Thank You Coach, For Everything...

wow. it really happened. i'm still in shock. i was talking on the phone with a friend about how awesome an 8 Team playoff for college football would actually be this season when the story scrawled across the bottom of the screen on ESPN. my jaw nearly fell off. from the point where Tubs fired Tony Franklin it seemed like his time was almost up, but i never actually believed he would be fired this year. the guy beat BAMA 6 times in a row...that at least buys you 1 do-over doesn't it? apparently it does not. i don't wanna ever hear any Auburn fan make fun of Alabama for having unrealistic expectations. we just fired a head coach who went 85-40 over 10 years, won an SEC title just 4 years ago, and made Auburn a consistent top 25 team during his tenure. it's amazing how 1 (REALLY FUCKING) bad season can just wash that all away.

but if i was being honest with you, i'll admit i've got some pretty mixed emotions about the whole thing. i mean, i will always appreciate what Tuberville did for Auburn. he got the program back on track after the Bowden debacle. he dominated Alabama for a decade. he produced some great Auburn players that went on to be stars in the NFL. he won an SEC championship and gave us a perfect season. he made Auburn one of the top football schools in the nation for the better part of this decade...

Ivan Maisel sums up the stupidity of Auburn's choice, for what it's worth. i can't say that i totally disagree with him. that being said, it's been 4 years since Auburn won the SEC title and the team has looked worse and worse every year since then. regardless of who Auburn's coach was gonna be next season, we were starting all over again. maybe another guy is better suited for that.

but then there is also the part of me that has never truly believed in Tuberville. not that i thought he wasn't a good coach, you'd have to be a fucking idiot to think that, but i always felt like he was just waiting around for a better gig to come his way. i always thought Tuberville would leave Auburn before the decade was done, but i'd always assumed it was because he was taking the Miami job once they get rid of Randy Shannon. but fired? i never imagined he'd actually get fired. Auburn isn't that fucking stupid....oh wait, nevermind...we totally are. i don't know, CHANGE is a big buzzword in America right now. or maybe change is exactly what Auburn needs. maybe we'll all be saying, "We've made a terrible mistake" in two years when Auburn has turned itself into the Nebraska of the SEC.

anyways, see you later Tubs. i hope that you take a year to hunt ducks and to work for ESPN and give us some wisecracks and good analysis and then jump back into coaching (somewhere not in the SEC would be great). good luck and thank you for everything.