New LOGO Opinion Poll

We are ever trying to stay the "Fresh" look at ATB, therefore we commissioned @AURobNY to give us a new look. 

We wanted to insure that Auburn's Ladies were included this time 'round. You can see the addition of Gymnastics, and Softball. Plus, we have Swimming & Diving being represented.

Sadly, we don't have room for ALL of the Auburn sports teams on our new logo. Volleyball, Track & Field, Wheelchair Basketball, and Soccer to name a few.

Do you like the new logo that is pictured at the top of this post? Either way, you can vote in the poll on the right side of the home page. Your opinion matters, and thanks for voting.

War Eagle!

Calling All Hands

  One thing that all college sports have in common is the student athlete. Doesn't matter if you are on the Equestrian team, the Swimming & Diving team, Track team, or the starting quarterback on the Football team. Team mates change during your four or five years at college. The student athletes that graduate must be replaced with newcomers. That cycle never ends. 

  To consistently stay at or near the top, the best student athletes must be recruited, to replace the one's who are leaving, hopefully to graduation. This recruitment of players, is the life's blood of any college program. Regardless of the sport, without the influx of new talent every team in college athletics would cease to exist.

  So it is with ATB, we are recruiting some writers to help cover all of AU sports. We spend most of our time on football, although we don't do justice to the other sports and athletes that we love so much, we try to show our equal appreciation for all Auburn athletes.

 We are requesting that any one of you that has a love of any particular sport at Auburn to try your hand at writing. The requirements are small, and the time it will take is even more so. Your pay for this endeavor will be the same as mine, ZERO. This is a non-profit site. That is why you don't see advertising on here.

 So, if you have a love for any sport at Auburn, whether it be baseball, gymnastics, volleyball, whatever, just click on one of the names in the contributor box on the right side of the front page, and shoot me a message. Or you can contact me on twitter @AUTigerBloggin  You will be glad you did.

WAR EAGLE!

Smooth Sailing

Smooth sailing ahead

 In case you missed it, there will soon be a new captain of the U.S.S. Auburn Football. Once the new captain is named, he must make a few course corrections to get the ship headed back in the right direction. 

 Gene Chizik is a man that I respected, and liked as an individual. His tenure was never one that we could just sit back and relax. He brought excitement to Auburn recruiting. Chizik and his staff proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Auburn could, and should recruit with the very best in the nation.

 He also believed that Auburn could contend for a National Championship, and he proved it by winning his first attempt at one.

 He represented Auburn with class and dignity. Speaking of which, I must get this off my chest. Auburn and Gene Chizik were shown a great deal of respect by Nick Saban in our last contest with Alabama.  For all his media tirades, and his sometimes sketchy sideline theatrics, taking a knee on fourth down, instead of giving the back up squad a nugget to enjoy was a class move by Saban.

 Whomever Auburn decides to hire as the next captain of our ship, I hope that they represent Auburn as well as Gene Chizik has. I hope that they embrace and love Auburn in much the same way as the Chizik family.

 Thanks Gene Chizik for all the great memories of 2010. Though you accomplished much more while here at Auburn, you gave the Auburn family something it hadn't had in this generation, a National Championship! We will forever be grateful for that. 

 Until the next storm arises, and storms will come, there are smooth seas ahead. We just need to get the course corrections made quickly, so we can get back to enjoying our football cruise.

WAR EAGLE!

Iron Bowl Time

Tiger Walk- An AUBURN tradition

 What a week this has been. Between all the talk about if Gene Chizik will be fired, and or who will be his replacement at Auburn. We have been attacked again by Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports, with a suggestive headline of news so old, it was common knowledge back in August. In today's news timeline, that is like reading the USA Today paper with this headline "World War 2 Has Ended."

 To make matters worse, some knucklehead, or group of knuckleheads, set fire to our beloved Toomer's Oaks. They were for all intents and purposes dead from the outrageous acts of a delusional psychopath, who decided he would hurt "Auburn fans" by poisoning these majestic trees. Setting fire to them served only to enrage all of the Auburn family. Surely that was not their intent?

