The Sum of The Parts

Driven and focused. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.

There is an old adage that states that the one is not greater than the whole. This true with anything to do with team sports. Like a well built engine, take away a part and the performance will not be optimum. For peak efficiency, every part is needed. Auburn needs one more part to complete its coaching staff for the football program.

 Since being named the head coach of Auburn University, Gus Malzahn has been tireless in his efforts of hiring the best of the best when it comes to coaches. No matter what it took, there was not a hurdle too tall, nor an obstacle too difficult that could prevent him from building an exceptional coaching staff here at Auburn.

 Yesterday was like Christmas morning for a six year old for all Auburn fans with news of the hiring of former San Diego Chargers coach Rich Bisaccia(Be-sach-ia) to be the new Running Backs coach and Special Teams coordinator. 

 Bisaccia brings to Auburn 11 years NFL experience, a Super Bowl title, and is widely regarded as the best Special Teams coach in all of football. In addition he has three years of SEC coaching experience at Ole Miss and 5 years at Clemson. Read more about him HERE.

 As if that wasn't enough, late yesterday we found out one of Auburn's prodigal sons would be returning home to coach wide receivers. Former Auburn star quarterback Dameyune Craig agreed to return to Auburn. 

 You can look HERE for his bio. Suffice it to say that Craig has been a thorn in the side of Auburn recruiting efforts for years. He is known as a relentless and shrewd recruiter, who will win more recruiting battles than most others.

 With the addition of these two gentlemen, this Auburn staff is now a force on the recruiting trail, and proven to be leaders of men. The amount of young men they have coached who have made their living in the NFL is astounding. The total years of coaching experience is astronomical at around 161 years at the college or professional level.

 As we found out on January 3rd, 2013 Gus is a driven recruiter. His ability to get the best coaches has been proven. If he  continues this effort in recruiting the very best athletes to Auburn, then Katy bar the door.

WAR EAGLE!

New Tigers

We will start with Cam, er excuse me, Cameron Artis-Payne the #1 rated Running Back out of the JUCO ranks. First the video. 



 Impressive enough? I thought you would like it. after further evaluation, Rivals.com has vaulted Cam's rating to the 4 star level. I mean after all he is the #1 rated JUCO RB in this class.

 I was fortunate enough to listen to his radio interview with Justin Hokanson and Rob Pate of "Eyes on Auburn" and came away impressed with this young man. He sounded mature, and answered all of his questions with the savvy of a veteran player. 

 At 5' 11" and 210 pounds, and with 4.5 second speed in the forty yard dash, he has the body style of Mike Dyer who was listed as 5' 9" at 215 ponds. Cameron should fit in well with the Gus Malzahn style of offense, and be a very productive member.

 Devonte Danzey signed with Auburn after announcing on Christmas Day that he would play for the Tigers. At 6' 3" and 285 pounds, he is a piece to the puzzle at the Guard position that should compete right away for playing time.

 While You Tube doesn't show any available video of Danzey, we have this scouting report courtesy of ESPN:
Danzey is an aggressive offensive lineman who won't turn down an opportunity to try and knock someone on their butt. He plays tackle but will likely end up sliding inside at the next level. He has good size for the guard position.

 Welcome to the Auburn family men, and as always...

WAR EAGLE!

Defensive Response

In response to this article about jumping on the Gus Bus, the author left the impression that he had some angst about how well the AU defense would play. I left this comment...

Please don’t take this as a personal attack. It is not meant to be.
I feel all the angst about running a HUNH offense, but I truly believe it is all misdirected. The amount of time any defense spends on the field of play, is solely the responsibility of that defense. No one has delivered a concrete argument showing how an offense scoring in 49 seconds has any real deflating effect on an effective defense.
I believe quite the opposite. If your offense can score at will, the defense should be more pumped to get back out there and get the offense the ball back the quickest way possible.
There is not an offense in the country that is directly responsible for the amount of time any defense spends on the field. Ideally I would like to see the AU offense back out on the field in less than two minutes after finishing a drive in the end zone. That is how defenses should approach their mission.
WAR EAGLE!

