I am writing this on the afternoon of Gene Chizik's termination because I honestly believe Chizik made one costly mistake; he switched offensive schemes.
The spread offense that went 8-5 in 2009 winning the Outback Bowl, 14-0 in 2010 winning the BCS Championship, and 8-5 in 2011 winning the Chick-fil-A Bowl, was not the offense we ran in 2012. Chizik, a defensive coach, wanted an offense that could run the ball and slow the game down. Gus Malzahn's quick, no-huddle, spread offense couldn't provide that, so Chizik brought in offensive coordinator Scot Leoffler and his pro-style scheme.
The biggest issue is that over the past four years, Auburn has recruited mobile quarterbacks, small scat-backs and an offensive line that is built to protect the quarterback in the shotgun NOT to form a pocket. These traits are all suited toward having a successful spread offense. On the flip-side, pro-style offenses, like that of Alabama, utilize large running backs, huge offensive linemen, and their quarterback is typically a "pocket passer."
Before any coach switches schemes, he or she needs to recruit players to fit that scheme. Chizik did recruit well, having top-15 recruiting classes every year at Auburn, but the players he recruited were not suited for a pro-style offense. I believe that in lieu of recruiting top players, he forgot to recruit players who matched the scheme he truly wanted to run.
On the subject of recruiting, Auburn is currently being investigated by the NCAA for recruiting violations. While I am not sure whether or not Chizik had any knowledge of these supposed violations prior to the NCAA probe, but because the violations happened under his watch, he is ultimately responsible for them occurring. Now, just two years after winning the BCS Championship and losing more than 40 players off the 2010 team, the fallout has been tremendous.
I honestly believe that this unfathomable 3-9 season boils down to one very costly mistake, changing offensive schemes. Chizik, you were a good coach and I hope you have a lot of success somewhere else. Thank you for your hard work at Auburn and WDE!
Mason Briles
Freshman
Kinesiology
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