Who's honestly more confused in this clusterf*** of a coaching circus?

Auburn let go of a coach that went 85-40 during his tenure. He had just three seasons out of ten with fewer than eight wins. Who do they get to replace him? A head coaching neophyte that actually seemed to regress from year one to year two.

Iowa State lost a coach with five wins over two years. Not due to firing. Not due to resignation due to disappointment. No, the guy was friggin' hired by an SEC school.

So, now the Auburn Tigers are saddled with a coach that is already being railed on by national and local media. God forbid he finds out that "winning is tough anywhere" at Auburn.

What in God's name did Jay Jacobs see in Gene Chizik? Yes, he was a defensive coordinator at both Auburn and Texas during their National Championship runs, but he was at neither place longer than five years, so a track record is also extremely difficult to establish.

I was a big Gene Chizik backer from the beginning. He was the coaching candidate du jour when Iowa State nabbed him. And he may very have turned things around at Iowa State. But, he didn't want to.

Iowans don't ask for much, but they sure as hell don't appreciate being lied to. At the Cyclone football awards banquet last Sunday, Chizik said that he didn't want to be anywhere else with any other group of players. That was a lie. He told recruits that he'd be there for them. That was a lie. He told families of recruits that he'd be there for them. That was a lie. He said he was excited to be part of the Cyclone family. That, very obviously, was a lie.

Gene Chizik was a guy that, if you spent any time with him at all, could make you a believer in him and what he was doing. He's got a hell of a job in front of him at Auburn. He's got to sell that what he was doing was the best anyone could do. And with the wins we left on the field, that's not so much the case.

Much like many other online Cyclone supporters, I was willing to wait and see. There were markers of progress, but the W-L numbers were very disappointing. Still, we believed what this guy told us. I bought in up until yesterday. Turns out, he stopped buying in a long time ago.

Now he says he's an Auburn guy "through and through." For now at least. If things get tough, or, say, he ever got considered for an even better job, that might change, ya know.

I hope our next coach is sincere about wanting to be here, or he'll fare no better than Chizik. As for Auburn fans, I feel sorry for you. Wins or losses, success or failure, you can't take your new head coach at his word. And that's what offends Cyclone fans most of all.