Former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville is out of work, a seemingly snap decision that caught many people off guard. Officially, Tuberville resigned from the university, but that usually means a forcing hand shows you the door. The school says Tuberville surprised them with the decision and that he was welcome to come back. Tuberville says he left on his own accord, after 10 years of success in the SEC, no small feat. However, Tuberville's mother says her son was fired, sending the situation into open forum discussion, ranging from radio talk shows to Auburn students protesting outside of the President's on-campus mansion.
I was shocked when I heard the news of Tuberville's departure. I know this year hadn't gone how Auburn expected, but Tuberville is a proven winner. It hasn't been five years since he took them to an undefeated season, how could his leash be this short? Auburn finished the season 5-7, ending with a loss to archrival Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl, the first victory for the Crimson Tide in seven years. Still, Tuberville has a winning record against Bama, 7-3 during his tenure. It's not like he had lost the program. If anything, it was the meddling of his system. Auburn tried to play copy cat this season, attempting to implement the spread offense, like so many other SEC schools. This was a stark contrast to what Tuberville's Auburn teams had been known for, hard running with recent alums such as Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, Ronnie Brown, Brandon Jacobs and Kenny Irons. Auburn wasn't set up for the spread offense.
I question the veracity of Tuberville's resignation. College football is in such a state of "what have you done for me lately" that one bad season is all it takes. Ten years of success are all but forgotten after one down year. Tuberville wasn't even given the chance to turn it around, like Charlie Weis has at Notre Dame. Instead, Tommy Tuberville was treated like Tupperware, thrown out in search of something fresh.
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