Max
Member
“Auburn fans have it better than most in college football. If things go well, their team can contend for a championship or win a championship in any given season. Rare is the game that they know in advance their team simply cannot win. That is a far better place than most college football programs or even most SEC programs. So, what is the problem for so many who really love Auburn football?
But they want more. They have always wanted more, but since Nick Saban moved to Tuscaloosa and built the nation’s strongest program, they have wanted it more than ever.
Winning one national championship is extremely hard. Winning a conference championship is hard. Even winning a division championship is hard. But the biggest challenge is continuing to do it year after year. Few manage to do that.
Though I am not among them, lots of people believe Ole Miss can be a serious contender this season in the SEC West. Maybe I am wrong, but even if I am, that means everything came together this season. It does not mean that an annual contender has suddenly blossomed in Oxford. Auburn won a national championship 11 years ago and won an SEC championship and played for a national championship eight years ago. It won a division championship four years ago. The biggest challenge is not building a championship team. It is building a sustainable championship program. Auburn has not been able to do that since Pat Dye's last SEC championship in 1989.
So, what does it take for Auburn or any other program? One man’s opinion.
THE RIGHT HEAD COACH
Is the head coach a fit for the university and its supporters? The right fit at one place might not be the right fit at another. Can he motivate players to perform better than even they thought they could? Can he attract top-flight assistant coaches and recruiters to come to work for him? After all, it is the assistants who teach the players how to play the game. Can he identify and recruit the kinds of players it takes to win championships? Can he build a program that attracts donors who want to be a part of it, and can he make them feel wanted?
It is good if the head coach is a football magician on Saturday, but the things above are more important.
PATIENCE
Shuffling through coaches is the worst possible way to go about it. LSU had six consecutive losing seasons from 1989-1994 while coach-shuffling. Alabama, in a 20-year period, had more losing seasons than championships while coach-shuffling. Tennessee, a shadow of what it once was, is the best current example of coach-shuffling.
Having parted ways with Gus Malzahn after eight seasons, Auburn hired Bryan Harsin last December. He is in his first season and is surely learning about the noise that comes from losing a big game. But nothing that happens this season will significantly impact Harsin’s standing at Auburn, nor should it.
If he has a big season, it will not mean he is going to have lots of them. If he has a losing season, it will not mean he is going to have lots of them. Once the decision is made to hire a coach, giving him time and support to show what he can or cannot do is the only rational option. When floods of criticism and anger come with every disappointment, his job is only made harder.
COMMITMENT
When Rich Rodriguez backed out after agreeing to be Alabama’s head coach in December of 2006, late athletics director Mal Moore went to Miami to see Saban. He went with strict instructions from the power players at Alabama: “Whatever it takes, don’t come back without him.” I know that because Moore told me. Moore did not come back without him, and the rest is history.
Alabama and a handful of others are different than most. Football success is such of a part of their DNA and their self-esteem that money is no factor. Bad seasons only increase the determination of many very wealthy people to do something about it.
That is really not true at Auburn, or has not been. Pat Dye, who coached at both places, once famously said “Alabama people love Alabama football. Auburn people love Auburn.” There is a lot of truth to that.
Will Auburn ever be in a place to tell an athletics director to do whatever it takes financially to get the best coach out there? Will that coach be told he can do what it takes to hire the best assistants out there? Will it ever be dictated to Auburn’s athletics director that first-class in all ways is the only way?
SUCCESSFUL RECRUITING
Without successful recruiting, there will be no sustained success. With all due respect to 247Sports, I am not talking about recruiting rankings. I am talking about finding impact players, signing them and developing them.
Auburn is geographically in a terrific place to recruit. Prospects from Alabama, Georgia and Florida are in easy driving distance. But in the modern era, recruiting is not as geographic as it once was. The key is impact players who can win against the kinds of players they will face in the SEC. You cannot consistently compete and win against Alabama and Georgia without those kinds of players.
Whether they are 5-star recruits or lower ranked recruits who become 5-star players, you must have them. If you do not, nothing else matters.
ABOUT HARSIN
Six of Auburn's last seven coaches have either won championships or had an undefeated season or both. There is no reason to believe Harsin, if he stays for multiple years, will not do the same.
