The Firing Line: Tuberville Remains in Limbo (Football Rumor Mill)
November 13, 2008 by admin
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“The Firing Line” at Football Rumor Mill focuses on coaches around the country who are in serious jeopardy. The latest edition centers on Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville…
Auburn needs to make a decision before the Iron Bowl: Athletics director Jay Jacobs and president Jay Gouge need to have a meeting of the minds after Saturday’s game with Georgia. If Tommy Tuberville is not going to be your coach in the future, then you need to tell him before the Iron Bowl with Alabama on Nov. 29. If not the entire next two weeks will be dominated by media speculation about Tuberville’s future and the recruiting class that he and his staff have put together could be in trouble. After 10 years, Tuberville is either good enough to be your coach or he isn’t. It shouldn’t come down to one game. It’s not fair to him and his staff and it’s not fair to the players. There is enough drama in that game without Tuberville’s future hanging in the balance. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By all accounts, Auburn’s football recruiting has held up well despite a disappointing record and talk about Tommy Tuberville’s future, but that good fortune figures to last only so long without some sort of resolution. Circle Dec. 1 on your calendar. That’s the Monday after the Auburn-Alabama game, the first day coaches can visit recruits in their homes and perhaps the day Tuberville sits down with university President Jay Gogue to map the future of the football program. All three are intertwined and could have lasting impact on the football program. Gogue has said he will talk with Tuberville after the season, and that means enemy agents have another two weeks to raise doubt in the minds of recruits. Gogue could stop such talk next week, well before the Iron Bowl, by meeting with Tuberville if he chose to do so. Would a win over Alabama change anyone’s opinion, considering Tuberville has beaten Alabama six straight times? Would an endorsement next week help recruiting? Sure it would. – Birmingham News
Hire good people, leave the decisions to them. That’s something that’s escaped a lot of people on various levels of sports, and Tuberville has puppet strings tied to him for no reason. Is he blameless? Probably not. Almost certainly not. Does he deserve better? Absolutely. I’ve heard they call Clemson “Auburn with a lake.” Seems like a pretty smooth transition, doesn’t it? – Post and Courier
Tommy Tuberville would also be a good fit at Clemson: Contrary to what was posted on some chat boards last week, I did not say that Tuberville was a done deal at Clemson. But it is an intriguing thought. What would be interesting is if Auburn tells Tuberville he can stay but he has to make a whole bunch of staff changes. It’s a pretty good guess to say that Tuberville would let his new offensive coordinator at Auburn bring in some of his own guys. That was one of the mistakes he made with the Tony Franklin hire. But Tuberville’s not going to gut a staff that has been loyal to him for 14 years. If the powers that be press him, Tuberville can dig in his heels and take the $6 million buyout and his agent, the talented Jimmy Sexton, can find another place for him to land. Understand that Tuberville’s buyout is not like Fulmer’s, which will be paid out over 48 months. Tuberville gets the first $3 million within 30 days after he is fired. The next $3 million has to be paid out within 365 days. That’s a lot of money to go out the door in a year. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
