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Thursday, December 11, 2008
Spurrier to Auburn? Don’t laugh. We’re trying to be serious here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The coaching carousel is spinning fast and furiously and inquiring minds want to know:
1. Is Steve Spurrier a serious candidate at Auburn?: It’s only been a week since Tommy Tuberville’s “surprise” resignation at Auburn but apparently some of the Tiger faithful are starting to get a little nervous. Tennessee has filled its spot with Lane Kiffin. Mississippi State hired a coach yesterday when it tapped Dan Mullen, the offensive coordinator from Florida. And by the way, if I’m an Auburn fan I have to be wondering why Mississippi State got one of the hottest offensive coordinators in the country and we apparently didn’t interview him. But I digress.
Auburn is still looking and the interviews thus far have included former players Patrick Nix and Rodney Garner, Tulsa’s Todd Graham, Buffalo’s Turner Gill, and Ball State’s Brady Hoke. Now comes the most delicious rumor of the silly season: that Steve Spurrier could be in the mix. I started getting calls on this a couple of days ago and it is all over the various chat rooms. And these people are SERIOUS!
Yes, I know. It’s hard not to laugh. But out of compassion let’s resist the urge and provide three logical reasons why that won’t happen:
No. 1: The Head Ball Coach is not going to move any further away from Crescent Beach, Fla., than he is right now. He and wife Jerri are building a beautiful retirement home on the ocean. They have a bunch of grandchildren around them. They ain’t moving again until it is time to go to the beach.
No. 2: Why would anybody want to spend the final years of a Hall of Fame career butting heads with Nick Saban? In coaching and in life, timing is everything. And for a lot of reasons, the timing is not right for a veteran coach to go to Auburn.
No. 3: He’s 63. He’s the youngest 63 I know and the most competitive man I know. But he doesn’t need, nor would he tolerate, the aggravation that comes with the Auburn job. And right now there is a lot of aggravation at Auburn.
2. Why not Rodney Garner at Auburn? If an established, successful head coach is not coming to Auburn then I ask: Why not Rodney Garner? The man is a great recruiter and doesn’t get enough credit for his ability as a defensive line coach. Hire Garner, give him a blank check to go out and hire the best offensive and defensive coordinators in the country. If Auburn is going to challenge Nick Saban at Alabama it is going to have to think outside the box. If not, Saban and his staff are going to have a stranglehold in recruiting in that state for a long time to come. Some say that Alabama already controls the state in recruiting. This won’t make my Georgia friends happy but by hiring Garner, Auburn accomplishes two things: It improves Auburn and it hurts Georgia. Such is the nature of the business.
3. Why hasn’t anybody called Charlie Strong? Florida became a great team this season because of Tim Tebow and because the Gator defense got better and better every week. Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong has to get a lot of credit for that. It could not have been easy for Strong when Mullen, 36, got the opportunity at Mississippi State and he’s still waiting with one of the more impressive resumes around. He was one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant coach in college football. What more does this man have to do to get an opportunity?
4. Will Mullen coach for Florida in the BCS championship game? I doubt it. Coaches in this position, like Mark Richt in 2000, have tried to stay with their old team when a national championship was on the line. But Richt has said many times that it really didn’t work in 2000 (Florida State lost to Oklahoma 13-2). There is simply no way that the coach, no matter how well he is organized, can give his undivided attention to his old new when there is so much to do as a first-year head coach. It could be that it’s tougher on offense. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini did it at LSU last season after he was named head coach at Nebraska. That one turned out okay. If Mullen goes, does Meyer call the plays in the BCS championship? And what if Strong does get an offer? Has any team played in the BCS championship without their offensive and defensive coordinators? FYI. Mullen is going to soon find out how hard the Mississippi State job is. By hiring Houston Nutt and pouring millions into facilities, Ole Miss has a decided leg up on Mississippi State for in-state recruits.
5. Is Syracuse is getting close: Syracuse has apparently offered the job to East Carolina coach Skip Holtz but reports late last night in Greenville, N.C., had Holtz turning down the job. Holtz is scheduled to be in Memphis today for a Liberty Bowl press conference. The Pirates play Kentucky on Jan. 2. If Holtz turns it down the attention goes to Buffalo’s Turner Gill, who has interviewed twice for the job. Gill, who has also interviewed at Auburn, won the MAC championship in 2008 in only his second season at the school. I talked to Gill late last night and he told me he had not heard from either Auburn or Syracuse since the interviews. Doug Marrone, a former Syracuse player now with the New Orleans Saints, is also in the mix for this job. According to media reports, Syracuse players have been told to stick close to campus this week. This one could pop today.
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