I'm back with another column I thought I would share about your coach.  It is is very safe to say that your coach and our former defensive coordinator may split the Auburn family...so much so it would be hard to ever recover.  We, as fans, do not see how someone that went 2-10 last year could possibly be up for the head coaching job at Auburn.  I thought I would share this column with you that was posted by Phillp Marshall at auburnundercover.com.

By: Phillip Marshall, Senior Writer

Posted Dec 13, 2008
Copyright © 2008 AuburnUndercover.com

My telephone rang early this morning. It was a friend who is an Auburn graduate and an avid football fan. He’ s the kind of fan who finds something positive in almost every situation, who believes in bad times that better days are coming.

And he was angry.

“If they do this,” he said, “I’m through with Auburn football.”

And from the feedback I’ve gotten, from the feedback others in far more important positions than I tell me they’ve gotten, he is not alone.

It’s been less than eight hours since I put up the story that said Gene Chizik has jumped to the top of the list in Auburn’s search for a head coach to replace Tommy Tuberville. In that short period of time, the response has been the most negative I have witnessed in almost 40 years of being around Auburn football as a reporter.

It’s unfortunate for Gene Chizik, who is a good man and, I believe, a good football coach. I believe he’s a good enough football coach to have a real shot at getting the job done.  But no one would have a good shot at getting the job done under the conditions he will find if he is named Auburn’s head coach.

Athletics director Jay Jacobs is as sincere and honest as any person I know. If he tells me it’s going to snow in the summertime, I’m getting out my heavy coat. But he needs to rethink this.

From what I’m told, the deal has not been finalized. President Jay Gogue still must give his final approval. If he does it, he’ll do it under fierce opposition and it will divide Auburn people to such a degree that it will be very difficult to recover.

The main problem they all face is Chizik’s record at Iowa State. He was a huge success as defensive coordinator at Auburn and at Texas. Iowa State is a terrible job. But a 5-19 record in two seasons is hard for anyone to overlook. This season, Iowa State went 2-10 despite a schedule that did not include Oklahoma, Texas or Texas Tech, the three best teams in the league.

If Chizik comes to Auburn, he will come on a 10-game losing streak. Has that ever happened at a major football school?

In the end, sources close to the search say, the two finalists were Chizik and Buffalo coach Turner Gill. And the nod, at least for now, has gone to Chizik.

It’s unfortunate, not because Chizik isn’t good enough but because Auburn had an opportunity to make a statement, to turn the negativity surrounding the departure of Tommy Tuberville after 10 seasons into something very positive. Alabama had a similar opportunity, chose Mike Shula over Sly Croom, and paid the price.

Other than the past two dreadful season, Chizik has very good credentials. Gill, who took over another down-and-out program at Buffalo and won a championship in three seasons, has similar credentials if not better. It became obvious days ago, before Chizik’s name surfaced, that Gill was the favorite of most fans.

Would Gill win more at Auburn than Chizik? There really is no way to say. But what is obvious today is that, fairly or unfairly, Chizik would be the most unpopular choice in modern Auburn history.

And under those circumstances, it will be very difficult to succeed.