Tuberville didn't let the coaches coach. He never has. Period. Isn't that the whole point of this? He hires Tony Franklin to implement his system and then steps back while his long time assistants undermind everything he's hired to do? Tommy Tuberville should have DEMANDED that everyone get on the same page and run the offense the way it's supposed to be run.
Did he fuck with Borges? Oh yeah, he did. He said as much on two different occasions I recall. Franklin says he stayed completely out of it...until game day....which is exactly what Borges indicated.
Look, I'm not going to debate how Tuberville Captain's his ship anymore. I'm just basing my argument on the fact that Franklin just affirmed everything I've been thinking and perceived about how it's run. Is he lying? Who knows...but again, he's the only one talking about it and it matches up perfectly with what's happened on the field. Bottom line for me is, I'm tired of mediocrity. I'm tired of going through this crap every year or so. I'm tired of 1 SEC championship in 10 freakin' years.
As I said earlier, I hope Auburn wins tonight and next week and the week after....I hope the ship is righted in 2008. But again, a new OC will be hired and history under Tuberville says, we'll be on this board hashing out this same shit again in a year or two and wondering when we're going to get over the hump.
Okay. I feel the pain.
In 2003 I wrote a scathing column that chronicled his major failures. I pointed out critical "get over the hump" games where AU had been blindsided. Arkansas debacles with Fred Tally gaining 492 yards and 11 TDs. The 31-7 Andrew Zow meltdown. My contention then was that in opportunities to push Auburn into the national discussion, he'd dropped the ball. And often bumbled it dramatically. But you know what? I went back and looked at Dye's record. Same damn thing.
1983: Texas 20, Auburn 7. Cost AU a national title.
1984: Miami 20, Auburn 18. Confirmed that the pollsters had been right to deny AU in 83. Four loss debacle.
1985: Four loss season, debacle
1986: Florida 18, Auburn 17. Cost AU a shot at a national title
1987: Two ties, one to Tennessee. Won mythical SEC title, but lost to FSU 34-6
1988: LSU 7, Auburn 6. Cost AU a shot at the national title and would have DESTROYED Notre Dame.
1989: Lost two games by a total of 15 points to inferior teams
1990: Tied Tennessee, got annihilated by Florida. Lost the following week to Southern Miss. At the time of the Florida drubbing, AU was 1 or 2 in the polls.
I do think Franklin is a self-serving person and that his comments may be colored by his own skewed perception of how things actually were. It happens. I think his perception might be just a little off and that he probably let "new guy syndrome" get to him. They had cookouts. Maybe he wasn't invited. Maybe he didn't go. He felt ostracized. His wife wasn't in the sewing circle with other wives. I think he handled that poorly, and also was in completely over his head. Anybody watching could tell that. He had no concept whatsoever of how to manage a game. "If we call a play that doesn't work, we'll just call another one." Except he didn't call another one. He kept calling the same ones with the same result. "I'm a dumbass." Yes, yes you are.
I know you hate the CEO analogy, but it fits. When does Tuberville fuck with his assistants? When he looks out on the field and things are going badly. Just like any other CEO. When it isn't working, he gets involved. Makes suggestions. Overrides decisions. Whatever he can do to make it work. Because when it doesn't, who gets the blame? Have you ever heard Tuberville take credit for a win? No. He credits the assistants, the players, cheerleaders, fans. Even when he might have been the one making the call.
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