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What A Choke

emmitt01

By emmitt01
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PlummMeanGreen Grand Master

PlummMeanGreen

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/09/02/gene-chizik/index.html

A Partial "dated" Article, Harry... :rolleyes: And not changed my mind on Coach Fran...

Gene Chizik's 5-19 record as Iowa State head coach made him an unpopular hire among Auburn fans.

The most fascinating coach in America seemed excited Tuesday. "It's one of those first games," Gene Chizik said, "where you get a lot of questions answered."

No, Auburn's season opener against better-than-advertised Louisiana Tech will not prove anything definitive. It will, however, begin to answer the question that makes the Tigers' first-year coach so fascinating.

Is Chizik a Peter, or is he a Pete?

In 1969, a Canadian teacher named Laurence J. Peter teamed with journalist Raymond Hull to pen The Peter Principle. That principle, according its namesake, is this: "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." In other words, any competent worker will continue to be promoted until he eventually reaches a job he isn't capable of performing.

Chizik's 5-19 record in two seasons as Iowa State head coach led many underwhelmed Auburn supporters to suggest he was the living embodiment of the Peter Principle. Maybe Chizik reached his ceiling as the defensive coordinator at Auburn and Texas. Maybe his next job, as Cyclones head coach from 2007-08, was above his level of competence.

But before anyone throws in the towel on the Chizik era, consider another possibility. Sometimes an employee doesn't fit in one job, but fits perfectly in a slightly different one. Let's call it the Pete Principle.

In 2000, USC fired Paul Hackett after three lackluster seasons. A nationwide search for Hackett's successor commenced, but it didn't take long for USC officials to learn decades of beautiful tradition weren't enough to lure the hottest candidates. Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson turned down the job. So did Oregon coach Mike Bellotti. San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley, in the midst of a 1-15 season, wasn't sure he wanted the job.

After failing to hire nearly every coach who had worked or would work in the state of Oregon, USC athletic director Mike Garrett turned to Pete Carroll, who had been fired after leading the New England Patriots to an 8-8 season in 1999. The Patriots, who made the Super Bowl in Bill Parcells' final season, slid a little further in each of their three seasons under Carroll.

The reaction to Carroll's hiring came swiftly and decisively. Writing for The Orange County Register, reporter Janis Carr painted a vivid picture of the vitriol.

"In the days leading up to Carroll's appointment, the athletic department was inundated with an estimated 2,500 similar phone calls and e-mails -- thanks to someone who posted Garrett's e-mail address on a variety of USC-linked Web sites -- mostly blasting Garrett's decision to hire Carroll," Carr wrote. "Some even went so far as to threaten to donate their money to academic programs rather than the football team."

Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Times published several letters similar to the one submitted by reader Ron Chandler. "USC hires Pete Carroll, a former small college assistant who has been fired from two pro teams," Chandler wrote. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this appears to be a net loss, but then Mike Garrett is not a rocket scientist. A rocket scientist would at least make sure the rocket was pointed up, not down, before lighting the fuse."

If that sounds familiar to readers in Alabama, it should. The tone is nearly identical to the reaction from Auburn fans after the Chizik hiring. Only this time, the fans had blogs. At the Joe Cribbs Car Wash, author Jerry Hinnen filed a post titled "No Words" within hours of the hiring. "I don't know how to react," Hinnen wrote. "It doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem like they could possibly be so shortsighted. I'm going to spend tonight trying to figure out how to react. That, and drinking."

One respected former Auburn player was equally mystified. "I have a lot of respect for the guy," Cole Cubelic told The Birmingham News in December. "But you look at his record as a head coach and you have to scratch your head and wonder what Auburn was doing and why they think it's a good move."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/09/02/gene-chizik/index.html#ixzz16Qx7R6Bx

Edited by PlummMeanGreen
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Cr1028 Grand Master

Cr1028

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I know you love Auburn but let's be honest. Bama dropped touchdowns, first down catches, etc, etc. Auburn played with fire, but Bama c-h-o-k-e-d!

Maybe the Auburn boosters went down at halftime and gave some Bama players/coaches something to take their focus off winning the game.

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CMJ Grand Master

CMJ

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I know you love Auburn but let's be honest. Bama dropped touchdowns, first down catches, etc, etc. Auburn played with fire, but Bama c-h-o-k-e-d!

Yeah, Alabama had acouple of times early it could've put the game away and didn't. But on each of those ocassions they were up by 2-3 scores. So, I'd say they had a bit of complacency when they had the chance to stick a fork into Auburn.

Once the game got close though, Bama really didn't blow it. The Tide just screwed up letting AU stay in the game early.

***

All that said, yeah I grew up rooting for Auburn football and hate Alabama almost as much as any team not the University of Texas -- but it was still with very mixed emotions that I watched the Tigers come back today. At a certain point in the 2nd quarter I came to peace with the upset and started to get really excited that Boise or TCU would play for it all. I still hold out hope that Oregon goes down. And I would be surprisingly okay if AU loses to South Carlina next week in Atlanta. Just glad the Tigers beat the Tide.

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CMJ Grand Master

CMJ

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Oh yeah, I almost forgot the 13 punt late when Bama was trying to prevent Auburn from driving to take the lead. And the last big dropped pass was on Bama's last drive when a first down was theirs but they just couldn't put two hands around a football.

Yep, all around choke.

The 13 yard punt was after Auburn had already taken the lead Emmitt.

If Bama's BACKUP receiver (since their top 2 were knocked out) had caught the ball on their last drive and gotten the first down...they were still on about their 30 yard line with under 40 seconds to go, with a backup QB who had never seen much action trying to lead them the length of the field. Excuse me if I don't think the odds were still stacked against the Tide at that point.

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jdh008 Newbie

jdh008

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Credit Chizik for coaching Auburn to this great season, but I'll be interested to see what he does when he doesn't have the best player in the nation and he is only playing with guys he recruited. Not saying he won't still be successful, but I'm also not convinced that he was just an overlooked diamond in the rough as a coach.

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Side Show Joe Newbie

Side Show Joe

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Imagine that - a guy who had a losing record (5-19) at Iowa State is 1 win away from the National Championship. I guess that the not so popular hire works out sometimes!!

I'll wait and see how the investigation of Auburn's star QB turns out. USC isn't so hot since Reggie Bush. Even their coach ran away from their program. They had to vacate their National Title. The scholarship losses will keep them down for years. We will see how this Auburn issue ends.

I'm not saying anyone is guilty, or that it smells like an SMU pay for play, but something happened. And if Auburn knew about it and did nothing, that's a problem. If this kid hurts their program the way Bush hurt USC. Well, that Auburn coach that brought him in might not be so popular again.

I wouldn't use a comparison of a national title contender under investigation by the NCAA to campaign for an individual in the North Texas coaching search. Our situation really doesn't have much in common with Auburn or their coach. Just my opinion.

Now lets go hire Fran.

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GoMeanGreen1999 Community Regular

GoMeanGreen1999

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The game turned around when Ingram fumbled the ball out of Auburn's end zone. If they get the TD, or even a field goal, Auburn's 28 points would not have overcome their lead. Credit to Auburn for the comeback, but Bama's choke made that possible.

Ingram fumbled, but that Auburn defender did a great job of knocking the ball out from behind.

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