I didn't grow up in a football family, Auburn or bammer. The Barfield years aren't much of a memory to me. I didn't become an Auburn fan until Dye's tenure. The only helpless Aubrun team in my memory is 1998, and I knew why...no players. Barfield had players and failed, but not this miserably. Bowden could coach, but not recruit. This shit beats all I've ever seen.
Maybe you didn't grow up in a football family as a youngster but you certainly developed an accumen for the game. Plus you are so well spoken and articulate.
Anyway there are varying opinions of bad coaching but in 50-50 hindsight I now look at the Barfield years as such:
background
There were no scholarsip limitations and we picked up some very good players but not so in terms of quality depth.
As far as Alabama goes, Bryant was also the AD. which was a huge recruiting advantage with regard to how things got done- for over two decades.
We might have dabbled in the darkside for some recruits but Bryant usually got what he wanted, and that power went beyond the playing field. He could also lobby for better bowl match-ups by virtue of that power and standing. Plus he was considered the very best H.C. in the business.
*In 1968 seventeen kids in the 80# class were each given a playbook on T-formation football and indoctrinated to Alabama football... Bryant style. There was no mention of anything else other than Alabama and Bear to my memory. I doubt any of us had ever heard of Auburn or Shug prior to that and all of those Bryantisms were driven into us at daily practices which were tougher than my first high school two a days for the 4A State Champions. We received signed copies of Bryant's book early on and a few years later every participant at the local Pass, Punt and Kick competition was given another book on "The Bear." That's just a small example of the culture that I grew up around just to put things in perpective.
**Bryant didn't have to keep tabs on Auburn because the other schools kept an eye on each other. It was explained to me later on by several longtime AU grads that UGA was probably responsible for blowing the whistle on Auburn during the Barfield days.
As for Barfield, I have no doubt as to his character or coaching ability from the level he came from but I can back K's statement about his teams being competitive, however outmatched in overall talent in quality numbers. I went to three or four Auburn games per year prior to Dye's arrival and the talent of Cribbs, Brooks and Andrews as a trio has never been equaled IMO by any other school in college football.
I had witnessed great duos as I am certain many here have too in subsequent years but these three gave you your moneys worth even though the "Houston Veer" was the wrong offense to showcase their God-given abilities. Another way to look at it was that they were misused by Barfield and staff in a very successful offense.
You see Cribbs was as good as it gets as a true running back/ receiver and he backed that up in the NFL and USFL for a sterling career. But Andrews was employed mostly as a blocking back, and it wasn't discovered until his final season at Auburn just how tremendous his receiving skills were out of the backfield combined with sheer power and the moves to make the opposition miss...alot!
In Brooks we had a kick returner second to none, and he was placed all over the field as a weapon but was seldom used beyond a limited fill-in role or decoy because we didn't have a passing offense nor did we have the QB that could really air it out during that time. Oddly the barely used Brooks made his money as a slashing speedy back between the tackles and prolific receiver all over the field in the NFL.
So yeah if you were a student at Auburn, a student of the game or just a dude wth a date you might have left the stadium a loser but you were entertained and dazzled by by those three guys all the same. There was of course other talent on the team at key positions but nothing relative to the caliber of those three on any team.
fast forward
So when Pat Dye was announced as the new Head Coach some like myself wondered why we hired a Bear disciple and Georgia grad and of course the rest is history.
***Disclaimer: As strange as my posts are to my fellow Xers, you just have to imagine what it was like as a fan during that era. Other old timers here might share or differ in their own accounts but this is how I recall it as a sidewalk fan and there are far better takes on this subject than I could ever hope to produce.
Still, when the media or outsiders scratch their heads in disbelief at Auburn for some of the past decisions of the PTB they have no earthly idea WTF they are talking about or what it takes to compete in this arena then or now or what Dye brought to Auburn to make them competitive again in many ways but it will NEVER be quite enough to put Auburn on a level playing field with Alabama alone, even if one doesn't recognize adxantages that several other SEC schools have as well.
Maybe the situation isn't as well defined at other places or the boundaries or rivalries are just so uniquely different from all the rest, IDK. But I do know what missteps or dragging of heels in a hiring/firing decision can do to a program and have witnessed others digging themselves out of a shallow grave while the others are throwing dirt on you and it's a bad feeling when your team has scratched and clawed to get where it is.
We live in a different fast-paced world where today's major contender could be tomorrow's perrenial loser in a very short time. There's no room for error.
"And that's all I got to say about that." -F. Gump
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