Say goodbye to the last assistant coach with Tommy Tuberville ties at Auburn.  The school announced yesterday that secondary coach Phillip Lolley would be moving into an administrative role with the program, creating the third coach search Gene Chizik has had to undertake since the end of the regular season.

“We appreciate Coach Lolley and the contribution he has made to the Auburn football program in his various roles over the years,” Chizik said in a press release.  “We look forward to him continuing to help with the program’s success in his new capacity.”

Already being mentioned as a potential replacement is one Willie Martinez.  Martinez served as secondary coach under new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder at Georgia before succeeding him in that role in 2005.  After being dismissed in Athens, he moved on to Oklahoma for two seasons before being replaced there by Bob Stoops’ brother Mike this offseason.

In addition to Lolley’s successor and VanGorder’s replacement of Ted Roof, Chizik has also hired Scot Loeffler to replace offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Following the introductory press conference of Scot Loeffler yesterday, many pundits began writing the epitaph for Auburn’s spread offense.  After all, the new offensive coordinator said that he wanted to “protect the defense” and that likely means chucking the no-huddle, hurry-up part of Gus Malzahn’s system.  (Makes you wonder if Gene Chizik and Malzahn might not have seen eye-to-eye when the OC had to slow down his offense at the HC’s request last season.)

Auburn also welcomed aboard Jay Prosch, a transferring fullback from Illinois last week.  There certainly wasn’t a traditional fullback in Malzahn’s spread, either.

Further muddying the water, Loefler and Chizik danced around specific questions about Auburn’s new offensive style.  “I like it all,” Loeffler said.  “What we’re going to do here is take our personnel, assess exactly where we are, and we’re going to build a system to get our playmakers the football.”

“Everybody’s going to talk about spread and pro,” Chizik said.  “What they’re called, that’s overrated.  It’s real simple on offense right now.  Create the offense, and have the flexibility to get your best players the football.”

A slower pace.  A fullback.  Both coaches refusing to say the spread would be back.  All have been taken as clear signs that the days of Malzahn’s influence are at an end.

But remember that one thing still lives on from the Malzahn era — a roster specifically recruited for the spread offense.  If Auburn wants to go from spread to pro-style on a dime, the Tigers could be looking at some of the same issues faced by Florida’s new regime in 2011.  Ask Will Muschamp how easy the Gators’ transition was.

We find it far more likely that Loeffler — a man with experience in both spread and pro-style systems will simply start the move from spread to pro-style.  That may be a multi-year project depending on how quickly Auburn can begin to recruit to Loeffler and Chizik’s desired system.

So what do we think you’ll see on the Plains this fall?  Listen to what receiver prospect JaQuay Williams said last week that Chizik told him:


“He said it’s going to be a little bit o the same.  Four receivers.  Three receivers.  It’s be more a little pro-style.  It’s going to be good.”


That sounds reasonable.  The Tigers have recruited the skill positions hard.  If Loeffler can coach up one of Auburn’s quarterbacks — Clint Moseley, Kiehl Frazier or newcomer Zeke Pike — it makes sense that AU would still try to spread teams out across the field.  They also lost their best offensive weapon in running back Michael Dyer.

With Dyer off to Malzahn’s Arkansas State squad, Onterio McCalebb is the Tigers’ leading returning rusher.  But McCalebb has most often been used on sweeps as AU’s speedy “Mr. Outside.”  Could he become a traditional, workhorse, SEC back?  Good question.  See: Jeff Demps at Florida.

Florida-transfer Mike Blakely (close to Dyer’s 5’9, 210 frame) and Alabama-transfer Corey Grant are options as well, but current commitment Jovon Robinson might be the closest thing to a prototypical, pro-style back at 6’0, 215.

Suffice to say, Loeffler might not have the personnel to run a tried-and-true pro-style offense.  For that reason we anticipate Auburn will continue to spread teams out (think NFL Saints and NFL Patriots rather than Malzahn’s or Oregon’s spread) and will continue to utilize the occasional sweep or end-around to take advantage of talents like McCalebb’s.

We do agree with most others that it sounds like the hurry-up is going bye-bye.

But to suggest a wholesale system change in Year One?  That would be inviting the same kind of troubles that Muschamp and Charlie Weis experienced last season.  To see those issues first-hand, Chizik would only need go dig out the game tape from Auburn’s 17-6 win over the Gators last season.

Auburn has hired former Florida quarterbacks coach and current Temple offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler as the man to replace Gus Malzahn.  He did great things with the Owls run game last year (they were seventh in the nation) and his pre-Temple resume features work with a number of top college quarterbacks: Tim Tebow, Chad Henne, Tom Brady, Brian Griese, Drew Henson and John Navarre.