 Tomorrow our young, and desperate team will enter Bryant-Denny stadium, and try to weather the storm that is sure to be awaiting them. My hope and prayer is that none of the players get hurt tomorrow, on either side of the ball. I hope the contest on the field is hard fought, and that all can hold their heads high when it is over. Sure, I hope for an Auburn victory. I am after all a fan and an optimist.

 Friday night, when the battle has been done, and the smoke clears from this horrid season we have all endured, I trust that the Auburn family will act as one. With class, and dignity befitting our creed.

WAR EAGLE!

Thanksgiving Post

giving thanks for all things AUBURN

 It's that time of year again where we stop, and with a truly heartfelt appreciation, give thanks. We were taught in elementary school that the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for the "new" found land. They shared this feeling with the local native American tribes.

 In honor of that notion I would like to give thanks to those who have helped me along the way. Writing for Auburn is a passion of mine. I don't make any money doing this. My devotion is from a love and appreciation of all things that Auburn stands for.

 Years ago, when I first started using the internet for its designed intention(reading about Auburn football) I came across this site called Joe Cribb's Car Wash. Its owner was a fellow by the name of Jerry Hinnen, who now writes for cbssports.com. That blog was a delight to read, and Jerry would interact with those who commented. Imagine my thrill back then that I could discuss Auburn football with people all over the world, that I would never have a chance to meet. I was hooked, so thank you Jerry Hinnen for piquing my interest in Auburn sports blogs.

 I eventually found other AU sites, and commented on some of those, and then started writing some of my Auburn football posts on Bleacher Report, as KoolBell. Thanks to the creators of BR for allowing me to start something that I would eventually love doing.

 Then one day while checking my email for comments and messages from readers of BR, I came across an invitation to write for Phil Steele on his website. That was a huge step for me. I jumped at the chance, and learned even more about this wonderful world of blogging. Thanks especially to Brandon, who works for Phil, for supporting me, and my efforts to become their #1 blogger.

 While I was writing for Phil Steele, I received an invitation from Jay Coulter to write for Track Em Tigers. I felt honored and humbled at the same time. Thanks to Jay, Paul, John, and Greg for treating me as one of the team right from the start. I learned a lot, and along the way some great friendships were formed. 

 I am thankful for The War Eagle Reader and all of the interesting posts they do concerning many aspects of life at AU. 

 I am also thankful for the work of all the Auburn athletics beat writers, who provide us with much of our video, and news pieces that you see here. They do the heavy lifting for guys like me, and their efforts are deeply appreciated. 

 As with everything, I felt the need to be on my own, and I started this blog that you are now reading. 

 I am thankful to the All Mighty for letting me do something that I truly enjoy, and for the blessings that he has bestowed upon me. I am truly thankful for the readers of any of my posts, from any one of the sites where I have posted. Whether it has been to correct my grammar, my mistakes of the facts, or simply to chime in and be a part of the conversation. That is why I do this. I enjoy the opinions of others, and the dialog that goes with that.

 So, thanks to all of you. God bless, and as always...

WAR EAGLE!

Jay Jacobs To Remain?

Jordan-Hare stadium, home of Auburn Tiger football

 Published reports indicate that Jay Jacobs will remain the Athletic Director at Auburn University. Jacobs job has come under attack by many fans and message board posters for the perceived lack of  improvement in Auburn's four major sports programs. Most recently the failure of the football program to win any of its conference games. There is still Alabama to play this season, and many fans have already written that off as a loss.

 Increasingly the cries for removal of Jacobs along with his first football coach that he hired, Gene Chizik, have echoed loud and strong across the state of Alabama and indeed the country. According to the report by al.com contributor Charles Goldberg "Gogue defended Jacobs at a recent university event,"

 The report goes on to state...
"The university's Board of Trustees will meet Friday morning in Auburn in a regularly-scheduled meeting in which both Gogue and Jacobs will attend. Jacobs is scheduled to address a proposed renovation of baseball's Plainsman Park. Football is not on the agenda." 

What does this mean going forward for Gene Chizik and the athletic department?

 It is my opinion, that if Jay Jacobs indeed keeps his job, that Gene Chizik will be allowed to stay on as head coach of Auburn football.