 Let me know what you think about this in the comments below.

WAR EAGLE!
 

Malzahn Chooses Experience

 As the staff at Auburn continues to grow, I have become more impressed with Gus Malzahn and his ability to hire experienced, hard nosed football coaches. It's no secret that Malzahn was not the first choice on my wish lists of coaches. However, as his transition into Auburn's head football coach continues, I have come to see what the selection committee did throughout its search process. Gus Malzahn is the right man for the job.

 The addition of Melvin Smith to the defensive coaching staff is another master stroke by Malzahn. Smith coached the Jim Thorpe Award winner last season, which is given to the best defensive back in America. His groups at Mississippi State have led the SEC in takeaways or interceptions two years in a row. Auburn had been sorely lacking in that department.

 With SEC experience on this staff nearing the century mark, our team should have no trouble learning what it will take to compete at the highest level in the toughest conference in America.

 Thinking along those lines, that much experience on the defensive side of the ball should allow Gus time to dial up more diabolical plays for the upcoming season.

 I can hardly wait to see what he has in mind.

WAR EAGLE!

Who is #1?

 There will always be a contest on being named number 1 in whatever you do. Salesman? Yep, there are top sales awards given each year. It goes without saying that in sports the goal is to be #1, yet in the world of college scholastic achievement the goal is to teach and mold great people for the world we live in. Who is best at that? What college athletic department delivers the most return of revenue for the investment each year?
 Forbes magazine lists the top programs in the country. To see more click on the link below.

Rank	Team	Conference	Value ($Mil)	Revenue ($Mil)	Profit ($Mil)
1	Texas Longhorns	Big 12	133	104	78
2	Michigan Wolverines	Big Ten	120	85	62
3	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Independent	103	69	43
4	LSU Tigers	SEC	102	69	45
5	Georgia Bulldogs	SEC	99	75	52
6	Alabama Crimson Tide	SEC	95	82	45
7	Florida Gators	SEC	93	74	51
8	Auburn Tigers	SEC	85	77	44
9	Tennessee Volunteers	SEC	84	55	35
10	Arkansas Razorbacks	SEC	83	64	40

To view the entire article click the LINK

There is another matrix used in grading overall best institution. When all things associated with obtaining a college education are factored in, a different picture emerges. Let's look at a survey of the state of Alabama and it's rankings.

StateUniversity.com uses many different measures in determining the rank of a particular school. The most important factors are a school's ACT/SAT scores, its student retention, faculty salary, and student / faculty ratio.

A school's score can be between 0 and 100, with the best possible score being 100. The list of top schools can be found on our Top-Ranked Schools Overall page.

It's important to note that some schools do not have enough data to be ranked in our system, and these schools will not appear in our lists.

Read more: About StateUniversity.com's School Rankings - StateUniversity.com http://www.stateuniversity.com/about/rank#ixzz2FbwqyQTh

The StateUniversity.com School Safety Ratings are based on campus crime statistics as reported by 450 of the largest U.S. colleges and universities. Each college's safety score, which can range from 0 to 100, is calculated based on the number and type of campus crime reported during the calendar. The underlying statistics are compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. For more information about our campus safety ranking visit our blog's post on the Safest Campuses.

