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.

You can throw another log on the Mike-Dyer’s-leaving-Auburn-fire this afternoon.  According to the website NationalFootballAuthority.com, the suspended Tiger running back filed paperwork this afternoon to enroll at Arkansas State.

Two ASU players tweeted and Facebook’d “welcome” messages to Dyer a week ago, but Auburn coach Gene Chizik said at the time that there had been no change in Dyer’s status — he was still indefinitely suspended from the AU squad.  Still, Dyer was noticeably absent from Auburn’s bowl media guide and from a postseason highlight reel that was shown in the Georgia Dome during the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Dyer’s former offensive coordinator at Auburn — Gus Malzahn — has just taken the reins as Arkansas State’s head coach.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE — Matt Harris of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has now tweeted a follow-up to the above report/rumor from NationalFootballAuthority.com:  “Hearing from a source close to Dyer the #AState transfer paperwork rumor is bunk.  Family wants to meet with Chizik at Auburn.”

And that’s why used the “rumors” icon in connection with this one.  When it comes to Dyer, we want to hear an official word from Chizik or Malzahn before we believe he’s moving from one school to the other.

Some sad news was confirmed last night regarding Auburn senior safety Drew Cole and his girlfriend, fellow student Elizabeth “Libbie” Ainsworth.
The pair were returning from a hunting trip Sunday when Cole lost control of his car, leading to a single-car accident.  Ainsworth was ejected from the vehicle and passed away yesterday in Columbus, Georgia.

Cole was treated and released from the hospital.  According to police, the pair were trying to type an address into their GPS device when the wreck occurred.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cole and the Ainsworth family.  Tragic news.

There’s a vacuum when it comes to true news on the status of Auburn tailback Mike Dyer.  Last week, a pair of Arkansas State players welcomed him to Jonesboro via social media.  Then Gene Chizik announced that Dyer’s status on the Plains was unchanged suggesting that he was still not currently part of the team — due to indefinite suspension — but was not dismissed from the team, either.

There have been plenty of rumors since, but no hard facts. 

Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News believes Auburn’s decision to nix Dyer from its bowl media guide and some end o’ the year highlight videos give you a good clue that he may be done with the Tigers.

Chris Bahn of ArkansasSports360.com states that there’s been no new information out of the Arkansas State camp.

For now — after talking to several people around the Auburn program — it sounds to us at MrSEC.com like more people expect Dyer to be elsewhere in 2012.  And that likely means with Gus Malzahn in Jonesboro.

But even those close to the situation are being tight-lipped.  So until Chizik announces a change, we really can’t do much more than speculate.  Even if everyone seems to be drawing the same conclusions.

Michael Dyer has been a bellcow for the Auburn program since suiting up as the Tigers’ top tailback last year.  Unfortunately, there have also been off-field issues and an indefinite suspension to go along with all his rushing yards and that BCS Championship Game MVP award.

Now, rumors are swirling that Dyer is finished on the Plains and will be transferring to Arkansas State… where it just so happens Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will be taking over as head coach.

At least two Arkansas State players have already welcomed/congratulated Dyer on his move to Jonesboro via Facebook and Twitter (though that page no longer exists).

But Gene Chizik said today that the rumors that first kicked up yesterday are just that — rumors.


“Michael Dyer’s status has not changed.  If it does, I’ll let you know.  I’m not aware of any of that.”


Pressed for more information, Chizik simply said: “I’m not going to go into details of my discussions with Mike Dyer.  I’ve told you guys his status, and that status hasn’t changed.”

So is Chizik simply avoiding the question until after the bowl game?  Stay tuned.