“The hardest thing in life is to admit defeat, but it is also the most noble thing to do.”
– Andrew Medrano
I was in Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 27, 1980 watching Auburn and Tennessee play football, back when those teams almost always met the last Saturday in September, and the games almost always meant something.
The memory of that game is still vivid 32 years later because it was so painful to watch. Auburn, in the final season of the Doug Barfield era, was crushed by the Volunteers, 42-0, in a game that was never competitive. The embarrassment came before the largest crowd in Auburn history at that time. You didn’t know for sure when you left the stadium that evening; it was still early in the season. But, you sensed that the time might be coming when a coaching change was the only answer.
Doug Barfield was a good man then and is a good man now. But, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
As I left Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday evening, I couldn’t help but think back to that late September night three decades earlier. I suspect the painful memory of the Tigers’ 63-21 loss to Texas A&M will be vivid if I’m alive three decades from now.
Things have been bad for all of the 2012 Auburn season, but the Aggies’ loss seemed to make it official. It was Tennessee 1980 all over again.
But, that comparison is unfair to the 1980 team. The Texas A&M game was much worse. Auburn’s 1980 squad trailed Tennessee 28-0 at halftime. Texas A&M reached that margin a minute into the second quarter. The 1980 team didn’t win an SEC game, but they only lost six. This Auburn team will set the all-time record for futility at 0-8. And speaking of all-time records, Auburn hadn’t given up that many points since a 68-7 loss to Georgia Tech in 1917.
Fans were given an early omen before kickoff. Spirit, the eagle that circles inside Jordan-Hare shortly before every game, exited the south end of the stadium to the gasps of the crowd, then circled back inside over the scoreboard signs. If she had been smart, Spirit would have kept on going.
Before the A&M game, fans wanted the defense and the offense to finally play on the same page. That did happen, but not like fans hoped. The offense, which is the nation’s worst, was joined by the defense, which had been improving, in playing on that same pathetic page. It looked like they had installed the “Matador Defense,” missing only the red cape to wave as Aggie runners streaked by untouched.
As thousands were exiting before halftime on Saturday, you didn’t know for sure, but you sensed that feeling again. The time for change had arrived.
Before finalizing that decision, Jay Jacobs’ tenure as athletic director should be considered. A lot of Tiger faithful, including some with influence and substantial investment in the program, are questioning the top office more than the head coach. Based on overall performance by all teams in recent years, that dissatisfaction is well-founded.
Would a top-level football coach accept the Auburn job if the athletic director is also on the hot seat? If recent hires in the major sports have been mistakes, just who was it that made those hires? Should a new athletic director be in place before a new head coach is hired – if a new head coach is needed?
Here is the reality.
Football at Auburn didn’t work that well last year. It hasn’t worked at all this year. It’s getting worse. And, football isn’t the only sport where Auburn has underachieved.
Chizik and his staff have lost this football team. The athletic department will begin losing revenue. And, most importantly, hardcore fans are losing interest.
That’s an impossible trifecta to overcome, especially here, especially now. Like back in the Barfield days, it’s the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gene Chizik is a good man. Auburn fans will always appreciate him regarding his accomplishments and admire him regarding the things for which he stands.
But, the time has come for the hard decision, the one that is the most noble thing to do.