Gene Chizik Fired by Auburn; Tom O’Brien Fired by NC State
Gene Chizik, who just two years ago won a title with Cam Newton leading the way, has been fired as coach of the Auburn Tigers, according to Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports.
The news should surprise nobody, as Auburn was a disaster this season (3-9, 0-8 in the SEC) and now the NCAA is poking around.
Chizik was a bizarre hire in the first place. After going 5-19 in two years at Iowa State, the Tigers took a chance on Chizik. In his second year, Newton had one of the best seasons in college football history, leading the Tigers to a 14-0 mark and a BCS title. He left, and the team fell back to 8-5 last year before this season’s clunker.
Also fired today: NC State coach Tom O’Brien. He got canned after six average years (40-35) in Raleigh. The Wolfpack have been bowl eligible the last three years (7-5 in 2012), and the firing is somewhat curious. I’m sure it won’t take long before the fingers started to get pointed at AD Debbie Yow, who arrived at 2010 from Maryland. Yow is out of her mind if she thinks James Franklin is leaving Vandy for NC State.
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24 Responses to “Gene Chizik Fired by Auburn; Tom O’Brien Fired by NC State”
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November 25th, 2012 at 2:43 PM
TOB being fired wasn’t out of the blue…Yow let it be known that she wasn’t content with mediocrity earlier this year, and losing to UVA was the nail in the coffin. Apparently Chad Morris (OC for Clemson) is the target, and that would be a pretty decent hire.
Honestly, averaging 7 wins/season at State isn’t bad…but it can’t be a consistent 7 wins. There needs to be the occasional 9,10 win season mixed in there. TOB went 1-14 on the road in the ACC…that’s just not going to cut it with how weak the ACC is and the resources NC State puts into the program. If you have the talent to beat FSU…
November 25th, 2012 at 2:46 PM
Arrogant move by NC State. They’ve been competitive under O’Brien, which is really all they have the right to expect. Firing Chizik was an absolute no brainer. No Malzahn, no Roof, no Newton, no wins. Who are the Auburn candidates? Maybe actually pull the trigger on Petrino this time around? Makes too much sense not to happen for me.
November 25th, 2012 at 2:51 PM
A lot of PSU folks would doubt that Roof had much to do with Chizik’s success.
November 25th, 2012 at 2:54 PM
Auburn was a hell of a lot better defensively with him. This is not a ringing Roof endorsement, but comparatively he was Vangorder’s indisputable superior.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:04 PM
When he got hired at PSU the Google Machine told me that no one at Auburn or UCF was sad to see him go.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:05 PM
love how the first 2 comments are in complete contrast.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:12 PM
Roof rarely got to run his own D while at Auburn. Van Gorder had been given more control.
Aside from Petrino, others getting a look will be Jimbo Fisher, Malzahn, and Kirby Smart. Also, Jeff Fisher.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:18 PM
No chance they get Jeff Fisher. If he wanted to go to college he’d wait another year and take the SC job. I don’t know the Auburn-Alabama dynamic. Would they stoop to hiring Saban’s protege?
November 25th, 2012 at 3:20 PM
Jimbo? Is there something I don’t know about him and FSU because he already has a better job?
November 25th, 2012 at 3:23 PM
I agree that there is little chance Jeff Fisher leaves the NFL at this time, though the argument is that his son is on the team and he’s had another kid graduate from Auburn. I think there is/was some interest, but the major holdup was Fisher demanding a lot of independence, perhaps even bringing in his own choice for athletic director.
Smart would be a strange hire – a UGA grad with a background as a Bama assistant. Last time Auburn went that route, they hired Pat Dye… who supports Smart.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Jimbo’s name out there could just be his agent trying to get him more money, but consider that Auburn’s probably got better facilities and can pay him more. He “supposedly” is not happy with some of the old guard boosters who think that the team should be playing for a title this year. He also is playing in a conference that may be a sinking ship. He’s also got an Auburn background and is friends with a couple of influential Auburn boosters.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:30 PM
You think Dye is not so secretly pulling the strings in the hiring process like a lot of people theorize? I’ve heard his whole “I’m just a dopey, insignificant ex-coach” routine on Finebaum, etc., but that was about as believable as his public support of Chizik.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:31 PM
Jeff Fisher to Auburn? The comments on this post have jumped the shark.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:33 PM
the Auburn opening is not a good one. Is Nick Saban leaving the state?
NCAA poking around.
they’ll get an up-and-comer from a mid-major
November 25th, 2012 at 3:36 PM
NC State views itself as an athletic power. Their belief is “we’ve won two national championships in basketball and we have historically been nationally competitive in football, why won’t anybody give us the respect we deserve?” They can’t understand why they are always the state’s unwanted stepchild when compared to UNC.
//I note that Carolina fans generally chant “not our rival” during basketball games and that the famed UNC fight song that used to always end with “go to hell, State!” now ends with “go to hell, Duke!”
November 25th, 2012 at 3:39 PM
Sonny Dykes fits the profile, but I wouldn’t touch that style of play with a ten foot pole at Auburn.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:40 PM
we have historically been nationally competitive in football
They’ve won less than half of the games they’ve played all time.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:44 PM
I didn’t say that their fans’ beliefs were rational. I just calls ‘em likes I sees ‘em.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:47 PM
It’s still Auburn Jason. The NCAA was poking around North Carolina and if I’m not mistaken they found nothing to go after the program for. Whether you think that legitimate or not Auburn will still draw a lot of compelling names regardless of what the NCAA is sniffing at.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:48 PM
Yes, Dye is twisting arms in support of Kirby Smart. There’s enough of a power vacuum at Auburn right now that it could make a difference.
I’m not saying that Jeff Fisher will be the coach; in fact any window for that has likely closed. But when initially asked he did not say no.
Auburn’s the best job opening, assuming Chip Kelly does not leave the Phil Knight Chair of Football Studies for the NFL. The NCAA stuff is secondary type violation stuff, and while Saban is tough, Chizik showed it was possible to win a title and recruit well at Auburn. If it turns out to be a Sonny Dykes hire, it will be because certain folks at Auburn don’t want a strong, independent coach.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:54 PM
If Kevin Sumlin and Kliff Kingsbury can beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa then Saban is not invincible. Tommy Tuberville beat Saban 4 times while he was at Auburn. It’s a strong program and with the right coach can challenge Saban in the long term.
November 25th, 2012 at 3:59 PM
Fisher makes $7M per year with full control of an organization. Auburn would be a laughable move.
November 25th, 2012 at 4:03 PM
Yes, and if he stays with the Rams he gets to return to LA if they move. But, again, he did not say no.
November 25th, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Is Debbie Yow gonna pay him? At MD, she wasn’t know for opening the pocketbook? Clemson gave him a pretty big raise when Urban came sniffing this past winter, too.