Still, AU fans didn’t go into the coordinator search with Loeffler’s name on their tip of their lips.  There are questions today as to what changes he will make to Malzhan’s hundred-mile-an-hour spread system.

“Scot is a rising star whao has worked with some very good quarterbacks, has achieved a tremendous amount of success,” Gene Chizik said via statement.  “He is a tireless worker, is an outstanding recruiter and knows the rigors of competing in this conference.”

After a lengthy stint at Michigan — look at that quaterbacks list again — Loeffler joined Urban Meyer’s Florida staff for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  In 2009, he was Tebow’s position coach… when Superman rolled up a 164.17 passer rating. 

Meyer’s offense was a spread offense, but it differed from Malzahn’s.  Still, it’s likely Auburn will remain a run-first team and now they have an experienced quarterbacks coach to coax the maximum from Clint Moseley, Kiehl Frazier and newcomer Zeke Pike.

Auburn recruit JaQuay Williams said last week that Chizik had told him the Tigers would still be a spread team (three- and four-receiver sets) with a bit more pro-style added to the mix.  Loeffler seems like a good fit to create that blend.

“Auburn is one of the special jobs and special places in college athletics with a tremendous amount of history and tradition,” Loeffler said of his new home.  “I’m excited to get started and look forward to beginning recruiting, meeting the players and staff, and interacting with the Auburn family.”

Barrett Trotter began the season as Auburn’s starting quarterback.  By mid-October he’d been replaced by Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier.  After sitting for five games, Trotter came off the bench to help lead the Tigers past Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Now he’s walking away from the see-saw and will forgo his senior year of football.  Trotter graduated last August and is currently enrolled in graduate school on the Plains.


“My four years at Auburn has been a great experience and I’m thankful for the opportunities that I’ve had.  I’m truly blessed to have been a part of winning seasons and championships during my time at Auburn.

I’m also very appreciative of Coach (Gene) Chizik and the coaching staff, as well as my teammates and the entire Auburn family.”


Trotter said the he will not transfer to another program.  He can take part in Auburn’s pro day if he wants to pursue an NFL career, though it’s unlikely he’ll get a look in the pros.  For his career, Trotter passed for 1,248 yard and 11 touchdowns.

Chizik and the person he hires as offensive coordinator will have Moseley, Frazier and highly-touted incoming freshman Zeke Pike to choose from when it comes to Auburn’s quarterback position in 2012.

Rumors have been swirling since Gus Malzahn announced he was leaving that Auburn might go from its current spread offense to a pro-style offense under its next coordinator.  Gene Chizik hasn’t hired a new O-coordinator yet an he’s not been interested in telling fans or media what his plans entail.

But he is giving Tiger recruits a hint of what’s to come.   According to wide receiver prospect Jaquay Williams:


“He said it’s going to be a little bit of the same.  Four receivers.  Three receivers.  It’ll be more a little pro-style.  It’s going to be good.”


According to Charles Goldberg of Al.com, Williams also said that he “got the feeling” that Auburn’s new coordinator will be announced “later in the week.”

Now, this is the word of a teenager so who knows if he correctly interpreted what Chizik was telling him.  That said, at least it’s a clue for info-starved Auburn fans.

Those close to the Tiger program believe Chizik would like to create more of a pro-style offense.  Problem is… he’s got a roster filled with players recruited to play in Malzahn’s hurry-up, spread system.  It makes sense, then, that he might try to marry the two concepts in 2012.

Auburn fans, be glad that the NCAA was slow on the trigger.

Today, college sports’ governing body closed the so-called “Cam Newton loophole” by ruling that in the future any parent found to be soliciting the services of his son or daughter to an NCAA institution will be designated as an agent.  And when an agent solicits money from a school, the player becomes ineligible.

But don’t go calling this the “Cam Newton rule.”  CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd tweeted today that he had been told “the impetus for the Cecil Newton Rule, actually started with Alabama’s Andre Smith.”

You might remember that Smith — a star left tackle for the Crimson Tide in 2008 — was not allowed to play in the team’s Sugar Bowl loss to Utah in January 2009. 

And that’s why we say Auburn fans should be glad the NCAA acted slowly.  For if the NCAA had changed its rulebook after Smith’s issue came to light, Cam and Cecil and the 2010 Tigers would have been outta luck before ever making their run at the Heisman Trophy, the BCS Championship and history.

It took a while — 22 months to be exact — but Auburn coach Tony Barbee has finally signed his contract on the Plains.  The Opelika-Auburn News reports that the second-year coach actually inked the agreement back on December 7th.  It is a seven-year pact dating back to Barbee’s start date of March, 2010. 