 This certainly will not sit well with many of the Auburn family that believe that Chizik is the problem at Auburn, and that his style of coaching is perceived as why player development is lacking.

  Until all this unfolds we will be in the dark as to the future of Auburn football, and indeed the entire athletic department. Hold on.

WAR EAGLE!

Aubie 2012-2013 Highlights

How Far Gone?

The real question we have to ask is, how far gone is the Auburn football program?

 The answer it seems is as varied as the opinions surrounding the most devastating slide of a football program not on probation, in modern college football history. We have heard calls for replacing the entire decision making group of the AU Athletic Department, and all of Auburn's football coaches, to fire Scot Loeffler  NOW!

 What many  fans don't realize is, that Jay Jacobs, and Gene Chizik won't fire offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler during the season. That is simply not how they operate. Has the AU offense really improved on a weekly basis? No, it hasn't made any radical improvement. We see signs each week that some of the players are getting the idea of how to play in this league, but I believe that is more to do with the talent that Chizik has recruited than simply coaching them up.

 What then? Does AU fire Gene Chizik too? Has that already been decided by the powers that be at AU? You nor I really know the answer to that. Let's look at things with a calm thought, and try to dissect exactly where we are at this point in time.

 The defense. 

As each week passes, there have been improvements. Not great strides, but steady improvement nonetheless. 

 Have they played well enough to keep Auburn in the game each week? I think so, yes. Auburn has lost most of it's games in the fourth quarter, and most of those games, led at some point in the second half of play. The offense is really where the problem starts, and ends. This is not to say that the defense gets a pass, because there are some problems, but we get real football answers from VanGorder as to why, and they make sense with what we are seeing on the field.


 During the entire time former coach Gus Malzahn was at Auburn, there were plenty of skeptics against the Hurry Up No Huddle (HUNH) style of offense. The biggest complaint they had was that the defense wasn't getting rested before they were asked to go back on the field.That's not the case anymore. If the defense isn't getting any rest, its because the offense isn't moving the ball.

 The Offense.

 We know that the Auburn offense isn't scoring enough points to help win games. One of the reasons appears to be that the plays take too long to be called in, and the offense does not have enough time to set, motion, and realign to get the play started. This single factor has led to more false starts than I have ever seen from a football team at this level. Put plain and simple that is coaching. If it ain't working, fix it!

 Which leads me to the next most obvious point. If it works, call it again! Not on the next play, but the basic rule of offense is to run plays that work, until you make the defense adjust to that play, then play  off of that adjustment. It keeps the defense guessing. 

 Which leads me to the point of this post. Auburn football is at an all time low. Especially from a fans perspective so close to the euphoria of winning the ultimate prize. It's not just the wins and losses, its how the games have been lost. In my opinion, which counts for nada- zilch- zero, everything could be much better with just an average offense output. That has to come first, from our coaching staff.

 Here is to hoping we can see that this week....

WAR EAGLE!

Points of Interest: Ole Miss

 If you came here for a tourist guide of "The Grove', I am sorry to disappoint you, this is not where to find that information. rather, this is a list of points I hope to see this Auburn football team create in what I hope is a victory against the Rebel Black Bears.

 First and foremost, we have been promised a downhill running game since January. Where is it? Auburn must run the ball successfully against Ole Miss if the first SEC win of the season for Auburn is to come about in Oxford, MS this weekend.

  If we find ourselves in second and two during the early stages of the game, Auburn needs to run inside, and create first downs. "Keep Drives Alive" should be the motto here. First down after first down keeps the ball going forward, and the Ole Miss offense getting cold feet on the sidelines.

 Secondly, Auburn's offense must find a way to control the clock. See above. With the Auburn offense on the field, the Ole Miss offense won't be wearing out the defense of our beloved Tigers. This keeps the chances, I can't believe I have to type this, of pulling off an upset more in the probability range, than say, no chance at all.

 The next point of emphasis is that this young team needs to play with enthusiasm, and effectiveness. Execute the plays, and most importantly, play as a team. we as fans should push this point hard, and show our unwavering support for our gallant warriors of the gridiron.

