Auburn Fires Gene Chizik

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8674097/gene-chizik-fired-auburn-tigers

AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn coach Gene Chizik was fired Sunday after the Tigers' rapid fall from a national champion to a winless Southeastern Conference season.

The Tigers endured the worst slide within two years of winning a national championship of any team since the Associated Press poll started in 1936 and hadn't lost this many games since going 0-10 in 1950. The decision came 17 months after Auburn gave Chizik a contract worth some $3.5 million annually through 2015 with a hefty buyout.

"After careful consideration and a thorough evaluation of our football program, I have recommended that Coach Chizik not be retained," Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs said in a statement. "President (Jay) Gogue has accepted my recommendation. Earlier this morning, I informed Gene that he will not return as head coach."

The players were informed in a team meeting Sunday. Jacobs scheduled a news conference for later in the afternoon.

"I'm extremely disappointed with the way this season turned out and I apologize to the Auburn family and our team for what they have had to endure," Chizik said. "In my 27 years of coaching, I have gained an understanding of the high expectations in this profession. When expectations are not met, I understand changes must be made.

The Tigers went from 14-0 with a perfect SEC record with Cam Newton leading the offense in 2010 to 3-9 and 0-8, losing their final three league games by a combined 150-21. Auburn was blown out by Texas A&M (63-21) and Georgia (38-0) but the finale was even more painful for Tigers fans.

No. 2 Alabama cruised to a six-touchdown halftime lead en route to a 49-0 demolition Saturday that could easily have been much worse. It was still the second-most lopsided Iron Bowl in history, behind only the Tide's 55-0 win in 1948.

"While we experienced a tremendous low in 2012, I will always be proud of the incredible highs that we achieved, including three bowl victories, an SEC championship and a national championship," Chizik said.

He was 33-19 in four seasons and 15-17 in SEC games.

Auburn said the total buyout for Chizik and his assistant coaches is $11.09 million. Chizik's buyout will total $7.5 million and be paid in monthly installments for the next four years.

The deal calls for Chizik to make "reasonable" efforts to land a new job, with that salary deducted from the buyout.

Chizik had sandwiched two 8-5 seasons around the national title, but never approached the success of 2010, when Newton won the Heisman Trophy. The Tigers were 7-17 in SEC games outside of 2010 during his tenure.

His hiring was criticized by some fans after Chizik went 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State and lost the last 10 games of his first head coaching job.

Jacobs was heckled at the airport after making the hire.

A search committee comprised of former Heisman Trophy winners Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson and former Tigers fullback Mac Crawford will assist Jacobs, the school said.

 

[NAHSTE]

Inevitable. Terrible hire from the jump, but I suppose Turner Gill would have been even worse.

 

[Maynard]

how can he be terrible if he just won the title?

 

[Matt]

how can he be terrible if he just won the title?

It's amazing what can happen when you have the best player in the nation on your team.

 

[Maynard]

yeah, cause everyone knew cam and auburn was going to be good. thats why they were not even thought of a title contender when they dropped from #1 to #2 a week after they beat LSU

 

[NAHSTE]

It's amazing what can happen when you have the best player in the nation on your team.

Also had four senior offensive linemen that Tuberville recruited and two explosive running backs. Oh yeah, and a brilliant offensive coordinator who ran that unit independently.

 

[Glenbino]

 

[ram29jackson]

probably something fishy about the whole thing...?

 

[Maynard]

probably something fishy about the whole thing...?

49-0 loss to bama

 

[NAHSTE]

49-0 loss to bama

Also, you know, the 0-8 conference record. He was already on his way out. Losing 49-0 in the Iron Bowl was just the last, hilariously cruel, punctuation mark.

 

[BigBiss]

I'll take him back at Texas right now

 

[DoubleDeuce]

I wonder who they're going after

 

[NAHSTE]

I wonder who they're going after

Here is Clay Travis's list ... lots of lulz are brought at Auburn's expense. The Butch Jones and Kirby Smart lines are the best.

Why would anyone with a good job leave for Auburn right now? It's like stepping out of security into the abyss. You have no idea what will happen with the NCAA and Saban isn't leaving anytime soon. As if that wasn't enough Les Miles and Kevin Sumlin have LSU and A&M humming. Hell, even Ole Miss and Mississippi State are in pretty good shape.

Who knows who Arkansas will hire, but the SEC west is unbelievably stocked right now.

Here would be my list if Auburn put me in charge of the search. (Note, this is a realistic list. No one with a good job is leaving for Auburn in the middle of this mess. They just aren't. In addition to sucking, having to deal with the Saban dynasty, and looming NCAA issues, you also have zero job security. The guy who won Auburn's second national title ever got 22 months after doing it.)

Your true options boil down to this: the wounded head coach with issues, the truly insane, coordinators, and Gus Malzahn.

1. Bobby Petrino

Put simply, you're not going to do better. He's wounded and the Auburn program is wounded. In a bad Southern romance novel they'd get healthy together. (And Petrino would clearly be pictured on the cover of this book driving a Harley with Auburn's eagle riding on his shoulder.)

And I don't buy the recruiting disadvantage.

Southern mommas are the most forgiving women on earth. They voted for Clinton in massive numbers.

2. Dana Holgorsen

Could you get him? I have no idea. Yes, West Virginia has tanked down the stretch this year, but at least he'd be exciting as hell.

Plus, he's crazy.

Can you imagine Holgorsen just pounding Red Bull on the sideline? Can you imagine Holgorsen staying out of trouble on the Plains? Me either.

3. Gus Malzahn

You could probably get him back and you know he knows the Plains.

He could reinstall his offense and probably be an immediate upgrade.

Remember when Auburn fans were furious at me for saying Malzahn was the brains of the team?

4. Butch Jones

Would he leave Cincinnati for the Auburn job?

Have we really reached the point where I can write sentences like, would he leave Cincinnati for the Auburn job?

Yes.

5. Sonny Dykes

You could probably hire him away from Louisiana Tech.

But you know Auburn's in rough shape when Sonny Dykes would be thinking, "I just don't know which is the better job for me, Kentucky or Auburn.

6. Kirby Smart

Can you imagine if Smart turned down Auburn to remain Alabama's defensive coordinator?

Good lord, the pain of being an Auburn fan right now.

7. Kliff Kingsbury

Remember, it's not gay if it's Kliff Kingsbury.

Is he ready to be a head coach?

Probably not.

Is he cocky enough to believe he could win immediately win at Auburn?

Yes.

...

Honestly, after this I have no idea.

I think this job is going to be really hard to fill right now.

Even if Auburn pays a ton. Which it will.

Last question on Auburn for the moment, what does Chizik do with the AU leather jacket? That deserves a story all its own.

 

[dave]

I'd give that job to Bobby Petrino in a heartbeat. Like that South Park episode on Tiger Woods, Petrino's only crime is he got caught.

Yeah, Petrino is a scumbag, but he's a scumbag who wins. It's the SEC ... you aren't paid to be a good loser.

 

[Senser81]

I still think the open SEC positions are prime jobs. Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas are all top programs. Tennessee probably has the longest drought, but they are also in the easiest division. No reason they shouldn't be finishing at least third every year.