food. Watch and see he will take your comments, and my comments and paste them. I think the guy must be mentally challenged or something.
____________________
That’s a pretty accurate description. Thanks for the heads-up.
Didn’t know his past history, but it quickly became obvious from his posts on this blog that he’s a liar and distorter–and craves attention. Shouldn’t feed him, I guess, but couldn’t let slide his lie about UGA never having won a championship.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:38 am
“The guys posting under Huh….is the same guy who comes on here anytime an article is posted about Auburn. ”
So?
“He changes his handle”
Prove it.
“has no original comments except to lie about your comments, and proclaim how innocent and great Auburn is once people note how scummy he is.”
I had no idea this thread was about “original comments.” I never lied about anyones comment. When did I proclaim Auburn was innocent? OH YES, the NCAA did.
“If he had a brain he would post his own comments and let them stand for itsself. ”
I did and that’s what led you here, ma’am.
“He spends more time on the Auburn reports than anyone and apparently does not have a real job unless it is delivering pizza or something, maybe chinese food.”
Then again, there aren’t many Auburn reports, are there? Nope. Pizza delivery? Nah, I have a degree.
“Watch and see he will take your comments, and my comments and paste them. I think the guy must be mentally challenged or something.”
99% of people who blog here do the same thing, troglodyte.
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:38 am
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:35 am
Under The Bleachers
What’s hilarious about your comment is the fact that you throw out childish insults, THEN pretend to be high and mighty.
Oh, and please prove your claim about me. Come on, ma’am. Prove it.
Hey DawgNole….
I think I found his cryptonite.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:38 am
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:33 am
“And you’re still lying.”
No ma’am, I am not lying but keep on trying. Maybe one day you’ll hit on something that’s actually true.
_____________________
Just look at your 5:56 p.m. post, liar. How many times do I need to show it? And that’s actually true.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:39 am
“Didn’t know his past history, but it quickly became obvious from his posts on this blog that he’s a liar and distorter–and craves attention. Shouldn’t feed him, I guess, but couldn’t let slide his lie about UGA never having won a championship.”
You really aren’t smart are you.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:40 am
Under The Bleachers = DawgNole
Your comments gave you away.
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:41 am
“Just look at your 5:56 p.m. post, liar. How many times do I need to show it? And that’s actually true.’
You obviously need to take a remedial english course.
Cyclone5
October 11th, 2012
10:41 am
Those of us from Iowa State were so damn relieved when he left. He is an absolute egotistical joke.
Remember this: When he left, he got the players together and talked for about 2 minutes, and walked out of room. Complete fake.
You got your national championship, Auburn. But, I’d take the ethics we’ve had in our program any day over that joke of a coach.
And, it’s not going to get better.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:42 am
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:38 am
Hey DawgNole….
I think I found his cryptonite.
___________________
I think you’re right.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:42 am
“But, I’d take the ethics we’ve had in our program any day over that joke of a coach.”
Iowa State. The Ole Miss of the Big whatever it is now.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:43 am
@DawgNole
What sucks worse? Knowing that FSU is overrated or knowing UGA is overrated? Either way they both suck at football.
1980!!!!!!!!
October 11th, 2012
10:45 am
The one thing I can not figure out about this blog is why UGA fans are making comments about a team that has nothing to do with the state of GA. UGA was totally and utterly embarrassed on national tv for the second straight year yet their fans make nasty comments about a school that has nothing to do with GA.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:46 am
Cyclone5
October 11th, 2012
10:41 am
Those of us from Iowa State were so damn relieved when he left. He is an absolute egotistical joke.
Remember this: When he left, he got the players together and talked for about 2 minutes, and walked out of room. Complete fake.
You got your national championship, Auburn. But, I’d take the ethics we’ve had in our program any day over that joke of a coach.
And, it’s not going to get better.
________________________
Wasn’t he 5-19 with your team? I recall it being quite an eye-opener when Auburn hired him with that record. Easy to see why your Cyclones were happy to let him go.
1980!!!!!!!!
October 11th, 2012
10:46 am
Why are UGA fans making nasty comments about Auburn? It makes no sense to me because UGA has its own share of problems. The main one being that UGA can not beat a top ranked team.
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:47 am
Don’t try to rationalize Auburn center Reese Dismukes getting arrested – and suspended – a week before the opener against Clemson as an isolated example of boys being boys.
It’s not.
It’s time to take a hard look at the accumulation of issues involving current, former and future Auburn players this calendar year alone and ask a hard question that everyone from the school president to the athletics director to the head coach himself should be asking.