Can he become the first coach since Dye to do it more than once? Will he get what it takes to do it more than once? It is far too early to know.
But they want more. They have always wanted more, but since Nick Saban moved to Tuscaloosa and built the nation’s strongest program, they have wanted it more than ever.
Winning one national championship is extremely hard. Winning a conference championship is hard. Even winning a division championship is hard. But the biggest challenge is continuing to do it year after year. Few manage to do that.
Though I am not among them, lots of people believe Ole Miss can be a serious contender this season in the SEC West. Maybe I am wrong, but even if I am, that means everything came together this season. It does not mean that an annual contender has suddenly blossomed in Oxford. Auburn won a national championship 11 years ago and won an SEC championship and played for a national championship eight years ago. It won a division championship four years ago. The biggest challenge is not building a championship team. It is building a sustainable championship program. Auburn has not been able to do that since Pat Dye's last SEC championship in 1989.
So, what does it take for Auburn or any other program? One man’s opinion.
THE RIGHT HEAD COACH
Is the head coach a fit for the university and its supporters? The right fit at one place might not be the right fit at another. Can he motivate players to perform better than even they thought they could? Can he attract top-flight assistant coaches and recruiters to come to work for him? After all, it is the assistants who teach the players how to play the game. Can he identify and recruit the kinds of players it takes to win championships? Can he build a program that attracts donors who want to be a part of it, and can he make them feel wanted?
It is good if the head coach is a football magician on Saturday, but the things above are more important.
PATIENCE
Shuffling through coaches is the worst possible way to go about it. LSU had six consecutive losing seasons from 1989-1994 while coach-shuffling. Alabama, in a 20-year period, had more losing seasons than championships while coach-shuffling. Tennessee, a shadow of what it once was, is the best current example of coach-shuffling.
Having parted ways with Gus Malzahn after eight seasons, Auburn hired Bryan Harsin last December. He is in his first season and is surely learning about the noise that comes from losing a big game. But nothing that happens this season will significantly impact Harsin’s standing at Auburn, nor should it.
If he has a big season, it will not mean he is going to have lots of them. If he has a losing season, it will not mean he is going to have lots of them. Once the decision is made to hire a coach, giving him time and support to show what he can or cannot do is the only rational option. When floods of criticism and anger come with every disappointment, his job is only made harder.
COMMITMENT
When Rich Rodriguez backed out after agreeing to be Alabama’s head coach in December of 2006, late athletics director Mal Moore went to Miami to see Saban. He went with strict instructions from the power players at Alabama: “Whatever it takes, don’t come back without him.” I know that because Moore told me. Moore did not come back without him, and the rest is history.
Alabama and a handful of others are different than most. Football success is such of a part of their DNA and their self-esteem that money is no factor. Bad seasons only increase the determination of many very wealthy people to do something about it.
That is really not true at Auburn, or has not been. Pat Dye, who coached at both places, once famously said “Alabama people love Alabama football. Auburn people love Auburn.” There is a lot of truth to that.
Will Auburn ever be in a place to tell an athletics director to do whatever it takes financially to get the best coach out there? Will that coach be told he can do what it takes to hire the best assistants out there? Will it ever be dictated to Auburn’s athletics director that first-class in all ways is the only way?
SUCCESSFUL RECRUITING
Without successful recruiting, there will be no sustained success. With all due respect to 247Sports, I am not talking about recruiting rankings. I am talking about finding impact players, signing them and developing them.
Auburn is geographically in a terrific place to recruit. Prospects from Alabama, Georgia and Florida are in easy driving distance. But in the modern era, recruiting is not as geographic as it once was. The key is impact players who can win against the kinds of players they will face in the SEC. You cannot consistently compete and win against Alabama and Georgia without those kinds of players.
Whether they are 5-star recruits or lower ranked recruits who become 5-star players, you must have them. If you do not, nothing else matters.
ABOUT HARSIN
Six of Auburn's last seven coaches have either won championships or had an undefeated season or both. There is no reason to believe Harsin, if he stays for multiple years, will not do the same.
Can he become the first coach since Dye to do it more than once? Will he get what it takes to do it more than once? It is far too early to know.