How divided is the Auburn family over Bobby Petrino? Judging by the results of an AL.com survey, extremely divided.
Fifty-three percent of the 11,000 people who responded to the survey said they don't want Petrino to be Auburn's next coach. Another 35 percent said yes and 12 percent were undecided.
Of course, presumably not all of the survey respondents are Auburn fans. But the survey shows how contentious Petrino's potential hire is among readers. Readers were only able to vote one time.
Readers were nearly divided on the question of whether they would support Petrino if he received the blessing of Pat Sullivan and/or Bo Jackson, who are part of Auburn's search committee. Fifty-one percent said even if that stamp of approval came, they would still not support Petrino.
Among readers critical of Petrino, the biggest reason why is that he has lied to his bosses through the years (36 percent). The runner-up was that he left the Louisville and Arkansas programs damaged (17 percent). Cheating on his wife came in fourth (12 percent).
More than half of the readers want the Auburn search committee with Jackson and Sullivan to decide on the next coach (54 percent). Athletics Director Jay Jacobs alone had as much support as ex-Auburn coach Pat Dye (4 percent) in making the decision.
Of the 11,000 asked, all agreed that Jay Jacobs was no better than a used Kotex.
And yet the quality of Petrino as a coach wasn't lost on readers. Their most popular choice to become Auburn's coach: Petrino (24 percent). He was followed by Gus Malzahn (15 percent), Gary Patterson (13 percent), Jimbo Fisher (12 percent), Kirby Smart (11 percent), Charlie Strong (11 percent) and Chris Petersen (9 percent).