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The move of Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess, the university’s chief operating officer, into an athletic department office clearly indicates issues that must be dealt with. It is a serious chapter in Greene's as yet unfinished Auburn story.
Greene did not come to Auburn at the easiest of times or with a wealth of experience. He’d been athletics director at Buffalo for three years. He was deputy athletic director at Buffalo for three years and an assistant athletics director/fundraiser for four years at Ole Miss. He was hired by former Auburn president Steven Leath in June of 2018. Leath intended to be heavily involved in athletic department affairs. Grumbling had begun before Greene arrived.
The previous December, Leath and trustee Raymond Harbert led the way in giving head coach Gus Malzahn a godfather contract after his 2017 team beat Georgia and Alabama when both were ranked No.1. They bought into the fear that Malzahn might leave for Arkansas, which was never going to happen. Once the 2017 team lost 28-7 to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and 34-27 to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl, the new contract became more controversial. Soon, there was a move on Malzahn’s job, despite a giant buyout. It was within hours of happening before Harbert convinced Leath it was not the right move.
Greene, of course, had nothing to do with Malzahn’s contract. He also had to deal with the fallout from Chuck Person’s arrest and the standoff that followed between basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Leath. In all those matters, Greene was on the periphery. He was not the decision-maker.
In June of 2019, Leath was fired by the Board of Trustees. Former president Jay Gogue returned. Greene had moved to Auburn to work for a president who was going to be very involved. Gogue had a different view.
Greene. believing he had a mandate to cut expenses even as he raised money for a new football complex, cut individual sports budgets 10 percent across the board. He replaced charter flights with bus rides whenever possible, including in football and men’s basketball. Coaches were told to stay in less expensive hotels. Promised facilities for baseball and softball were delayed and then reduced in scope.
Along came COVID-19, a financial issue for everyone but not a financial disaster for SEC programs. Auburn’s 2020-2021 athletic year was a disaster overall. The football team went 6-5 and Malzahn was fired. Gogue stopped an effort to name defensive coordinator Kevin Steele head coach and put Greene, who was not on board with firing Malzahn, in charge of a search committee. With Gogue’s blessing, Greene hired Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.
Most Auburn head coaches – and not just in the so-called Olympic sports – were unhappy with what they saw as a lack of support and lack of understanding from Greene and the upper echelon of the department. They took their concerns to Gogue, leading to a meeting among the coaches, Gogue and Burgess. The result was promises of change and Burgess establishing an office in the athletic department.
That cannot be viewed as business as usual.
Did Greene’s lack of experience as an athletic director, along with the departure of the man who hired him, work against him? It had to make things harder. Cutting fat from budgets is a good thing, but winning is the main thing. When winning doesn’t happen in sports big and small, when Auburn finishes 12th in the SEC all-sports race, it comes back on the athletics director.
Greene, without any question, wants to win in every sport. He also wants to save money. Cutting expenses is not usually compatible with winning in the SEC. It is certain that not winning will eventually be a big problem financially.
No matter what the future holds for Greene, whether he is the long-term answer at Auburn or whether he moves on to continue his career somewhere else, the past three-plus years will be a significant part of his story.
Greene did not come to Auburn at the easiest of times or with a wealth of experience. He’d been athletics director at Buffalo for three years. He was deputy athletic director at Buffalo for three years and an assistant athletics director/fundraiser for four years at Ole Miss. He was hired by former Auburn president Steven Leath in June of 2018. Leath intended to be heavily involved in athletic department affairs. Grumbling had begun before Greene arrived.
The previous December, Leath and trustee Raymond Harbert led the way in giving head coach Gus Malzahn a godfather contract after his 2017 team beat Georgia and Alabama when both were ranked No.1. They bought into the fear that Malzahn might leave for Arkansas, which was never going to happen. Once the 2017 team lost 28-7 to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and 34-27 to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl, the new contract became more controversial. Soon, there was a move on Malzahn’s job, despite a giant buyout. It was within hours of happening before Harbert convinced Leath it was not the right move.
Greene, of course, had nothing to do with Malzahn’s contract. He also had to deal with the fallout from Chuck Person’s arrest and the standoff that followed between basketball coach Bruce Pearl and Leath. In all those matters, Greene was on the periphery. He was not the decision-maker.
In June of 2019, Leath was fired by the Board of Trustees. Former president Jay Gogue returned. Greene had moved to Auburn to work for a president who was going to be very involved. Gogue had a different view.
Greene. believing he had a mandate to cut expenses even as he raised money for a new football complex, cut individual sports budgets 10 percent across the board. He replaced charter flights with bus rides whenever possible, including in football and men’s basketball. Coaches were told to stay in less expensive hotels. Promised facilities for baseball and softball were delayed and then reduced in scope.
Along came COVID-19, a financial issue for everyone but not a financial disaster for SEC programs. Auburn’s 2020-2021 athletic year was a disaster overall. The football team went 6-5 and Malzahn was fired. Gogue stopped an effort to name defensive coordinator Kevin Steele head coach and put Greene, who was not on board with firing Malzahn, in charge of a search committee. With Gogue’s blessing, Greene hired Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.
Most Auburn head coaches – and not just in the so-called Olympic sports – were unhappy with what they saw as a lack of support and lack of understanding from Greene and the upper echelon of the department. They took their concerns to Gogue, leading to a meeting among the coaches, Gogue and Burgess. The result was promises of change and Burgess establishing an office in the athletic department.
That cannot be viewed as business as usual.
Did Greene’s lack of experience as an athletic director, along with the departure of the man who hired him, work against him? It had to make things harder. Cutting fat from budgets is a good thing, but winning is the main thing. When winning doesn’t happen in sports big and small, when Auburn finishes 12th in the SEC all-sports race, it comes back on the athletics director.
Greene, without any question, wants to win in every sport. He also wants to save money. Cutting expenses is not usually compatible with winning in the SEC. It is certain that not winning will eventually be a big problem financially.
No matter what the future holds for Greene, whether he is the long-term answer at Auburn or whether he moves on to continue his career somewhere else, the past three-plus years will be a significant part of his story.
