Mark Hasty notes that Tony Franklin just got axed, and thus ends the most botched coordinator hire since people started paying attention to who the coordinators were.Last year, Tony Franklin was riding high, master of a top 20 offense despite taking the Troy Trojans of Troy (We're From Troy!) into battle against foes far superior to his own. The Trojans put up 34 points on Georgia -- only Tennessee exceeded that -- and went 8-4, tying for the Sun Belt championship.
Then he got hired by Auburn and this happened:
| Category | Ranking | Avg |
| Rushing Offense | 60 | 148.50 |
| Passing Offense | 103 | 160.67 |
| Total Offense | 104 | 309.17 |
| Scoring Offense | 103 | 18.67 |
No doubt the Auburn fanbase celebrates at Franklin's demise, but the invaluable Smart Football points out that Tony Franklin never got the opportunity to run his Air Raid offense, which is closer to Texas Tech's spread than the awful melange of whatever Auburn threw out there. Instead, Franklin was forced to use Auburn's ponderous power back on zone stretch plays time and again, to sit Kodi Burns on the bench despite his suitability for the offense, and generally run nothing from his actual playbook.
What's the point of even having him around? You hire a guy, then refuse to let him run his offense, then fire him halfway through his first season. Yeah, Franklin didn't work out but if I was an Auburn fan I'd be pointing the finger at the head coach, not the scapegoat.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-08-2008 @ 7:23PM
AUfaithful said...
Franklin was not forced to bench Kodi Burns, he continued to play the guy that he brought with him, Chris Todd, instead of playing Kodi as much of the Auburn faithful wished.
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10-08-2008 @ 7:27PM
Charlie said...
if you're trying to say that CTT is a bad coach...you can forget about it
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10-09-2008 @ 5:09PM
Ronny said...
The guy who wrote this article need not to write anymore. What a dummy. Get the facts before you go barking..
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10-10-2008 @ 1:31PM
RJA said...
Here are the facts---- regardless of what happened between Tubby and Franklin...... Franklin didn't get fired because of what's going on at Auburn. He got fired because of what's going on at ALABAMA! Auburn will always be playing catch up to Alabama --- even with wins six years in a row - it only took Alabama winning 6 in a row AND breathing down the neck of another SEC and possible National Championship (not to mention superior recruiting) to have Tommy start pointing fingers and axing staff to save his ars.
10-12-2008 @ 1:11AM
Mike said...
So Ronny what are these facts? Attacking the person who writes the article without providing any basis for that attack is a very intelligent argument. What are some of the "facts" that Brian provides that are untrue? Some of his assertions are nothing more than speculation. But it is clear that what Auburn was running in 2008 was nothing at all like what Troy ran in 2007. So either
a) Franklin decided his offense wouldn't work in the SEC and decided to change it dramatically (highly unlikely)
b) He decided that the current makeup of Auburn's offense would not be able to run his offense effectively (plausible, but would it have been any worse than what they were doing?)
c) Tommy Tuberville wasn't comfortable with the new offense and refused to let him off the leash, so to speak.
10-09-2008 @ 5:39AM
gmb said...
I'm not exactly sure because I wasn't on the coaching staff, and I'm not a player for Auburn, but I am a student here who's watched every game closely, and I'm pretty sure you're neither on the coaching staff nor an Auburn player either. So, I'm not sure how you have this inside information that he was never allowed to run his offense here. Who was running it? Who was telling him what he could and couldn't do? From what I saw, I'm pretty sure he was allowed to play whoever he wanted and call whatever plays he wanted whenever he wanted. I don't know it for sure, but you don't know it any better than I do. The problem, I think, goes down to any combination of: 1) personnel because we hadn't recruited for the spread as we'd been running the west coast offense, 2) seeing his offense jump from the Sun Belt to the SEC on a full-time basis, 3) absolutely terrible game-planning, or 4) calling the wrong plays at the wrong time. It might have worked under different circumstances, but it certainly wasn't, and I'm not sure how you're so sure that he was held back. Show me proof of him being restrained, and I'll consider buying into your argument. Until that proof is shown, it's just punditry.
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10-09-2008 @ 4:39PM
robert said...
whats pundirty?
10-09-2008 @ 8:12AM
Mike said...
GMB- click on the link going to Smart Football. Apparently anyone who ever ran the Air Raid could tell pretty easily that this was not the Air Raid. Maybe Franklin decided to radically change his offense after last year at Troy, but it doesn't make sense that he would have done that without someone making him.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:30AM
MikeK said...
The big question should be....Why are they still ranked?
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10-09-2008 @ 10:57AM
Bradley said...
I dont feel sorry at all for Auburn. It's about time your arrogancy caught up with you! I just can't wait for November! ROLL TIDE!!!
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10-09-2008 @ 11:08AM
Ronnie said...
Bradley, Just because our offense id sputtering doesn't mean that Alabama has magically gotten good enough to beat us-our offense has been sputtering for the last three years and we managed to beat the Tide all three of those years.