What kind of football program is Gene Chizik running?
Is it a program whose coaches take too many chances on talent at the expense of character in recruiting to try to keep up with their very successful rivals?
Is it a program whose players keep seeing their teammates get suspended and dismissed for their actions but, for some reason, don’t seem to get the message?
Is it a program, not quite two years removed from a national championship, with serious cracks in its foundation?
Dismukes got arrested at 2:03 a.m. Saturday on a charge of public intoxication. That’s far from a felony, but it’s a problem on a number of levels.
He’s a returning starter. He’s 19 years old, which means, if he’s guilty of that charge, he’s also guilty of underage drinking, perhaps not for the first time. And his arrest is just the latest example of an Auburn football player embarrassing himself, his teammates, his coaches and his program.
It’s not good enough anymore to argue that other schools also recruited the Auburn players that have gotten into trouble. The fact is, these players are getting into trouble while at Auburn, or in one case, on the way there, and it’s happening in numbers too big to ignore. Consider the rest of the lengthening and troubling rap sheet from this year alone:
Starting tailback Mike Dyer, after getting suspended for the Chick-fil-a Bowl for an undisclosed violation of team rules, leaves the program for Arkansas State. He’s later dismissed from that program after a traffic stop in which the arresting officer says he found marijuana and a gun in the car.
Former wide receiver Antonio Goodwin is convicted on a charge of armed robbery and sentenced to 15 years in jail. Three other former players – Mike McNeil, Shaun Kitchens and Dakota Mosley – await trial on charges stemming from that same March, 2011, home invasion.
At Goodwin’s trial, Dyer testifies that the gun used in the robbery was his. Dyer also testifies that, during his two years at Auburn, he “consistently” smoked synthetic marijuana. Another player, DeAngelo Benton, testifies that he has smoked synthetic marijuana while at Auburn.
True freshman quarterback Zeke Pike is arrested on a charge of public intoxication and sent home by Chizik, with no timetable set for a return. Pike decides to transfer to Louisville to play tight end.
Six people are shot, three fatally, at a party just off campus. One of the wounded, Eric Mack, is a current Auburn player. Two of the deceased, Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips, are former Auburn players. At the preliminary hearing, a witness testifies that the trouble started with a verbal disagreement between the alleged killer, Desmonte Leonard, and Benton, who allegedly pointed at Leonard and said, “That boy is going to die tonight.”
Benton, a senior wide receiver, is later suspended indefinitely for an undisclosed violation of a team rule.
Sophomore defensive back Jonathan Rose is sent home and given his release from the football team for undisclosed reasons, though his Leeds High School coach says the reasons have “nothing to do with grades or anything that deals with the police.” Rose transfers to Nebraska.
True freshman tailback Jovon Robinson starts fall camp, then is sidelined when the Memphis City Schools say that a high school guidance counselor altered his transcript. The NCAA deems Robinson a non-qualifier, which forces him to leave Auburn. The NCAA interviews a former high school coach of Robinson’s, as well as his 7-on-7 team coach.
Auburn five-star defensive line commitment Dee Liner gets arrested twice in 10 days in July, once for an altercation with a police officer that had pulled over his mother and the second time for criminal trespassing for jumping a fence at a public pool. In August, Liner is suspended indefinitely by his Muscle Shoals High School team after walking out of practice.
Put it all together, and all the trouble is a disturbing trend.
It’s one thing to lose five games on either side of a national championship season, with another handful of defeats a distinct possibility this season. It’s far more suspect in a head coach’s fourth year on the job to lose player after player to suspension or dismissal.
The disciplinary actions taken by Chizik suggest that the program isn’t out of control. The repeated need for disciplinary action raises the possibility that the program is headed in that direction.
From Kevin Scarbinsky
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:47 am
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:43 am
@DawgNole
What sucks worse? Knowing that FSU is overrated or knowing UGA is overrated? Either way they both suck at football.
___________________
Both suck about the same.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:48 am
@DawgNole
Yes, that powerhouse Iowa State. The one school that everyone forgets even exists in the Big ??. I’ve noticed that you have major pen!s envy of Auburn football. Too bad both FSU and UGA sucks and both schools haven’t been relevant in college football in quite some time.
WOOF WOOF
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:49 am
That Iowa St program is playing pretty good football now, while Auburn has players admitting they have quit on the coaches at Auburn.
Everyone around the league wants Auburn to keep Chizik, it makes those games easier to win.
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:49 am
HUH?????
