Tumultuous season may be Tuberville’s last at Auburn

By Lee Roberts  |   Wednesday, October 15, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

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In college football, the pressure to win in the Southeastern Conference is immense. In a conference where five of the 12 head coaches have national titles on their resumes, supporters of each school are as impatient as ever. One of those championship coaches, Phil Fulmer, is likely on his way out at Tennessee despite having a road named after him in Knoxville. At Auburn, some fans and boosters have wanted Tommy Tuberville out before and thanks to a season on the brink of disaster, they may finally get their wish.

Tuberville’s offseason decision to hire Tony Franklin as offensive coordinator was questioned at the time because Franklin’s pass-heavy game plan didn’t seem to mesh with Auburn’s run-heavy personnel. A surprising performance in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl last season provided some false optimism for the coaches, players and fans alike. Maybe this spread offense could finally push Auburn on top of the football world.

By bringing in Franklin, Tuberville deviated from what made Auburn successful during his tenure. Auburn consistently has been one of the top defenses in the SEC, and its offense relied on ball control. This philosophy enabled Auburn to go 28-10 since 2003 with an SEC championship and two top-10 finishes, including the memorable 13-0 season in 2004. But Tuberville still felt the pressure and took a gamble with Franklin. It failed.

Before the Arkansas game, Tuberville fired Franklin in what appears to be the ultimate desperation move. He admitted the hire was a mistake, but still attempted to run the spread offense against Arkansas without Franklin last weekend. The Tigers looked worse than ever, managing only 193 yards of total offense and turning the ball over three times. The vaunted Auburn defense even struggled, allowing 416 yards to Arkansas, 188 of those on the ground.

Based on the Tigers' performance versus Arkansas, it looks like Tuberville may have lost this team. With three losses in conference already, Auburn’s hopes of a SEC West title are done. The rest of the schedule doesn’t look too promising either. Games against Georgia and at Alabama to close the season look to be losses. Auburn will have to either get a win at West Virginia or at Ole Miss to become bowl-eligible. That is, if they can beat Tennessee-Martin. Can Tuberville survive even a 6-6 season?

In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of college football, Tuberville might be lucky to even survive the entire season. Chances are he’ll be coaching for his job Nov. 29 in Tuscaloosa. A win in the Iron Bowl can cure a lot of Auburn’s ailments, but Tuberville must produce some offensive solutions quickly or he’ll be sending out his resume shortly after Thanksgiving.
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About Lee Roberts

Born in Richmond, Va, I moved south to UNC-Chapel Hill for college and received a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. I currently live in Charlotte, NC and cover Auburn, LSU and the ACC.
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