The fact remains that Auburn was good in pretty much every sport until Jacobs took over and it didn't take long for every program to take a hit. The football team went into the trash and it was well known that Jacobs allowed outsiders to meddle in Tuberville's program. The basketball team has been and still is one of the most embarrassing programs in the country. The baseball team went from competitive to in desperate need of rebuilding. The swim team went from the best in the world to just another good program. Then we can bring up the numerous women's sports that have tanked over the last decade as well.
Revisionist history. As the article mentions, Auburn basketball has never at any point in our history been good. Yes, Barkley's presence elevated them temporarily to slightly above horrendous. So did Cliff Ellis's cheating.
Did you have a problem with the Barbee hire at the time? Did you have someone better in mind? Did you think we should have gone after Krzyzewski? It sounds like you're expecting our AD to have psychic powers. Auburn basketball is a dumpster fire. It was when we hired Barbee. It is today. It will be when we fire him and hire the next best we can do. To demand NCAA appearances every year from Auburn basketball is akin to Kentucky demanding BCS bowls every year for their football team. They're not going to get a Spurrier or Saban or Malzahn to come in and have an immediate impact. They shouldn't expect to.
Also, as the article mentions, our state lottery is more to blame for Auburn's mediocrity than the hiring of Pawlowski. And if think Auburn could have hired anyone better than Sonny Galloway, you don't belong in the conversation.
Women's sports? What are those?
Fortner had success, although Jacobs didn't hire her. She had two bad years, and she was out of there. Replaced with Williams-Flournoy. From her bio.
In her first season at Auburn, she led the Tigers to 19 wins, the most in four years, and an appearance in the Women's NIT quarterfinals. Auburn set a school record with 402 steals during the 2012-13 season while forcing 701 turnovers, a mark that ranks second all-time on The Plains.
Known for her defense, Williams-Flournoy made an immediate impact on the team in her first season as the Tigers finished the year ranked second in the SEC and 15th nationally with 11.8 steals per game. Three Auburn players finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the SEC and top 250 in the country in steals per game.
Williams-Flournoy became the first Auburn women's basketball coach ever to lead her team to the post-season in their first year. Additionally, after the team's season-opening 71-41 win over Maine, she became just the second AU women's basketball coach to win their first game as head coach.
A 20-year coaching veteran, Williams-Flournoy came to Auburn after leading Georgetown to a four-year run from 2008-12 that was the most successful period in the program's history, while posting an overall mark of 143-104 during her eight-year tenure. In her last four seasons, the Hoyas were 93-41, advancing to the NCAA tournament in 2010, 2011, and 2012, while making a Sweet 16 appearance in 2011. They were a WNIT quarterfinalist in 2009.
What more are you expecting form the hire? Who was a better women's basketball coach available to replace a recently floundering Fortner in 2012?
Softball your beef? Jay hired bar-none the best softball coach in the NCAA. Two time National Champion. Brought ASU to the CWS 7 out of the 8 years he was there. There is literally no better coach that ANY NCAA school could have hired, let alone Auburn.
The Chizik hire brought us an NC, sure, but it was by no means a good hire. It was exactly what everybody thought it would be - disastrous. 2011 was close to being as bad as 2008 and 2012 was something that no Auburn fan has ever experienced before - finishing the season with a good evidence that Auburn was the worst team in the BCS.
I don't know about you, but I would take five 2012s if it meant one 2010. I wouldn't trade being in University of Phoenix stadium when Byrum kicked that game clenching field goal for literally anything else Auburn football related, and possibly venturing into actual life achievements and events. If not for 2012, this year wouldn't have been as sweet as it was. Yes, I'd take five 2012s. Fortunately, our AD didn't submit us to five. He cut ties when it was appropriate to do so.
He has seemingly hit a homerun with Malzahn. The jury's still out if Gus is prepared to build and sustain a program. But basketball, baseball, women's basketball, softball, equestrian, swimming, soccer, and the rest of Auburn sports are by no means up to the standard of excellence we expect from a university with our resources. Perhaps the hires were good in some sports, but has Jacobs created an environment that allows those coaches to succeed?
That's definitely still yet to be seen.
Pppffffttt. Again, it's not in Jacobs' job description to predict the future. If he hired the right guy
today, then he hired the right guy. What that guy does with the opportunity is on him.
All I know about equestrian is what the inside of that one chick's vagina looks like from the emails that were passed around in college. A quick google search tells me that Auburn won the National Championship last year, and is currently ranked #2, and will be playing #1 Georgia, whom they beat in the National Championship to end last year's season, this weekend.
There is no men's soccer team. All I can find on the recent history of the women's team is that we've made the SEC tournament for 13 consecutive years.
So exactly what is the standard of excellence you expect?
The one, and
only legitimate gripe I see about Jacobs is letting Marsh go, but that was six years ago, only two years into Jacobs' tenure. Hold on to that grudge forever, if you want.
As of today the Men's team has won 15 straight SEC titles. That streak is still alive. The women's team is still quite dominant as well. We're still easily amongst the best programs in the country. To go apeshit over three years without a National Championship is akin to Bammers wanting to burn their entire athletic department to the ground once Saban leaves and his replacement can "only" win the SEC every goddamn year but can't make it to the NC game in three.
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