 Lastly, the Auburn coaching staff must call the best possible plays to ensure the chances of all of the above points to be carried out. Gone hopefully is the three wide set on second and short, and more inside run plays, along with an occasional screen pass or play action pass play.

 Make all the snap counts on the first drive on the first "hike" called out by the QB, whoever that will be, and keep the game plan simple for our young Tigers. If we see these things come to fruition, then we will leave Oxford with some confidence, and more importantly a victory!

WAR EAGLE!

The Passion of Sammie

 Earlier this week Sammie Coates called out some of his Senior team mates, questioning their leadership and desire to win. here is an excerpt from his statement.

"We don't have leadership," said Coates. "Everybody talks about wanting to win, but nobody is showing how they want to win."

This was taken from an article on al.com by Charles Goldberg. 

 Whenever a team mate calls out the team leaders, its usually to get everyone's attention that he is tired of and frustrated about, losing. Nobody likes to lose, and especially the way Auburn has found ways to lose this season.

 Up until the Arkansas game, Auburn has led scoring average in all of the first three quarters of the games it has played this season. The fourth quarter has proven to be the Achilles heel.

 Too much has been made of the quarterback change last Saturday. Coach Chizik was looking for someone to spark an inept offense, that quite frankly has been very inconsistent all season long. That spark was not found against the defensive unit the Hogs put on the field Saturday.

 The question remains about Sammie Coates and his frustration. Is this team floundering because no one will take charge on the field on Saturdays? Tough questions deserve tough answers, so I'll try my stab at it.

 I guarantee that someone has to take charge of the Auburn offense on Saturdays, and that someone has to be a QB. Like it or not, if you are the man in the huddle calling the plays, and you are in charge of reading the defense to change some of those play calls, then by God you better be in complete charge of that team on the field.

 Frazier, Moseley, or Wallace each have to pump up their offensive line to bust someone's ass, and have everybody's attention of the snap count. All of this is on the quarterbacks. No. One. Else!

 Auburn must get better. It's a plain and simple statement, but one that has more and more urgency. Here is to hoping that comes about, before it's too late.

WAR EAGLE!

Issac & Other News

 While The Weather Channel prepares us for the Tropical Storm named Issac, which is predicted to become a hurricane, we look forward to today's biggest headlines.

 In multiple reports late yesterday afternoon Coach Gene Chizik announced the "indefinite suspension" of DeAngelo Benton for "undisclosed violation of team rules". In a much heralded switch on National Signing Day Benton chose Auburn over LSU. Benton never quite lived up to the hype. At times he would amaze coaches and players alike and prompting position coach Trooper Taylor to announce that Benton would "rewrite the record books" while at Auburn.

 This writer hopes that Benton will do what is necessary to get back on the field, and become good enough to reach the NFL. It would be a shame we have seen all too often for this GOD given talent to go to waste.

"If we had to play this weekend, I think, as a unit, we would be ready" says Kiehl Frazier, Auburn's leading candidate to  win the quarterback position.  Clint Moseley, the closest competitor for Frazier says in an interview after practice yesterday, "They say if I was a pitcher, they'd put me on the DL," "I need a break," he said, "but I can't have that right now in this competition."  The report by Charles Goldberg goes on to state "Moseley said there's nothing torn in his shoulder, and that he doesn't need surgery". 

 All of this goes to support what we here at AUTB have been saying for two weeks now. Kiehl Frazier will be the starter. Moseley will be the emergency relief, and Jonathan Wallace can't get caught up too soon. Auburn would need Wallace if Frazier were to suffer some sort of season ending injury. From the sound of things via Clint Moseley, he would not be able to run much of the Scot Loeffler offense right now.

 The scheduled Beach Fest has released a more detailed itinerary. According to a report by Dennis Pillion at al.com "All three current head coaches will make their appearances on the main stage Saturday, with Chizik going first at 11:20 a.m., Miles at 3:20 p.m. and Saban at 6:15 p.m. 

The BeachFest Fan Zone will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. The Fan Zone will feature autograph sessions and coaching clinics with SEC Legendary Players and Coaches. Friday and Saturday entrance require SEC BeachFest wristband or ticket. Sunday entrance will be open for free to the public". 

 Sounds like a fun time for all. 

WAR EAGLE!