The six-person committee whose job it was to review Auburn Athletics Department from top to bottom completed the process, and while the exact findings from the review remain unclear, president Jay Gouge has attempted to clear some of the gray area.
"We asked the committee to review the department's total body of work with a focus on five areas: academic and support services for student-athletes; financial management; customer service; competition, including winning, sportsmanship and compliance; and management structure," Gouge said in a letter to the Auburn Family.
"Athletics Director Jay Jacobs and I have talked in length about their recommendations. In general, they center on steps to improve overall operations of the department, upgrade how we interact and communicate with fans and alumni, and enhance the game-day experience, on and off the field. Jay will talk in more detail about what's in store, and I'm confident he will move forward to put in place a plan to give the Auburn family what we all expect.
"There's much to celebrate about Auburn Athletics, but there's also room for substantial improvement. I look forward to Jay providing the leadership needed to make the necessary improvements."
It's fairly obvious from this letter that while changes will be made, one of those will not be Athletics Director Jay Jacobs.
Many associated with Auburn have blamed Jacobs for the recent lull in athletic performance and who could blame them?
He is the athletics director after all.
In fact, Jacobs will be spearheading this effort at athletic renovation with the help and consultation of Gouge.
"I promise you this: We will improve,'' Jacobs said to the Auburn Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, May 14.
That's a bold statement, considering two massive programs he has to improve on is a football team that was winless in the SEC and a basketball team that won three in-conference games last season.
Sarcasm aside, there has been some success in Auburn athletics in the previous season, but it wasn't in a sport that fans in the tens of thousands drive to Auburn to see, and more importantly it wasn't in a sport that is hailed on the national stage.
Jacobs said Gouge's "expectations are high, and I intend to meet them. What comes next sits squarely on my shoulders."
Jacobs will take his share of the credit for any success Auburn athletics has, but as he pointed out, he also will accept all the blame, and there's plenty of that to go around. Regardless, Jacobs believes he can right the ship and get the athletics department sailing smoothly.
"We have much work to do," Jacobs said. But I'm convinced that our best days are not behind us. "I will continue to fight for Auburn. I will continue to defend Auburn, and I will continue to push us to get better every day."
As football coach Gus Malzahn has stated, "It's a new day," and that couldn't be truer for Jacobs.
After speculation that it could have been Jacobs' last year as athletics director he now has an opportunity and obligation to turn Auburn back into the fine athletics institution it is toted to be.
Jacobs did promise improvements in his meeting with Auburn Chamber of Commerce including an improved football game day and game weekend experience, improving the department's overall operations, bettering communications and interactions with Auburn fans and alumni, improved athletic facilities, and development of the major sports and Olympic sports.
He's set the board.
He's got to get the pieces moving.
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