SZVETITZ COLUMN: Another spring, another QB battle

By: Mike Szvetitz | Opelika Auburn News

How’s your bracket looking?

That good? Yeah, mine, too.

Well it’s not like you have to pretend to care about college basketball anymore, now that spring football is kicking off.

Oh, and how’s Auburn’s search for a new basketball coach? Yeah, it’s still going.

Now, what’s that you said about spring football?

Oh, yeah, it starts today. Like you didn’t know.

Of course you did. You’ve been holding your breath ever since Auburn’s 500-play, overtime win over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, only coming up for air on National Signing Day at the beginning of February.

Now, you can rest easy as the Tigers begin preparations for the 2010 football season.

And this year is just as handwringing as last year. Probably more.

Last year, we all tuned in as Gene Chizik and his super staff of recruiters began their tenure on the Plains. We all wanted to know how they’d be on the field, since they were so proficient off the field in recruiting.

A year later, we know what the staff can do — in the huddle and on the recruiting trail. An 8-5 season, a New Year’s Day bowl win and a top-5 recruiting class under its belt, yeah, we know they’ve lived up to their billing.

And Auburn rewarded all of them with raises. Money well spent, we all said.

Now, the question isn’t the coaches. It’s the players. Well, it’s the quarterback. It’s always the quarterback — just like it’s been every spring practice since Brandon Cox graduated.

For the last two seasons, it was a toss up. No one knew exactly who would play quarterback for the Tigers heading into spring practice in 2008 and then again in 2009.

In 2008, Kodi Burns was thought to be Cox’s successor, as he battled with Cox during the 2007 season, starting one game and seeing action in nine as a true freshman, including playing a key role in the Tigers’ Chick-fil-A Bowl win over Clemson.

But then there was this guy named Chris Todd who was brought in by then-offensive coordinator Tony Franklin — remember him? — to give Burns a run for his money.

Remember that?  Yeah, how could you forget?

And he did. The Burns-Todd battle lasted the spring and into the first game of the 2008 season. Remember, Burns and Todd split time in the beginning of the season, even trading starts in the first two games.

We all definitely remembered what happened next. Todd won the job, then lost it when Franklin got fired six games into the season, creating another quarterback controversy heading into the 2009 spring.

Even with a new coaching staff, the Burns-Todd quarterback controversy remained. This time, with a few twists.

First, there was Todd’s injury. He didn’t throw one meaningful pass during last year’s spring practice, as he was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Then there were Neil Caudle and Barrett Trotter, who both looked good early in spring, adding two more participants to the already crowded race.

Unfortunately for Trotter, a torn ACL ended his run at the job, and put Burns and Todd right back where they started heading into the summer with Caudle hot on their heels.

It also left us all with months of possible scenarios of who would start the first game in Gus Malzahn’s offense in 2009.

Of course, we all know how it turned out, with Todd winning — and keeping — the job all of last season. Now that he’s graduated, this spring has the potential to be just like the last two.

Or does it?

There’s no “clear” starting quarterback heading into today’s first practice. Or at least that’s what the coaches are telling us. Sure, everyone has their pick, just like they did the previous two springs.

Junior college transfer Cameron Newton seems to be everyone’s favorite. He was the No. 1 JUCO quarterback in the nation last year, in case you didn’t know.

But, Chizik or Malzahn have both said every signal-caller is starting on the same, level playing field this spring.

There’s no leader in the clubhouse, coaches say, regardless of what you’ve conjured up with your buddies over a plate of chicken wings.

Whether you believe that or not is another matter. I have my own theories. And Newton is at the top of every one of them, by the way.

But there are other players in the mix: Caudle, Trotter (who’s back 100 percent) and redshirt freshman Clint Moseley.

For Caudle, a senior, it’s his last chance to win a starting job. For Trotter, it’s a chance to make up for lost time. For Moseley, it’s a chance.

For Newton, of course, it’s on opportunity for him to live up to all those expectations.

For us, it’s just another spring practice with another quarterback battle. Same as it ever was.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at mszvetitz@oanow.com or 737-2513.

Tags: auburn Barrett Trotter BCS CAmeron Newton College neil caudle SEC spring football Tigers Tyrik Rollison Western Divison