These are trying times for the Auburn football faithful.
A coach who posted one of the best winning percentages in Auburn history was dismissed after 10 years at the helm.
The new head coach was booed and heckled when his plane arrived at the airport.
He went straight to work to make sure Auburn didn't have another 5-7 season.
His goals were lofty, and he managed to start the season 5-0.
Now, he has hit a slow spot in the season and people are questioning whether his hire was the right choice.
Of course Gene Chizik was the right choice for Auburn.
It is ludicrous to expect a coach to take a 5-7 team and turn it into a national championship contender, especially in the SEC.
The only excuse for losing to Kentucky is it was an SEC game and every SEC game is unpredictable.
The blame has to fall on this coaching staff for that loss, but the losses to Arkansas and LSU fall squarely on last year's staff.
The football team has enough depth to have beaten Kentucky.
It doesn't, however, have the depth required to beat Arkansas and LSU.
Depth problems are always associated with coaching changes.
Facts don't lie though. Going into the LSU game Chizik had the second best record for new head coaches in the Football Bowl Subconference.
Chizik's former team, Iowa State, is at 5-3 this year as well.
That is a statement to Chizik's ability to recruit.
This season is the epitome of a rebuilding year for Auburn.
The team has the right tools in place to be good in the next few years, but sadly this season is probably going to end 6-6 or 7-5.
There is another coach in the SEC who went 6-6 in his first year in 2007.
Nick Saban has his team undefeated, even though there should have been a penalty on Terrance Cody for throwing his helmet off before the play was over, and sitting in second place in the BCS standings. Perhaps that can happen on the Plains.
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