October 11th, 2012
10:41 am
“Just look at your 5:56 p.m. post, liar. How many times do I need to show it? And that’s actually true.’
You obviously need to take a remedial english course.
______________________
And you’re obviously a liar.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:50 am
“Both suck about the same.”
Yes they do and I keep wondering why you are on a blog about Auburn football when both of your schools were embarrassed. Let Auburn worry about their coaching problems and you worry about beating teams on your schedule.
Mmmkay?
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:50 am
Dawg Nole, I think he is now posting under the Donnan banner now…see what I was saying….mental.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:51 am
“That Iowa St program is playing pretty good football now”
Yes, they’ve won _______ and beaten _______________. Answers: Nothing and no one.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:52 am
@Under The Bleachers
Please provide evidence.
Thanks
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:53 am
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:48 am
@DawgNole
Yes, that powerhouse Iowa State. The one school that everyone forgets even exists in the Big ??. I’ve noticed that you have major pen!s envy of Auburn football. Too bad both FSU and UGA sucks and both schools haven’t been relevant in college football in quite some time.
______________________
ISU is playing better now that they’ve rid themselves of Chizik’s influence. No envy of Auburn football here. They’ve weasled out of contracts with FSU twice–and have lost 5 of their past 6 to UGA. What’s to envy?
Phil from Athens
October 11th, 2012
10:53 am
To all dawg fans:
Please, for the love of GOD, stop embarrassing UGA by trolling on an Auburn blog. You are not proving anything except that you are ignorant. Please stop.
Do
October 11th, 2012
10:53 am
Enter your comments here
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:53 am
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:52 am
@Under The Bleachers
Please provide evidence.
Thanks
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You just did! Thanks.
By the way, Iowa St has won more games this season than Auburn has!
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
10:54 am
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:50 am
Dawg Nole, I think he is now posting under the Donnan banner now…see what I was saying….mental.
__________________
I no longer think you’re right. I know you are.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:54 am
@DawgNole
Is Iowa State ranked?
Nuff said.
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
10:55 am
Do
October 11th, 2012
10:53 am
Enter your comments here
—————————————–
Caught him changing his handle…back to Huh?/?
Dawgs suck
October 11th, 2012
10:57 am
What do the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and UGA football have in common?
They haven’t won a championship in decades.
Remember folks, UGA’s last championship came when Jimmy Carter were in office.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:58 am
“Caught him changing his handle…back to Huh?/?”
“Do”
Yeah, because Do and Huh are both spelled the same.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:58 am
Hey look, another top rated recruit is leaving the state of GA and heading to an Alabama school.
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
10:59 am
HAHAHAHAHAHA
South Carolina lands 4-star DT who tried to commit to UGA
barner
October 11th, 2012
11:00 am
barners—second class school, furious at looking up to Alabama, the elite school in the state, that is getting ready to win their 3rd BCS title in 4 years!!! RTR!! barners will end up 4-8–another failed season. Get out the checkbook and buy another cam!
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
11:01 am
OUCH
“Ex-UGA football recruit picks N.C. State after flirting again with Bulldogs”
DONNAN OF A NEW ERA
October 11th, 2012
11:01 am
bammers – been on probation for 12 years.
GB's Hamburgers
October 11th, 2012
11:03 am
This couldn’t be happening to a more deserving guy. I still remember the thuggery in the Auburn game a few years ago. I think that beating has affected Aaron Murray ever since. Chizik cheered the cheap shots on. UGA has stability but it’s at a level that’s upper mid-level in the SEC. No matter how good we recruit, that’s where we’ll always end up. We will have to have a new coach to go higher or be satisfied with our perpetual mediocrity.
Green Bay would like their logo back
October 11th, 2012
11:04 am
When will UGA come up with their own logo?
Under The Bleachers
October 11th, 2012
11:15 am
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/08/what_kind_of_football_program.html
From Kevin Scarbinsky who writes for an Auburn Alumni run paper
DawgNole
October 11th, 2012
11:20 am
Dawgs suck
October 11th, 2012
10:57 am
Remember folks, UGA’s last championship came when Jimmy Carter were in office.
_____________________
“Jimmy Carter WERE in office”? Are you sure he WERE?
That skillfully written piece of prose tells us enough about you that we know to scroll past any of your future posts.
Mike Shula
October 11th, 2012
11:22 am
Mark, Terry Bowden never coached in an SEC champ game.
Techster
October 11th, 2012
11:27 am
Tee hee hee. Don’t know about Auburn, but I am still chuckling about that whipping the Cocks laid on the dogs.