Mike Leach, Tommy Tuberville and Auburn football......"That just happened"

This is my little sound off on the departure of CTT (that’s the lingo the trailer folk who post on al.com forums like to use). Now I can’t lay down the type of post that ole Joe Cribs, Tate or the corner of wire road can but I will give my take for the record….Nanner style.

Everyone knows how much I love coach. I have 2 footballs signed by the coach and one hat personalized for the boys at the stand to stare at when I lay the firm hand of CEO discipline down. He is my Pat Dye. He is the man who gave me and my family 2004, the Cadillac run against Bama, Florida in the rain, and the greatest Auburn player I ever saw; Junior Rosegreen. He was classy, professional, and upstanding. Now that I have professed this sappy man crush…..lets get down to business.

Tubby made Auburn what it is today. Lets not quote stats or numbers. If you are not sick of winning percentages and bowl game records by now, then you should stop reading now. I came to realize this year that maybe coach had ran his course. Someone very close to me once said that marriages should have a ten year walk away clause. I believe coach had hit his peak and it was time to pass the torch. I think that Tommy reached a point last year in which he felt like other coaches were inventing a better mouse trap. Sitting in those living rooms with Mamma and eating that homemade cobbler, I think he began to realize that those fancy systems and high scoring offenses were luring kids in like a pervert in a Nova with a sack full of blow pops. He panicked. Not only have the players changed but the fans have to. So many of the family have been lured in by the glitzy flash of this new-fangled offense. They watch teams like West Virginia and Texas Tech play football like coked up ADHD kids. Then they start to wonder why Auburn cant put up 70 a game. So the game has passed up Tommy and fans like myself, that’s ok. Lets move on to the next era of Auburn football…..sort of.

I kind of feel like a kid who’s mom just told him his dad got ran over by the garbage truck, but his new dad is Dale Murphy (childhood hero…insert your own hero). I’m sad but excited. I’m crying with a smile on. I will say this…….please don’t hire Mike Leach! Why you ask?

1. Auburn couldn't’t wait to turn roast Tony Franklin's ass on a cheap grill in the middle of wire road this year. Half way through the season of implementing a monumental change in play and philosophy and fans were cussing like they were 15 people deep in a Walmart checkout. We wanted instant success and still do. Leach has toiled away for 8 years to get to this “take notice season”. I don’t care what conference or how Texas sucks away the talent….whatever. The bottom line is that he will need more time than the fans are willing to give him to get his type of players and duplicate his 08 success.

2. Whats going to happen when Leach fails to punch it in from the five yard line in a game. OH SHIT…why doesn't he run the eye. Auburn is a power running team. RUN THE BALL! Yep, that’s exactly what you will hear from section 43 to 103.

3. “We can always count on the defense”- Funny how Leach was criticized for continuing to employ his “BBQ buddy” at defensive coordinator even when the defense was lousy. Does this sound familiar? Look, Leach is a genius offense guy but has a bit of a problem with defense. I don’t know about you but I can’t live with a Swiss cheese defense. Defense is the tattoo that scares the kids. It makes you poke your chest out a little farther at away games. It generates the greatest sound in football…..the “Boom MF” from every person in the stands. Yes, even grandpa is giving a "Moose" in his head after the big sack. Please Jacobs, don’t go with a one sided guy.

4. Call me old fashioned, call me a conservative fan who is fine with mediocrity. I want a coach I can trust, who acts like a professional, who wins consistently and wants to build something at Auburn other than a line on his resume. My fellow Auburn fans would best be suited to stop trying to be Alabama, stop worrying about Saban, stop getting pissed off if a championship doesn’t come every other year. I used to be a casual fan of Red Sox . I love the history and was excited to sit in the stadium for a game. The fans were bound together by their passion for the team and the quest to be champions. Players were the heart and soul of the team. They were a blue collar team with fans that loved their players through thick and thin. Now they have become a group off Yankees fans wearing red and white. Now that guys a bum, and management better go get every player who has one hot at bat. I sometimes feel like the plains have been invaded by Bama fans....only their dressed in orange and blue.

Until next time….take baby steps...and use Visine