I’m going to write this one time, and then I’m done. The truth is that there are more children dying of starvation and lack of basic medical care around the world than I can even fathom, and Auburn and their coach just really isn’t as important as we have made it seem these last two days. But I do love my school and I wanted to make a few comments on how this has transpired.
First, my background. I was a lukewarm Tuberville supporter. I didn’t cry when he resigned. I wouldn’t have been upset if he had not been forced out. I was willing to wait and see one more year.
I also was a supporter of hiring Turner Gill, the head coach at Buffalo.
And my first reaction when hearing Gene Chizik’s name was shock and surprise, and honestly, disappointment.
So a few things. First, one of two things has happened today. Either Auburn University has been exposed as a clique of old racists who would rather hire anyone than a black man with a white wife, or the national media and state media have unfairly dragged Auburn through the mud with relentless fury, based solely on rumor and speculation. Neither of these are particularly good things.
Two ‘unnamed’ coaches in the SEC… not at Auburn… in the SEC.. told an ESPN reporter that Turner Gill wouldn’t get the job because he had a white wife. Now, neither coach will come out and man up to the statements. We don’t know if they’re any more true than any other ‘inside information’ that has proven to be wrong over the last few weeks.
Yet Auburn is taking a huge beating from everyone with a keyboard. Charles Barkley is screaming. Auburn is being hung out to dry, and nobody really knows if the anonymous allegations are true.
If they are, it’s disgusting. I don’t want my school to be run that way. But if they aren’t, then this is a witch hunt of monumental proportions and the drama happy media ought to be ashamed for ambulance chasing this way. This is a school that many of us love and want to be successful both on and off the field. And it hurts to see this happening today…
Next, I think this is a huge setback to the cause of minority coaches getting opportunities to coach. Follow me. Tennessee never picks up the phone to even talk to a black candidate. They hire an unproven coach. Barely a whisper. Mississippi State keeps their search super quiet. As far as we know, no phone call to a black candidate. They pick Dan Mullen, with zero head coaching experience. Nobody even raises a finger.
And then Auburn conducts their interview pretty much like any business in the United States conducts this type of interview. And they interview 2 minority candidates out of 8, and by all accounts 1 of them was a very serious candidate for the job. And then they choose, which is their right, to go in a different direction. And Auburn is completely roasted for this.
Now, you’re at an SEC school and you fire your coach next year. Which route are you going to take? The route that includes minority candidates receiving serious interviews or the route that keeps your school’s name out of the papers? I think this is very damaging, and it has nothing to do with Turner Gill. If you know going in that if you interview a black coach, but will get killed if you don’t hire him, then how seriously will you entertain scheduling the interview?
Which brings me to my next point. Those that believe this is racism are using the following logic. Auburn interviewed Gill, and then they picked Chizik. Gill is obviously more qualified than Chizik. Therefore this is racism.
Really now? So Charles Barkley and the folks at ESPN are both Athletic Directors? Funny, because I thought they were media, not administrators.
What makes Gill more qualified? That he’s a hotter name right now? That he won the MAC championship? What makes Chizik less qualified? That he had a bad season at Iowa State? That he hadn’t been mentioned much lately? What’s so obvious about the differences in their qualifications?
Gill won 7 games in his first two years. Chizik 5. Both inherited struggling programs. Both had to recruit and build. Gill won 8 in his 3rd year. Chizik didn’t have a third year and started 11 freshmen this year. Are they really that different? Without knowing each man, or perhaps interviewing each man, as Auburn did, can we really say that one is obviously better than the other? If so perhaps you can be Auburn’s next AD..
If you want Steve Spurrier or Houston Nutt or some other SEC tested coach and think that Chizik is a stupid choice, fine. But don’t use 5-19 as an excuse for racism because Gill is ‘obviously more qualified’ because that one just isn’t true as we see it at this point in time. And I was a Gill supporter until the hire was made.
And finally I will say this. Despite what I see as some unfair treatment especially in the media, I do feel like we missed an opportunity. I think Turner was a good candidate for the job, and that his presence at Auburn would be something that the Auburn family could rally around and be proud of. This would have been a very happy day for a lot of us. In the same way I lauded Obama’s election, the Auburn family rallying around him would have been a beautiful sight. And I believe he would have been a candidate that would stir the imaginations of young kids in the state and likely change the way our state is perceived and definitely the way Auburn is perceived.
But Jay Jacobs, for whatever reason, felt that Gene Chizik was going to win more football games and produce better student athletes. If he’s right, then that’s great. If he’s wrong, I will definitely carry the sadness of this day with me, and not just because we didn’t win some football games.
However… there’s one person who really isn’t at fault here, and that’s Gene Chizik. Loved or hated, this is a man who wants so badly to be here and to be coaching here. I will give him my support. I will root for him and cheer for him and I will be proud of him. I really hope he does a wonderful job. I really hope that he puts us in a position to compete for titles, and to have kids who are NFL prospects, or prospects in another profession because they have gotten their education. I definitely think people are getting lost in the controversy, and they’re totally dumping on a man who only took, by what all accounts, is his dream job. And that’s cool, and he has a great story. And so I welcome and wish him the best.
I hope what I have said has made sense. I spent a lot of time today thinking about it. And always, and forever, War Eagle!
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As always very insightful and thoughtful commentary. But you have to admit the whole scenario as a eerie resemblence to the whole Mike Price, Sylvester Croom, Mike Shula debacle. We see how well that turned out. At least the new coach has some championship hardware on his resume. Here’s to not losing at home to a direction Louisiana school…wait maybe that’s been done before.
Merry Christmas. Roll Tide
Ha Ha! Thanks. Miss you man. Hope the Steelers go far. Well I guess I do. :-)
Well put bro. I gotta start checking your blog more often. Especially on days like this when I am doing jack at work.