10-09-2008 @ 10:39PM
EL said...
Bradley:
Get off of your high horse. You've had a revolving door @ HC over there in tuscaloser. Six straight losses....need I say more. November = 7
10-09-2008 @ 1:14PM
Justafan said...
I've seen this time and time again in football. My favorite NFL team,the Broncos, have done this quite often. Someone has to be the scapegoat, and right now it's the offensive coordinator. This guy barely had a chance to implement his offense. It really should be noted that Auburn has been good for awhile now, especially in the Tuberville era. I know people get impatient, but you can't win every game. It's frustrating and I know this being an Alabama fan for 25+ years. Be patient Auburn fans, because you field a good team.
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10-09-2008 @ 2:24PM
VegasBigs.Com said...
Have to scratch my head a bit and agree he is not the one to lay all the blame on. I watched the team play and seems every time they get giong they start to choke, and posibly instead of agressive plays have to try and get their legs. Troy was Awesome last year , and are not the same team without hime. If Auburn was to ever get tha offense to execute the way it was being designed
- WATCH OUT !!!
Free Winners VegasBigs.COm
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10-09-2008 @ 6:24PM
TitansFan08 said...
What football fans outside of the SEC tend to forget is that, as much as I hate to admit that Tubby is a fairly good coach, BUT how many coordinators has he been through over the last five or six years? I know that he has had at least five offensive coordinators over six years, and at least three defensive coordinators that left to take the same position at other schools. Was Auburn not a quality enough program? Also, remember the secret plane trip to Louisville to talk to Bobby Patrino? The Trustees have had their issues with AU football and the way they think things are being run. That tells me that the problem must come from the head man--TUBBY.
I agree with those who have pointed out that you have to have the right players in place to make the spread offense work. Also, you cannot change an offensive scheme in less than one year and expect it to work like a well oiled machine, especially when the offense did not even have a good returning quarterback with a lot of playing time to know how to adapt to the game-time speed and defensive schemes.
Luckily for the Auburn faithful, he has had some very talented athletes come to Auburn and bail his butt out of few sticky situations. I can't help but think that after the way LSU is staying strong, Georgia is holding their own, the resurgence of Alabama, and an embarrassing defeat to Vandy, I think this was a panic firing. Tubby has never been one to back down from a fight, but he will surely sacrifice someone else to save his own behind. Personally, I think he is close to wearing out his time at Auburn and they should consider someone else who is changing with the times, not changing the coaching staff to buy him time.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:16PM
Auburndiehardfan said...
In ten years at Auburn Tuberville has had 5 offensive coordinators, but the same assistant coaches better known as the "barbque boys". Tony Franklin didn't have a chance of success at Auburn without the coooperation of the existing assistant coaches nor support of the head coach. If Tuberville wouldn't allow Franklin to bring in his own assistant offense coaches to run an offense that has been very successful at Troy University, why would he allow the assistant coaches to defy his authority as offense coordinator? How can he be "Head Coach" and allow these "bar b que" boys to say its either him or us. If Tuberville was really committed to a new offense was it not his job to tell the assistant coaches "either hop on the band wagon" or hit the road. It is the same repeated scenario of Al Borges. I doubt there is a Ofensive Coordinator in the nation that could succeed under these conditions. If Tuberville is not a better CEO than this he doesn't need to Head Coach.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:16PM
chris said...
To some degree you need the right players to play the stretch offense. But the offense can be tweaked to fit personnel that is not a good fit. Case in point: Chris Leak running the spread and winning the national championship at Florida.
A good OC can make things happen with the talent available, so long as he has reasonably good talent. Auburn does have reasonably good talent (some say excellent talent).
It was Franklin's job to get it done and he failed. This was a quick hook but seemingly justified. That offense was horrendous.
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10-11-2008 @ 9:18PM
JolyDog said...
Tony Franklin....Ummm, maybe he needs a job??? I think I know of a place who may be interested in hiring an offensive coordinator... West Virginia! Tony, Please Come Home!
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10-13-2008 @ 8:46PM
sam said...
"Boo hoo hoo"; your success cycle is up Aubs! You all complained last year when your QB seemed 'off'...maybe it's just that your team is not as strong as in past years, and if the recruiting wars continue to be dominated by Bama and Georgia, the team you're seeing now is what you better get used to (does Buster Brown circa '98 come to mind?). But that's ok, you still have Bobby Lowder to fix things...that is, if he has any money left following the collapse of Colonial shares. Get used to your new "old" identity, cause it ain't gonna change anytime soon.
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10-21-2008 @ 5:37PM
Tim said...
I know Tony personally and know his offense very well. This was not the Tony Franklin System being run at Auburn, but something he was forced to run because he didn't have the right players for his system. Tony got a bad deal because the assistants didn't buy into his system and the players that Auburn has are not ideal for the spread. I promise you this, Tony will resurface as an Offensive Coordinator in 2009 and will be a great hire for whoever hires him. I'd love for him to come to UW and coach Jake Locker in his final two seasons.
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