Auburn Finds Offensive Coordinator, Tennessee May Be Looking for One

It didn't take long for Tommy Tuberville to find a replacement for departed offensive coordinator Al Borges. On Wednesday night, just a day after Borges handed in his resignation, Auburn announced former Troy Trojans of Troy (they're from Troy) OC Tony Franklin will be calling plays as early as the Chik-Fil-A Bowl on New Year's Eve. The one-day turnaround is pretty quick -- unless you live in Bobby Petrino's world, in which it's an eternity. And since I couldn't get through an SEC coaching post without the obligatory Petrino reference, it's worth pointing out that Franklin is Auburn's sixth offensive coordinator since 2000, a list that includes Noel Mazzone, Petrino, Hugh Nall/Steve Emsfinger, and of course Borges.

In his first two years at Auburn, Borges had the Tigers' offense in the top two of nearly every statistical category in the SEC. Over the last two years, however, Auburn has finished in the bottom half of the conference in nearly all of those same categories. Meanwhile, Franklin's Troy team finished in the top 25 nationally in many offensive rankings this year, including total yards and scoring.

Also consider that Troy and Auburn had three common opponents in 2007: Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia (and all on the road). With considerably less talent, Troy put up more yards and more points than Auburn in each one of those games, and had a better yards/play average in all games except against Florida (and it was close -- AU averaged 4.7/play against the Gators, Troy had 4.3).Franklin runs a spread offense, and while those words make fans all warm and tingly, it's even better news for Auburn that they already have a quarterback to run it, freshman Kodi Burns. If Franklin's success at Troy translates to the SEC, forget about Les Miles, Houston Nutt, and Petrino, this could be the biggest offseason coaching move in the conference.

Another big coaching move could be in the works at Tennessee, considering David Cutcliffe interviewed for the Duke job on Wednesday. Now news yet on whether Cutcliffe will be offered that position, or if even he'd take it, so any names mentioned as possible new OCs in Knoxville are way premature. But still, should Cutcliffe go to Durham, expect Borges' name to come up at UT. It's a safe enough hire for Phil Fulmer to feel confident in, and a big enough name to keep many Vol fans happy.