they have money issues too, like UCLA level operating debt. which is symptomatic of their give-a-shit about college sports vibe
They dont have different admissions requirements, but they dont have any joke majors for people who didnt come to play school. Pretty sure that everyone from GT has to take calculus at some point
podcast recently mentioned that early 2000’s they had the highest football assistant coach salaries in the ACC and I think top 5 or 10 highest paid bball coach. Nuts how quickly everything has changed
That was the general impression I got from SZD discussing it. No one (fans, boosters, the AD) seems to care that they suck or really want to make any commitment to improving it. The program has no buzz ( ). I think they're in pretty rough shape with debt too. They're basically the east coast Cal. Which is funny because, at least prior to looking westward, you saw them come up as a potential B1G target for a lot of the same reasons Cal is now.
If Auburn boosters actually wanted to fix their program, they’d pool their money and pay Mossad to murk Saban.
Seems like the non-engineering majors have more fond memories there than the engineering majors did. I was told by one of them that you don’t graduate from Tech but you “get out”.
They won a NC and played for another since he's been there. I think Auburn can survive when one of Bama and Georgia are good but not both.
Not many programs are gonna thrive when their 2 biggest rivals are basically finishing somewhere between #1- #3 every year
It’s more the psychological effect. Were Saban not at Alabama playing for an NC every year and winning most, they’d be thrilled with their past fifteen years.
I don't disagree with that point but it seems like a separate one from actually being able to be successful.
Definitely 100% not mad at all. Spoiler #PMARSHONAU: A strange time to be covering Auburn football I had terrific rapport with every Auburn head football coach I covered from Shug Jordan to Gus Malzahn. I visited Bryan Harsin’s predecessors at their homes. I sat and interviewed them in their offices multiple times. I could get them on the telephone if needed. I knew their families. I do not know Bryan Harsin in any real way, but I know his grasp on the Auburn football program is almost gone. Harsin was asked at his Monday press conference if Saturday’s game against Missouri is a must-win. Here is what he said: "I would categorize every Saturday as a must-win. I don't really have an answer for you there. Yes? Any time you ask me that from this point on, yes, it's a must-win." He is certainly right about that. Would a win over Missouri move the needle on Harsin’s shaky future as Auburn’s head coach? Probably not. But a loss would, in all likelihood, mark the end of his time at Auburn. It might happen Sunday or a week later or whenever, but it would be over if it isn’t already. And thus would end one of the strange times in my years of covering Auburn football, and I have seen plenty of strange times. Until then, the wait will go on. Speculation will continue. The focus will be everywhere except where it should be, which is on the young men who play the game and deserve an opportunity for whatever success they can earn. Harsin is certainly entitled to isolate himself if he chooses. I believe it is a mistake, but he owes me nothing, and I hold no grudge. I and others are left to write about him and his football team and his program without actually knowing him. At Auburn’s open practice before the Birmingham Bowl, I asked Harsin a question about transfer defensive lineman Jayson Jones, who I referred to as “the kid from Oregon.” Harsin answered, “You don’t know his name?” And then he moved on. I had interviewed Harsin’s dad for a column shortly after he was hired. I decided to mention that to see if I could actually engage him in a conversation, so I followed him. “I talked to your dad last December, and he was fascinating,” I told him. “He’s a good man,” Harsin said, and he turned his back and walked away. After a press conference this season, Harsin actually stopped to talk to a few of us, mostly about his son’s game at Auburn High School. I pointed out that, not so many years ago, he would not have been allowed under the rules of the time to go see his son play. “Then, I wouldn’t be coaching,” Harsin said. Outside of press conference settings, those conversations are the sum total of the interactions I have had with Harsin since Dec. 24, 2020, when he was introduced as Auburn’s head football coach. I have asked, but he has shown no interest in sitting down and talking with me one-on-one. That was not the case with any other head football coach I have covered. The Harsin ship is taking on serious water in wake of last Saturday’s 41-12 drubbing at the hands of Penn State. That wouldn’t be any different even if he had been as open and friendly as Tommy Tuberville, the most accessible coach I have covered. His problems revolve around what has happened on the field and on the recruiting trail, not on whether he has a good rapport with me or any other reporter or columnist. How will he handle it? I really don’t have any idea. This much I know: Some really good football players - including a three-year starting quarterback, the team’s leading receiver and the team’s most talented offensive lineman - left for other programs. Other promising players left, too. None of them left because they were “soft” or because Harsin made demands they had not faced before (he didn’t). As best I can tell, few if any of them were replaced by players as good as they are or were. In a wired-up atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium last Saturday, Harsin’s team played a game against Penn State that can only be described as awful. It didn’t play much better the week before against San Jose State. Is there a way to explain what has happened, why a team most thought would be at least competitive has played so poorly? I work every day trying to find an answer, but I have no explanation. I do not know the coach.
I like that Marshall isn't smart enough to realize he's admitting to giving more favorable coverage to coaches who give him access in this story he just put out for anyone to read
This is dumb. All but maybe 2 programs (Bama/OSU) would be happy with 1 Natty, 1 other appearance, 2 SEC titles, 3 West titles in 15 years. Extend it to 20 years and we have another SEC, another Natty, and good seasons in 05 and 06 that should've been for more if we didn't have inexplicable loses.
Pretty much anyone but Bama would take that season in stride if they knew it meant going to a National Championship game the next year.
No we don't. We've done nothing reckless trying to chase coaches or fire someone for an invalid reason. It's a stupid narrative.
I count as many as I can. I count 93 and 85. Someone named up Natty Champions and that is the criteria used by many schools. /rivals argument
Explain this to me then. Let's go over our last 20 years. Tubs had a great run. Then basically quit recruiting, had one of our worst classes, went 3-9 got fired. Hired Gene. Won a Natty with Cam, Gus left, awful hires, murders/arrests/lootings, Program turned into a nightmare. Went 3-9 got fired Gus. Won the SEC, went to a Natty, had mostly miserable QB evaluations. Offense went to complete shit with rule changes. Couldn't recruit OL. Got a dumb contract by the worst president in AU history (fired shortly after). Went 6-6, program in wrong direction. Fired. Harsin - He's just been a disaster hire. Can't recruit for shit, doesn't understand the SEC. We're looking at 4 wins this year unless something happens (it will not). He doesn't want to recruit. It's not important to him. He doesn't attend basic Auburn functions. He skips' Bo Jacksons Charity Tournaments & refuses to go to Alabama/GA HS Coaching conventions. He'll be rightfully fired. Where are we "doing dumb things b/c we're emotionally damaged and chasing some unrealistic thing" People act like coaching searches being a wild ride is something unique to Auburn. 90% of major job openings are a roller coaster. Bama's was a disaster before they got Saban. LSU went in 2 or 3 directions before they got Kelly. How many plan trackers have we gotten and real estate agents talking about wives buying homes
The only really dumb thing I think Auburn did in the last 15 years or so was hire Harsin and then try to fire him after one year. But that is the current situation so it's fair to say you have a problem right now