Read more: About StateUniversity.com's School Rankings - StateUniversity.com http://www.stateuniversity.com/about/rank#ixzz2Fbx1n8AF

Rank in Alabama			Overall School Score
2012	2011	School Name	2012	2011
1	1	Auburn University	93.63	92.31 (↑1.4%)
2 ↑	3	Samford University	91.29	89.64 (↑1.8%)
3 ↓	2	University of Alabama at Birmingham	90.34	91.42 (↓1.2%)
4 ↑	5	The University of Alabama	90.23	88.09 (↑2.4%)
5 ↑	6	University of Alabama at Huntsville	88.18	85.96 (↑2.6%)
6 ↓	4	Birmingham Southern College	85.83	88.62 (↓3.1%)
7 ↑	9	Spring Hill College	84.43	84.72 (↓0.3%)
8 ↑	15	Tuskegee University	83.91	79.83 (↑5.1%)
9 ↓	7	University of Montevallo	81.88	85.50 (↓4.2%)
10 ↑	13	University of North Alabama	80.66	79.99 (↑0.8%)
11 ↑	21	Troy University	79.72	76.18 (↑4.7%)
12 ↓	10	University of South Alabama	78.76	80.95 (↓2.7%)
13 ↓	12	University of Mobile	78.66	80.01 (↓1.7%)
14 ↑	17	Jacksonville State University	78.51	77.71 (↑1.0%)
15 ↑	22	Judson College	76.92	73.84 (↑4.2%)
16 ↑	28	Marion Military Institute	76.73	64.50 (↑19.0%)
17 ↓	14	Alabama A & M University	76.16	79.84 (↓4.6%)
18 ↓	8	Amridge University	75.43	85.46 (↓11.7%)
19	19	Auburn University at Montgomery	74.16	76.57 (↓3.1%)
20 ↑	31	Southeastern Bible College	72.43	61.52 (↑17.7%)

Read more: College Rankings - Top Ranked Universities in Alabama - Highest Overall School Score - StateUniversity.com http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank_by_state/score_rank/AL.html#ixzz2Fbx77Bhy

Visiting The Greats in Auburn Football

 We can't do a series about Auburn greats without mentioning Pat Dye. Coach Dye is credited with bringing Auburn out of the shadows of the "Bear" and Alabama. 

 Coach Dye had a career record of 153-62-5 (.707) & was 7-2-1 in Bowl games

 In this video we have Coach Dye in his early days talking with the team after a close and hard fought game with Tennessee.


Later in his career, after a tremendous victory over Alabama, he gave his most memorable speech. Listen to his words carefully. You can hear his love for Auburn, and his undying devotion to his players.


Patrick Fain Dye ended his career like a champion. Although Auburn was shutout that day by Alabama, Dye was his usual classy self, when asked about why he thought they came up short. He let his feelings show like the classical Coach Dye many had come to love and appreciate.

Looking Forward: The Talon "D"

 Immediately when we found out about the hire of Gus Malzahn the Auburn Tigers knew exactly what type of offense they are going to run. Most of the intricacies and the warp speed of it all are something we will have to wait to find out. We know what we are getting, and most are salivating at the thoughts of triple digit numerical scoreboard. 

 What we are less familiar with as Auburn fans is the new defensive coordinator's style of defense. Coach Johnson incorporates a fifth defensive back. At South Carolina he called this hybrid Linebacker/Saftey a "Spur". Jay G. Tate of rivals.com has dubbed the position at Auburn as "Talon". A name we hope is used by the coaching staff.

 We remember the 2010 SEC Championship game where Auburn trounced South Carolina 56-17



What most may not remember is that during the regular season, Auburn was battled pretty well by South Carolina. Cam Newton accounted for half of the Auburn ground game that day. Without the rushing performance behind an extremely talented, and experienced offensive line, Auburn would have easily lost that day. 

 Watch this next video of the Gamecocks defense against Alabama that same year.

 

 For now, let's enjoy these two moments in time we just revisited. Later I'll post a more in depth analysis of the style and type of defense Auburn will employ under the guidance of Ellis Johnson.

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!

Coach Lashlee on Quarterbacks

 Here is a short video from al.com with Gus Malzahn, and Rhett Lashlee talking about the challenges ahead installing their offense.
Click on this LINK if video fails to appear. 

 

WAR EAGLE!