The coach says he’s glad to have the issue put to bed:


“I’m glad it’s signed.  The contract was a bigger deal for everybody else but Auburn and me.  I was very comfortable with the letter of agreement we were working under.  It’s part of negotiations.  Things don’t always go as quickly as you want them to go.  It’s just part of it. 

Auburn had committed to me.  I had committed to them.”


Barbee’s contract — worth $1.5 million per year — includes a chapter on compliance that is identical to the wording in Gene Chizik’s contract. 

Scratch another SEC coordinator slot from the open jobs list.  Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has been hired at Auburn.  He has been with the Falcons since 2007.  He has served as their defensive coordinator since 2008.  Prior to Atlanta he spent a year as Georgia Southern’s head coach and a year as a Jacksonville Jaguars assistant.

SEC fans will remember VanGorder’s previous SEC stop when he served as the D-coordinator at Georgia from 2001 through 2004.  The Dawgs went 42-10 in that stretch with an SEC title thrown in for good measure.

The Falcons announced the move via their official Twitter feed:

“Smith: Brian VanGorder has accepted the defensive coordinator job at Auburn University.”

The Smith in that tweet would be Atlanta head coach Mike Smith.

This hire won’t be met with cheers by fans in Georgia, many of whom had longed for VanGorder’s return from 2005 right up until Todd Grantham fielded a Top 5 defense this season.

On paper, it’s another “wow” hire for the Tigers’ Gene Chizik.

Gotta admit it.  This writer was hoping Philip Lutzenkirchen would leave Auburn early for the NFL.  Oh not for any rooting-interest reasons.  I just hate having to type his name because I know sooner or later I’ll fumble and mistype it.

In all seriousness, in a bit of good news for a program in need of some positivity, Lutzenkirchen announced on Twitter last night that he will return to the Plains for his senior season:


“It’s official world.  I’m staying for SR year.  War eagle!”


Lutzenkirchen caught 24 passes for 238 yards last year in Gus Malzahn’s run-first system.  While his overall catch totals aren’t eye-popping, seven of his 24 receptions went for touchdowns.  That was the team-high for Auburn pass-catchers.

So much for the report that Mike Dyer was enrolling at Arkansas State yesterday.  It seems no one at the school has seen the Auburn tailback put pen to paper.

The athletic director at ASU said yesterday, “there’s nothing I can confirm or deny.”  He added, “I have no knowledge of anything in that regard.”

Still acting as the Red Wolves’ coach through their GoDaddy.com Bowl appearance, David Gunn also dismissed the talk:


“A few days ago, maybe a week or so ago, some things had gotten out on Twitter.  That was, I guess, quickly put to rest.  Now this is the second time I’ve heard hat and the first time today.

With all this speculation, it’d be most appropriate for me not to make any comments.  Michael Dyer’s a heck of a football player.  He’s had an outstanding career at Auburn and I’m sure they would want that to continue.”


Matt Harris of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette tweeted a quote from a source close to Dyer who said, “I’m telling you, he has not filed paperwork to do anything.  If that happens, trust me, I’m sitting beside him.”

So Dyer’s not at ASU at the moment, but it sure sounds like Arkansas State is his clear fallback choice should things end in divorce at Auburn.

Meanwhile, contacts on the Plains say that Dyer’s status has not changed and that he remains suspended indefinitely from the Tiger team.

Charles Goldberg of Al.com wrote last evening that “someone familiar with the situation” told him that Dyer “is considering asking for his release so he can transfer to another school.”

The website AuburnUndercover — sorry, the story’s behind a paywall — also reported yesterday that Dyer plans to transfer.  They claim he is asking for a release from his scholarship, but such a release has not been granted yet.

All this begs the following question: What’s up with the relationship between Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn? At last week’s Chick-fil-A Bowl the two appeared hunky-dory.  Is there a rift between the men behind the scenes?

From our view, there are two possibilities:


1.  Chizik has had it up to the collar of his leather jacket with Dyer — despite his two 1,000-yard seasons — and he’s ready to jettison the kid from his program so long as Dyer and/or his family come to meet with the coach first.  “If you fly right, we’ll keep you.  Otherwise, hit the bricks.”  If that’s the case, then Chizik probably wouldn’t mind Malzahn taking a shot at Dyer.

Or…

2.  Chizik is ticked as hell that his offensive coordinator might have been luring his tailback to the coach’s own new program while said coach was still on the Auburn staff. 


As is the case with everything else in this story, there seem to be no solid answers coming from inside the walls of Fortress Auburn.  For every rumor, report or leak, there’s an equal and opposite rumor, report or leak.

At this point, it certainly appears as though Dyer is inching closer and closer to Arkansas State.  What that means for Malzahn’s relationship with Chizik is still a very gray area.