#20 Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers came into the 2011 Season as the defending BCS Champions and finished a disappointing 8-5. Auburn's losses were all by double digits and in embarrassing fashion. Many fans took out their frustrations on departed Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof whose defense ranked 81st in the NCAA in Total Defense. Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn also departed from the program to become the head coach of Arkansas State. While Gene Chizik isn't officially on the hot seat just yet, another 8-5 season will make Auburn  fans wonder if the 14-0 season was a once in a lifetime run.

New Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder has a track record of improving defenses. He will have a defensive unit that will feature 10 returning starters and a lot of experience. Departed Safety Neiko Thorpe was quite a ball hawk but Sophomore Enrique Florence is more than capable of filling his shoes. Defensive End Corey Lemonier will anchor a great defensive line but unless they improve on their sacks and tackling it could be another long year for the defense.

Scot Loeffler replaces Guz Malzahn at Offensive Coordinator and brings a more pro-style set to Auburn. The Tigers spent most of last year with Barrett Trotter at Quarterback before going to a combination of Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier. Trotter came back to start in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and lead the Tigers to a 43-24 victory over Virginia. The Tigers will hold a Quarterback competition in fall camp between Moseley, Frazier and true Freshman Zeke Pike. Many Auburn fans feel that Pike is a young Cam Newton who will need to adjust his game to the college level. All Quarterbacks spent time with the first unit during the Michael Dyer had off the field issues causing him to miss the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and eventually transfer to Arkansas State. Tre Mason and Onterrio McCalebb stepped into Running Back role for the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and looked very impressive. Alabama transfer Corey Grant looks to battle Mason and McCalebb for some playing time after sitting out a year due to transferring. The Wide Receiver corps will be led by Trovon Reed and Emory Blake.

Auburn's schedule is a manageable one and is best divided up into three four game seasons.  The opener against Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff will go a long way in telling how far the defense has come. They will then travel to Starkville to play a tough Mississippi State squad before hosting UL-Monroe on September 15th. LSU comes to town the following week in what should be the second loss of the season for Auburn. The second four game stretch follows that can either propel this into a special season or send it into a tailspin. After playing a talented Vanderbilt team, Auburn must navigate three trap games at Ole Miss, at Vanderbilt and then home for Texas A&M. The final four games of the season will feature two cupcakes and the two teams favored to meet in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. If Auburn can correct their defensive problems and find an offensive identity, they could easily go 9-3. But if they fail to improve from last year it could be a long, long season for the Tigers. My final prediction is that they will go 7-5.

Random Thoughts for an April Day

• UAB and Arkansas State should be worried about losing their head coaches to Arkansas. Butch Davis is the hot name going around now but there is way too much baggage for Arkansas to commit to him. While Butch was never convicted of having anything to do with the illegal NCAA activities going on at North Carolina, it's hard to imagine he had no idea it was going on.
• Ozzie Guillen should not have had to apologize to the Miami Marlins Fans. Yes Fidel Castro is a horrible person and has been a ruthless dictator in Cuba for nearly six decades in some form or fashion. But a man is allowed to believe whatever he wants to believe in America as long as it doesn't cause violence towards anyone else. The Miami Marlins did not want to insult the huge Cuban population in Miami by having Ozzie say that. The Marlins are opening a new stadium and spent a lot of money to try and make the team more "Miami" than "Florida." By forcing a five game suspension on Guillen, it prohibits free speech.
• The Miami Heat are not getting in playoff shape. The Heat need to realize that you need to have some form of momentum heading into the playoffs. They are 5-5 in their last ten games with two losses to the Celtics who will probably be their second round matchup. You cannot turn a switch on and off for playing good basketball. Consistent winning is a thing that breeds confidence and I'm starting to think the Heat are letting the pressure and pre-season predictions get to them.
• The Chicago Bulls will be the favorite in the NBA playoffs. The Bulls have been the walking wounded all year and have still managed to have the best record in the NBA. They remind me a lot of the Packers in the 2010-2011 season where the motto became, "Next Man Up!" The Bulls have been able to develop a lot of depth at guardwith the play of Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, and Jon Lucas, III at guard while Derrick Rose and Rip Hamilton have been out. The Bulls are watching Rip Hamilton's minutes as they work him back into the lineup and Rose is still recovering from his various injuries. This depth at guard will ultimately pay off as they make their way through the Eastern Conference.
• What's the deal with the Braves, Yankees, and Red Sox? The teams are a combined 4-12 through the first week of the season. It looks like the Yankees are just off to a slow start but the Sox may still have issues from last year. The Braves offense looks like the one that struggled to close the season last year and need a shot in the arm from someone. Maybe Chipper Jones' return will get them going.
• The Stanley Cup begins tonight and NBC is broadcasting it right. One of the biggest problems following the Stanley Cup that past few years has been trying to find all the games. Unless you had the NHL Center Ice package you could not watch every game. Now that NBC has cornered the market on the NHL for the next few years, they can spread the games out between NBC Sports Channel, CNBC and the NHL Network. Every game will be viewable in HD in most households. Hockey is a sport that is made for HD. If the playoff hockey lives up to the hockey we've seen this season, the NHL may be on the rebound for viewers.
• It's great to hear about Auburn's Shon Coleman returning to practice after his two year battle with leukemia. I am not a fan of Auburn and will never be one but it is great to see a young man battle back from leukemia. These are still baby steps for Shon but they are steps none the least. I and many others are hoping that Shon eventually gets back to full strength and plays for Auburn soon. 

Petrino Is Fired and Chaos Will Reign!

Arkansas did something that I thought they wouldn't have the guts to do and that is fire Bobby Petrino. There was no way that Arkansas could not fire him after he A) Lied to his bosses about the wreck B)  Tried to cover up the circumstances around the wreck and C) Hired his mistress to be a direct subordinate. If Arkansas would have left him in charge it would have severely compromised the program's integrity and opened them up to even more scrutiny. Arkansas will now have to deal with an employee who could file sexual harassment charges against the university if she wants to get money out of them. Luckily they should be able to invoke the morals clause in Petrino's contract and get out of buying him out.


Where will Arkansas go from here? The popular names for Petrino's replacement are Guz Malzahn, Butch Davis and Garrick McGee. Jerry Jones is said to be pushing hard for Butch Davis to become the head coach but would Arkansas really want all the baggage he would bring? I think it is more likely that Garrick McGee will be the head coach because he is familiar with the system and wouldn't have to make too many changes to the program. 


I went through a coaching staff change after spring training while I was at Bama. It was rough. Pretty much all of you are aware of the Mike Price scandal in the spring of 2003. The only real consistency we had after the firing was on the defensive side of the ball and the strength and conditioning staff. The offense and special teams were overhauled and needed a lot of work before fall camp. We worked a lot on pass skeleton and special teams formations and terminology to try and catch up. But putting in a new offense without any practices led by coaches was a tall order.


If Arkansas decides to use a current coordinator as an interim coach much like Ohio State did this past season, I wouldn't blame them. But Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is going to have a very difficult decision to make these next few days that will not only affect the program but his career as well.