Rhoads doing well at Auburn

By Robert Rousseau  |   Thursday, November 20, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Auburn Tigers
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Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp was recently named the successor to Mack Brown as the Longhorns head coach when the latter decides to retire. The move shows the kind of confidence that the program has in Muschamp, its fiery assistant. When Muschamp left his D-coordinator job at Auburn last season to take on his new role with Texas, everyone knew that Tommy Tuberville and the gang were losing a good one.

Now they also know that the man who stepped in for Muschamp, Paul Rhoads, is a good one, too.

In 2007, Muschamp’s Auburn defense gave up only 16.6 points per game. To date in 2008, the Tigers are surrendering just 1.4 points per game more than that. When you consider the talent the Tigers lost on defense, that’s impressive. But when you add in just how bad the offense has been to date, well, it’s more than impressive.

It’s not really a surprise that Rhoads is doing well, though. While manning the Pittsburgh Panthers’ defensive helm, his team ranked second in pass defense in the nation in 2005. In 2006, Sporting News named him the best defensive coordinator in the country. In 2007, his defense fell in at No. 5 in the nation despite an offense that ranked only 108th.

That last one sounds relatively familiar, does it not, Auburn fans?

In a season where not much has gone right for the Tigers, Rhoads has stood out. After all, two new coordinators came to Auburn at the start of 2008. The other was offensive mind Tony Franklin, whom Tuberville fired earlier this season.

Clearly, Rhoads lived up to his end of the bargain in Year 1 at Auburn. Just imagine what this former high school valedictorian will think up next season with one year of SEC experience behind him.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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