Author Archive for JScott

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Middle Tenn. State hiring ex-Auburn coordinator

Published on February 6, 2009 in ncaa football. 0 Comments

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Middle Tennessee has hired Tony Franklin as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Franklin was hired and fired by Auburn as offensive coordinator within about a 10-month span last year and previously worked in the same capacity at Sun Belt Conference-rival Troy in the previous two seasons.

“I know he can help us expand our offensive philosophy while bringing a lot of energy and enthusiasm to that side of the ball,” head coach Rick Stockstill said in a release Thursday. “He will also be a very valuable asset in recruiting because of his many contacts throughout the country.”

Franklin replaces G.A. Mangus, who served as offense coordinator for three years.

Middle Tennessee struggled with a young team last year, but played well in a couple of non-conference games, beating Maryland 24-14 and coming close in a 20-14 loss to Kentucky.

Franklin was brought on by Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville as a transition to a spread offense, but was fired just seven games into his tenure after it never clicked.

Middle Tennessee lauded his two seasons at Troy, where he pushed the team to 16-9 overall and 12-2 in the Sun Belt and collected two conference championships.

“I am very familiar with Middle Tennessee because of our conference affiliation when I was at Troy and I can’t wait to get started,” Franklin said in a release.

source: si.com

This weekend’s sign of the apocalypse…

Published on January 3, 2009 in Uncategorized and ncaa football. 2 Comments

Eighth-grader gets scholarship offer to play for Hawaii before ever playing one down.

Post Vandy Rant

Published on October 4, 2008 in au football. 5 Comments

I’m just curious how one could go from dominating the game with a great running offense (under center) to thinking “hey, we’re ahead now, why don’t we try that spread thing again”??????? Seriously, why didn’t we just go back to what worked? It’s unbelievable. Not one time did we got back to what was working for us. We are two separate teams, first half (or shorter) and second half. We have no finishing skills. We have no red zone skills. Now I have been pro-tubby for the last 8 years, but I’m losing faith. Is he growing so tame in his old age that he won’t step up to the task? Has my faith in Franklin been misplaced? Don’t get me wrong, I want to believe in the Spread Eagle soooooooooooo badly, but it’s starting to wane. I mean, I had my thoughts about holding back the playbook to not give things away, but now I think we just aren’t that good. Todd? Burns? Doesn’t matter. Receivers, come on, catch something……if you touch it, you should catch it. Offensive line? Laxing more every week. I have and will always be one of the biggest Auburn supporters, but at some point, either you have to call it what it is or you are senile. I’m still willing to believe in the spread eagle offense, but if we don’t stop holding back OR if we cant find our rhythm (i.e. go with what works), then I think we need to find a coach (or coaches) who can agree on a plan and stick with it, or find all new coaches in general.

Now, its 10:25 pm on Saturday and I MIGHT have drank too much liquor after our loss, but damnit, I’m coherent enough to type and that’s good enough for me.

Whatever the score, its great the be an auburn tiger, I love this place, what it represents and the people who make it what it is. More than I could ever express, and it doesn’t matter if we go 0-10 AS LONG AS we beat those hackneyed houndstooth homers from across the state.

P.S. F*ck Byrum and his crooked leg. (It’s almost like he assumed he didn’t have to practice this summer because he did decently last year. Gimme a break, he’s already missed several key kicks)

For all you who worry….

Published on September 19, 2008 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

thought I would post a few pics to show you that our sacred stronghold under the trusty maple tree was safe…..other pics are of the huge auburn banner on the stadium for the backdrop of gameday (hope they take it down, cause it looks stupid)….and of the close proximity to our spot….but it was like the Gods of Tailgate shined down upon our spot when the GameDay crew was setting up and the lead ESPN guy said “No, I think we need to leave that space alone…..that spot is not ours…set up on this side of the sidewalk”

Now……..walk it out

Published on April 27, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Why will Auburn kick ass this season?

Published on April 19, 2008 in au football and ncaa football. 3 Comments

The Auburn Tigers strive as the underdog.

Our recruiting class was not as strong this year, but that is because we always find a way to pick players who will end up being stars. Generally, our recruits have a good head on their shoulders and stay out of trouble. We have established ourselves as contenders year after year and that will only help us to maintain a high recruitment level.

With the exit of Will Muschamp, many people have started to worry about how our defense will fair this year. Paul Rhodes comes in with a solid defensive background from a Pittsburgh team that was 5^th in passing defense, 10^th in total defense (which was one above Auburn), and 34^th in rushing defense. Rhodes gains a lot more speed with the Auburn defense than he had at Pitt so expect our numbers to be at the top again this year.

Offensively, we played a few freshmen last year and they will only get better with the experience they obtained. We have quite a QB contest shaping up, but I do not see this as a negative. Look with Florida did with Leek and Tebow. I wouldn’t mind if we played two quarterbacks this season just to keep the defense guessing, but if one emerges as the best candidate, I believe we need to stick with that QB instead of being quick to swap out like we did last year. We definitely don’t need another booing fiasco.

