Auburn - Tommy Tuberville 2002 - 38-17 against Arkansas at home. Finished 9-4. Inherited cluster fuck program in year one.
Auburn - Pat Dye 1984 - 24-3 against Florida in Gainesville. Finished 9-4. Inherited cluster fuck program in year one.
Alabama - Nick Saban 2010 - 35-21 against South Carolina in Columbia. Finished 10-3. Inherited cluster fuck program in year one.
LSU - Nick Saban 2003 - 19-7 against Florida at home. Finished 13-1 with the BCS national championship. Inherited cluster fuck program in year one.
LSU - Les Miles 2007 - 43-37 against Kentucky in Lexington. Finished 12-2 with BCS national championship. Inherited juggernaut built by Nick Saban.
Florida - Steve Spurrier 1993 - 33-21 against Florida State in Gainesville. Finished 11-2 with SEC championship. Inherited average program in year one.
Florida - Urban Meyer 2008 - 31-30 against Ole Miss in Gainesville. Finished 13-1 with BCS national championship. Inherited average program in year one.
Georgia - Mark Richt 2004 - 24-6 against Auburn in Auburn. Finished 10-2. Inherited average program.
Texas - Mack Brown 2001 - 14-3 against Oklahoma in Dallas. Finished 11-2. Inherited struggling program.
South Carolina - Steve Spurrier 2008 - 56-6 against Florida in Gainesville. Finished 7-6. Inherited cluster fuck of a program and a perennial and known loser of the SEC.
Oklahoma - Bob Stoops 2002 - 38-28 against Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Finished 12-2 with conference championship. Inherited cluster fuck of a program.
Oklahoma State - Mike Gundy 2008 - 56-20 against Texas Tech in Lubbock. Finished 9-4. Inherited average but rising program.
Oregon - Chip Kelly 2012 - No losses yet and now favored to win the Pac 12 and possibly compete for the national championship. Won 10 in first year and 12 next two years. Inherited great program.
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Will Gene Chizik match these great coaches? Out of all of the great coaches in the country, did any of them struggle in year four and blame the previous regime? Any of them lack fundamentals and basic technique?
Did any of them expect a blowout early in the season? After looking through those records and stats, I don't think any of them lost until later in the season.
Year four seems to have been indicative of how their program is built. Whatever kind of success they had in year four seems to have been indicative of what kind of success they would have in the future.
While I appreciate the research and effort, it's not relevant here, and in fact each situation stands on it's own. I don't want this to come across as defending what's going on, but Chizik, is in year 4, but it's not exactly the same. Chiz, while he inherited a struggling program, it was not without talent, it was just all top heavy. He added enough to it in time to win the BCS in 2010 before it all rolled off. 2011 was like a new year one in some respects, and in some not. His first crootin class was largely Tubs, so his "year one" in recruiting was 2009, but that's not unlike other coaches inheriting a mess, but his was compounded by what he was losing in 2010. So it's all different. That said, what I see on the field is a product of how football is being taught, and practiced. This team is soft. They have no sense of urgency. They have players, Jake and Kiehl for instance, that have not merely not lived up to the billing, but seemingly have regressed. They're just the most obvious, but they're not nearly the only ones. Last year? If you were reasonable, you expected it, and I"ve said it was a great overall coaching job. This year? Totally unexpected, and Chiz won't come near any of those marks listed above in terms of W/Ls. At worst this should have been an improved team that could have had the same 8-5 record, but been more competitive vs LSU, UGA, and Bammer. At best it could have been a 10 win team that was a big surprise. This team, as it stands today, is the other end of the spectrum from the 10 win surprise. Last year's Auburn team (the one that played in the bowl) would beat this one 31-21.