This isn't some glowing endorsement of AU or a scathing hit piece either. Just looks like troof. scarcopybinskypasta on al.kum
If you thought A-Day was interesting at Auburn, with all those fans, all those good vibrations and all that bathroom tissue, you hadn’t seen anything yet.
Saturday was Ultra, Extra and Angel Soft.
The Monday after was much weightier.
Jay Jacobs continued to try to change his image from that of the unpopular AD presiding over the worst year in Auburn history to the white knight defending the school against dubious charges. His ruthlessly documented point-by-point deconstruction of allegations on Roopstigo.com would make a defense attorney proud.
Gene Chizik broke his unemployed silence and saddled up next to his old boss to ride to the defense of the school that fired him but still pays him. He displayed more passion in sitdowns with WJOX in Birmingham and with Auburn beat writers than he had in all of his interviews as head coach combined.
And Jay Gogue? How did he contribute to all the “we’re not gonna take it; no, we ain’t gonna take it†sound and fury?
He put together a committee.
That’s so Gogue.
If he were a football coach, he’d poll the assistants on what play to call on third-and-goal.
At least the Auburn president kept his eye on the ball, even if it was from a distance.
The largest spring-game crowd in the country and in school history, the equestrian national championship, the final rolling of Toomer’s Corner and the aggressive, effective rebuttals to a website’s would-be “expose†shouldn’t obscure the overall state of the athletics department.
The football team did go 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the SEC, the school’s worst season in six decades, which led to an expensive coaching change. The basketball team did go 9-23 overall and 3-15 in the SEC, the most losses in school history. The baseball team is 24-16 overall but 6-12 in SEC play, which is last in the West and 11th overall.
The performance of the department as a whole falls at the feet of Jacobs, and the future of the AD lies in the hands of Gogue.
Some trustees wanted the president to send Jacobs packing along with Chizik after the 49-0 debacle in the Iron Bowl, but Gogue would meet them only halfway. So why ask a group of six people for a second opinion now?
Interesting that Jacobs would be the one to announce the formation of the committee Monday in his latest letter to the Auburn family. The news almost got lost, stuck in between the strong “Selena Roberts was wrong†opening statement and the feel-good “A-Day to remember†closing.
The statement says this committee has been charged with undertaking a “top-to-bottom review†of the athletics department, and one of the five areas it’s supposed to examine is “the department’s management structure, including the effectiveness of its leadership.â€
Who’s the leader of the athletics department? Jacobs. Has he been an effective leader? There are strong opinions among Auburn people on both sides of that question. He’s certainly been more assertive and aggressive of late, and that’s not by accident.
It appears Auburn has undertaken a concerted effort to change Jacobs’ image, which has taken a serious hit among the fan base as the losses in the major sports have mounted this academic year. It helps that the focus of the fans has shifted from debating internal issues to confronting external accusers.
In that sense, Roberts may be the best thing to happen to Jacobs.
It’s too early to tell if Gogue’s committee will be more independent-minded than the committee that assisted Jacobs in bringing back Gus Malzahn as the safest possible hire as head football coach. There is one common thread. Mac Crawford, fresh off his work on the coaching search committee, will be part of the athletics department review committee, too.
Gogue also tapped an old friend in Dave Maggard, who was the AD at Houston when Gogue served as president there.
As important as it’s been for Jacobs and Chizik to speak up and not let questionable allegations go unquestioned, it’s just as important that Auburn athletics take a hard look at the way it goes about its business.
Otherwise, the Tigers risk falling farther behind their rivals in the state, the division and the conference.
Remember, some of the same people cheering the current AD and the former coach now were jeering them last fall, calling for a regime change rather than a coaching change.
Gogue wouldn’t clean house then. It’s hard to imagine this committee would suggest he go that far now.
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