Other than that, we return all our starters on the offensive line and with Gabe McKenzie and Tommy Trott turning heads this spring, you can be certain they will make an immediate impact as well. What is in question is if any of the receivers will step up and become playmakers this fall. Billings, Dunn, Slaughter, Swinton, Zachary, and Carr will all have a chance to show their worth in this new spread offense. Getting a jump on the installation of the new offense last year might just have been the best thing for our players. The spread that Franklin is bringing in is very complex and how quickly our players can learn it and all the nuances of it will be the key in our early season performances.

We have to play some pretty good teams this year. Georgia will come is as the SEC, and some say, national favorite. With all due respect to our first few teams, it looks like we are set up to slide comfortably into our offense before any real threat. That being said, this is the SEC and we cannot afford to overlook any team (note: Miss. St. last year.) Once again, LSU will be our first real threat but if we can play them defensively like we did last year, I’m sure their last second luck will not save them this time around. Playing West Virginia in their house will be difficult, but with some smart plays (and a little luck) we might slide out of Morgantown relatively unscathed. If we can make it to Georgia undefeated, I believe with all my heart that we have an honest shot at a national championship. As long as we don’t start winning and overlook a team like Vandy or Arkansas, then we should be fine.

After spring practice was over, the team was pretty beat up and bruised but look for strong summer resurgence from most of the injured players. If we can keep these guys healthy and keep focused all season, I could be looking at the best graduation present ever: a national championship.

Muschamp leaving Auburn for Texas

Published on January 5, 2008 in au football and ncaa football. 0 Comments

Posted by Birmingham News staff January 04, 2008 4:45 PM

Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp told head coach Tommy Tuberville on Friday he is leaving the Tigers to become the co-defensive coordinator at the University of Texas.

Muschamp told Tuberville of his intentions after flying back to Auburn after spending two days in Austin talking to Texas head coach Mack Brown and his staff.

Muschamp emerged as a hot coaching name as his Auburn defense made headlines this season.

Muschamp’s flirtation with Texas puts him on a similar career path as Gene Chizik, Auburn’s defensive coordinator from 2002-04 who left the Tigers to become the defensive coordinator at Texas in 2005. He was named the head coach Iowa State before this season.

Muschamp had agreed on a $425,000 contract to coach at Auburn next year. Texas’ two co-defensive coordinators each made $300,000 this season.

Charles Goldberg

Rumors about Tuberville future swirling

Published on November 30, 2007 in au football. 0 Comments

Collin Mickle / Staff Writer

Opelika-Auburn News

Thursday, November 29, 2007

ooAs rumors swirled Thursday about the future of Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, AU athletic director Jay Jacobs stayed calm, at least in his comments to the media.

Several Arkansas media sources, including news station KNWA-TV, reported Thursday evening that Tuberville was close to a deal to become the next head coach at Arkansas.

But Jacobs told the Opelika-Auburn News he believes Tuberville will remain at Auburn.

Jacobs also Arkansas officials hadn’t contacted him for permission to speak with Tuberville. Tuberville’s contract requires any school interested in Tuberville to receive permission from Jacobs before negotiating with the coach.

“I don’t see anything changing,” Jacobs told the Opelika-Auburn News Thursday night. “I’m looking forward to Tommy being the coach at Auburn for a long, long time.”

Another source close to the negotiations said the reports are “just rumors” and that Tuberville has not accepted an offer from Arkansas. Tuberville’s Auburn contract currently runs through 2011. He is slated to make an average of $3.1 million over the next four years.

The deal also includes a $6 million buyout; Arkansas would have to pay the total to Auburn or negotiate a reduction. Jacobs has previously indicated such negotiations were unlikely to occur.

Tuberville and Jacobs met for several hours Tuesday to negotiate an extension to the coach’s contact. They also discussed several other issues, including raises for Tuberville’s assistant coaches and improvements to the football team’s facilities.

“The meetings went great,” Jacobs said Thursday night.

But the two men were unable to reach an agreement on the issues at hand. Jacobs and Tuberville didn’t meet Wednesday or Thursday. Tuberville left Thursday for a brief duck-hunting trip to Arkansas. He is scheduled to return to Auburn this afternoon.

Jacobs said he expected conversations to continue into next week. In an unexpectedly dramatic twist, the Arkansas-based reports of Tuberville’s supposedly imminent departure came as a taped interview with the coach was being broadcast on Auburn’s radio network. In the segment, taped Thursday morning as part of his weekly radio show, Tuberville addressed the negotiations and rumors of his departure. “I am not looking to go anywhere,” he said.

“I am looking to make sure people understand what we need to do to get better. This program needs to take some steps in some areas to improve.” Tuberville also cautioned fans to be patient with the negotiations. “Contracts take forever,” he said.

In the radio interview, Tuberville indicated he would continue negotiating with AU officials into next week “What we’ve done – and what we’ll probably do for another week – is sit down and look at the best circumstances for this team and program,” he said. “There are a lot of variables you need to look at.”

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561