Rat Trapped

Auburn Fires Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin
by John Buzbee

Apparently Tony Franklin's heated practices the past two days were heated at both players and coaches. Franklin cursed them all saying he's tired of getting all the blame after he was the only one doing all the coaching. Obviously this wouldn't sit well with Coach Tommy Tuberville. Then at lunch on Wednesday while preparing for the Arkansas game on Saturday, more words were had, and the argument blew up into complete chaos. Tuberville apparently wouldn't stand for the chaotic situation any longer, or he wasn't given a choice. Either way, Auburn fired Franklin on Wednesday afternoon after he had held the job for less than 10 months.

While I'm not too enthused of seeing an updated version of the 2003 Hugh Nall/Steve Ensminger offense, I think a basic offense should garner wins against Arkansas and UT-Martin, while relying on defense and special teams may get a split of either West Virginia or Ole Miss. Tiger fans can mark UGA as a certain loss.

I know strange things have happened in the Iron Bowl, but generally the favorite wins, and Alabama will definitely be favored. The streak against Alabama comes to a crushing end this season. So I project a 8-5 season; probably head to Nashville, but maybe Atlanta.

Now the real question is the future, especially considering the huge haul of recruits that were committed to The Plains. How does this change their opinion of Auburn? I agree with some about finally getting rid of some of the career assistants in order to get a top caliber coordinator, and that's still going to be difficult, considering all but one OC has been fired/demoted in Tub's tenure. Who's stepping into this mess and not think that if things go poorly, he won't be tossed out as a scapegoat as well?(and to all the Tiger fans who were tired of last season's OC Al Borges, think about this: even with the anemic Borges offense, who doesn't think the Tigers leave Nashville with a win? Better yet, what are the odds of a Borges-led O getting past LSU? A ball-hogging O would've meant a fresh D in the 4th quarter. That'd make AU a top 5 team...)

While I haven't always favored his decisions, I have almost always defended Tuberville. The decision to fire Borges for Franklin might be his undoing, however. He's created a mess and seemingly fallen way behind rival Nick Saban. For someone who's not all that interested in being a long-time coach or even creating a lasting legacy, Tubs may not be all that interested in staying too much longer. While some may like that thought, that scenario will just make the next person's rebuilding process longer.

Oh and let's not forget that UK fans still call our former OC "Rat Franklin." His taking the fall will not go over well - to his ego or to his product: "The Tony Franklin System." No large college football program is clean, so we'll quickly learn if Franklin lives up to his moniker.

No matter what an individual fan's personal opinion of Franklin may have been, firing a coordinator midseason (one who'd been on the job 10 months nonetheless) is a black-eye for any program. Today is not a good day to be a Auburn Tiger.