We can, but first consider this.
Without Chizik, it's a stretch at best to say we have Malzahn, Trooper, Luper, Grimes, Rocker, Thigpen etc. on our staff.
Without those guys, I don't see us landing most of our 4 & 5* guys. When's the last 5* Auburn ever had? When's the last time we had 3 (and counting)? For all the laughing at the Tiger Prowl, Big Cat Weekend, and Billboard tactics, they sure seemed to work. That was all part of the fire that this staff put into recruiting.
And as I said, you must view Tuberville's recruiting over time. Yes, he did well early in his career, but he peaked. Nothing gold can stay, Ponyboy. It's not a fault of Tuberville's specifically, but there's just no room for complacency in the world of college football. Specifically, he peaked once Saban arrived. Comparing his recruiting efforts against Shula to Chizik's against Saban's Alabama that just came off an undefeated MNC & Heisman winning season, is simply not equivocal.
And even with that fire, I don't see Texas Tech at the top of the recruiting rankings. I know, to be fair, he hasn't had time to build a full class, but I doubt we see him there next year either.
But yeah, I'm fully aware that this will go nowhere, so we might as well leave it at that.
There is some truth in this. Tuberville had a highly ranked 2007 class (please don't rebut with how many guys are not currently on the team....on signing day, it was #7). However, 2008 was ugly, especially given the fact that we
had lost so many guys from 2007. How we ended up with 2 linebackers and 2 offensive lineman in the 2008 class is bothersome. 2009 was also not off to a great start. Not bad, as it was a top 20 class, but it wasn't going to be a stellar class, for sure.
And while I don't think Tuberville was at all "scared" of Saban (again, not scared at all), we had clearly lost hold of some of Alabama. In 2007, Auburn took 7 of the top 20 Alabama recruits, Alabama had 10. But Auburn did have 5 of the top 11, to Alabama's 4.
But look at 2008 and 2009. Alabama took 24 of the top 40 players in Alabama those two years...compared to Auburn's 5 (Chizik added two more late in 2009). And it's worse at the top. Alabama took 15 of the top 20 players for those two years. Auburn had....zero. Not one player from the top 10 either of those years. That includes players like Dre Kirkpatrick, Nico Johnson, Julio Jones, Mark Baron, Courtney Upshaw, etc.
Fast forward to 2010. Both Auburn and Alabama each have 6 of the top 15 in-state players.
But here is one thing to note. One rumor of Tuberville's departure was that the BOT, in an effort to create a reason to make him resign, ordered that he make wholesale changes on offense with his assistants. The rumor is that he surprisingly agreed to this request. That's why two days later, they decided they wanted him gone anyway and offered the severance. (yes, yes, all rumors).
But the point is this. If he did, in fact, agree to this, I would say the chances of us having Malzahn under Tuberville this year were probably very, very good. Not to mention, it wouldn't have been Malzahn and the same ole gang. It would have been Malzahn and a new group. A new group with an energized recruiting outlook. A new group selling the same offense our current staff is selling.
So it's hard to say how the 8-5 record may have varied. Had we had Malzahn under Tuberville and bit better defense, we may have been 9-4. But if we didn't have the current assistants we have, maybe the offense wouldn't have been quite as effective...who knows.
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