Looking Forward: The HUNH Offense

 It seems like an eternity since we had a functioning offense at Auburn doesn't it? While I won't speculate on rumors or hearsay about why the 2011 AU offense wasn't as productive as the previous two versions, I'll say that I am looking forward to the unbridled, non-haltered, and unabridged version of the Gus Malzahn HUNH offense.

 I will attempt through video, to give you some examples of what we can look forward to. The first video shows Gus himself explaining his famous Buck Sweep



This video shows us some actual footage of the AU Counter play. Enjoy some of this vintage footage from happier times. Can you name all of the players in this one?



The next look we get is the Mad Scientist again describing his use of the Wildcat.



Next we see ESPN analyst Todd McShay going into detail on the high powered Auburn offense.




 Clearly we are in for a treat offensively. We know that this offense can and does produce scores in a hurry. I always felt that Auburn was in every game when Malzahn led our offense, and that we had a legitimate chance to win every game. I am looking forward to that feeling making its return in the fall of 2013.

WAR EAGLE!

Blame the Defense

Defenders of freedom, and the Auburn Family

 I am going to boldly make this statement, and debunk a myth that many in college football believe. A true (HUNH) Hurry Up No Huddle style offense has absolutely no bearing on a defensive unit being tired or worn out at the end of the game.

 It is the sole responsibility of the defensive unit to get off the field in just three plays. If a defense can't get off the field in three plays, then it is to blame, not the offense. No matter how fast your offense scores and puts your defense back out on the field, the defense needs to only be back on the field for three plays.

 So, the next time you hear some big time sportswriter talk about how the NASCAR style offense is the culprit to blame for a team's defensive unit being tired, tell 'em the defense is to blame, not the offense.

 The most important piece of the puzzle for newly named head coach Gus Malzahn, is defense. Malzahn is a smart guy, in fact, many say he is an offensive genius. Figuring out what it will take to be successful in the SEC as a defensive unit will be his biggest hurdle. I hope he gets it right.

WAR EAGLE!

Get On Board!

 Now that the suspense is over, and we know that Auburn has hired Gus Malzahn, the Auburn family can come together again, and support our 26th head football coach.



  First here is a statement released by Malzahn:
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to become the head football coach at Auburn University. It’s an outstanding institution with a storied football program that I had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand for three years,” Malzahn said in a statement. “I deeply appreciate the confidence that Dr. Gogue, Jay Jacobs and the search committee had in my ability to turn this program around and to bring Auburn back to national prominence. This is a homecoming for me and I look forward to being reunited with the Auburn family.”

 Here is the arrival at the airport...



 USA Today ran an interesting article on Malzahn as he prepared for his first ever game as head coach at Arkansas State. Click HERE to read that story. 

  There are numerous reasons to be excited about Gus returning to the Plains. We are going to examine a couple of them here.

Recruiting:
All of this Auburn team has been recruited while Gus was at Auburn. The staggering support this will create among the players is vital to turning things around quickly, and creating a "Winning Attitude" that is necessary during the long grueling months of preparation for the next season.

 In his first talk with the team prior to the introductory press conference Malzahn said: "I told the team it's an honor to be back. Our expectations are to win championships. 

Nobody will out work us."

 Almost unanimously the recruiting class has responded by stating via twitter that they are on board with the Malzahn hire. 

Offensive style:
 We already knew the plan would be to have a fast paced offense. Which is good news considering that almost every player on the team was recruited for that style of offense. I am interested to see how Gus will use Jay Prosch. I know that Jay was largely wasted in the Loeffler play book.

 The QB play again will be key, I'll get into why later and in another post, but for now, these QB's are about to get back to playing fast paced fun football. 

 All of the current AU running backs should be extremely excited. Malzahn had Onterrio McCalebb averaging 8.6 yards per carry in 2010 & 5.7 ypc even after losing nearly the entire offensive line from the 2010 BCS National Championship team.

WAR EAGLE!