Heath Evans's Take

[AUChizad]

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2012/11/post_10.html#incart_river

Former Auburn fullback Heath Evans rips the state of the program
Kevin Scarbinsky
on November 09, 2012 at 3:12 PM

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - When Heath Evans talks, Auburn fans, players, coaches and administrators, all the way up to President Jay Gogue, should listen.

The former Auburn fullback had a lot to say Friday morning about his old school on the Smashmouth Radio Network on ESPN 973 The Zone in Birmingham.

None of it reflected well on the current players and coaches.

Evans is retired after playing 10 years for the Seahawks, Dolphins, Patriots and Saints in the NFL and now works as an analyst on the NFL Network. Before winning the SEC West at Auburn in 2000, he played on back-to-back losing teams in 1998, Terry Bowden’s last season, and 1999, Tommy Tuberville’s first year, “but guess what?” Evans said. “We lost a certain way.

“We lost with pride and integrity. We lost in a way that you couldn’t find a player on that field that ever quit. We lost in a way that also allowed us to come back and beat the tar out of Georgia when we had lost five or six games already. They were third in the country. We held our own against some of the better Alabama teams ever that had Shaun Alexander.”

Actually, the 1999 Auburn team was 4-5 when it beat No. 14 Georgia 38-21 in Athens. That team also took a 14-6 halftime lead on No. 8 Alabama, the eventual SEC champion, before losing 28-17.

This Auburn team, Gene Chizik’s fourth, is 2-7 heading into Saturday’s game against No. 5 Georgia. Evans said he saw this collapse coming while he worked out in Auburn during the 2011 NFL lockout. That was the off-season after the Tigers won the BCS championship.

“I saw this coming and nobody wanted to believe me,” Evans said. “It was a scary off-season for me, that off-season of 2011, because I do, I bleed orange and blue. I love that school. I love those kids, and I love what an Auburn man is supposed to stand for. It’s hard to watch (Auburn) football now on a Saturday afternoon.”

What did Evans see during his workouts? What was and is missing from the Auburn program?

“Discipline, structure, accountability, and most importantly, mental and physical toughness,” he said. “It’s non-existent. It’s absolutely pathetic, and I know those are harsh words, but see, the thing about mental and physical toughness is, they’re created. They really are. I can show you the man that looks the biggest and the toughest, and most likely, I can put him in some circumstances where he’d crumble. Great coaches know how to make great men, and they’re built. You don’t come out of the womb with great character, great discipline, great emotional and physical fortitude. Those things are created in you by great men. …

“Do you have to do it the Nick Saban way? No, but there has to be instant accountability for every breath you take.”

Evans echoed the sentiments of a lot of Auburn supporters about AD Jay Jacobs and head coach Gene Chizik. If you took a poll of the fan base, both Jacobs and Chizik likely would be out, and the vote probably wouldn’t be close.

“They’re great people,” he said. “I love them both. Jay and Gene have been amazing to me, but it’s no different than when I was putting on a helmet for Auburn or putting on a helmet for one of the team I played for in the NFL. You’ve gotta perform. Gene knows it. Jay knows it. This is a business we’re all in. … The world we live in, it’s what have you done for me lately.

“The one thing that’s great about Auburn and Alabama fans, they know their football. They’re not dumb fans. They can look on the field for the most part and say, ‘Wow. There’s just mental mistakes all over the place. What’s going on here?’

“I’ve had Auburn fans, especially over the last two years, say, ‘What’s going on? I’ve never seen Auburn players do the things that we’re doing now.’ “

Evans was especially harsh in discussing the Auburn quarterbacks.

“My thought is Auburn’s future quarterback is not on that roster right now,” he said. “If I was the head coach taking over this week, that’s what I’d tell them. I’d sign their transfer letter, let them go anywhere without having to sit out. If they wanted to stay and compete, they’d actually show me something about themselves that I didn’t think existed, and I’d probably be a little bit excited about them.

“I love looking into the eyes of quarterbacks. ...There’s just something about a quarterback’s eyes. I don’t like any of the quarterbacks’ eyes at Auburn right now.”

On the failure of the Auburn coaches to hold the players accountable, Evans said, “It’s not good for these kids’ character. It’s not good for them as future fathers, not good for them as future businessmen to take it easy on them. This world we live in is a tough, demanding world so we can lovingly put a lot of pressure on these kids. … I just don’t think that’s being done. I think these kids are being coddled and babied, and it’s the opposite of what these kids need.”

Evans also was asked about the recent news that Auburn has hired a security firm to monitor players that live off-campus and make sure they make curfew.

“It’s humiliating,” he said. “It tells me we have a bunch of Dez Bryants on our team, and it’s a joke. Ask Nick Saban if he’s doing that. If you don’t have mentally tough and physically tough players, you’re going to lose. Well guess what? Mentally and physically tough players, they’ll make their curfew. Mentally and physically tough players, they’ll show up to practice on time. Mentally and physically tough players, they’re going to be mentally and physically prepared to play every single Saturday. ...

“That’s the (New England) Patriot way, and I believe in it. Look across the state, Auburn fans. The Patriot way can be done in college football with grand success. Nick Saban, if he was really getting truthful in his heart of hearts, he’d say there are a lot of coaches that could implement this very same way and have close to this very same success if they were willing to just toe the line when it comes to discipline and structure.”

[Godfather]

I Heath Evans

[Townhallsavoy]

Oh sure!  Delete ole Townhall's thread even though it was 15 seconds earlier than this one! 

Damn mods giving each other thread-reach arounds....

[Tiger Wench]

I nearly cried.  FINALLY.  FINALLY.

Thank you, Heath.  Esp for this:

“Do you have to do it the Nick Saban way? No, but there has to be instant accountability for every breath you take.”

No BMFP.

[djsimp]

FUCK ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Heath Evans. I swear, every fiber of what he said is like it was every thought
and every breath that has been released from EVERY fucking cell of my body when concerning Auburn football. I wish he was our coach.

[AUownsU]

His words are almost as awesome as his trucking ability as college RB. Would have loved to see Heath hang around for his senior season. You know his ass wouldn't have let that '01 team tank at the end of the year.

Since my mind is wondering, I was wanting to get some thoughts on Jimbo and FSU last night? While I think he is a damn fine coach and we could certainly do a hell of alot worse as our President has reminded us, his O reminded me a lot of Buster B's. As in 0 ability to establish a dominate run game. Anyone else get that feeling?

[AUownsU]

The main reason I ask is because of what this guy is Tweeting. I don't know if his source is on this time but hes been alot more credible than not.

Scott Reaves‏@ScottR334

 After speaking to those in the know...as of today J. Fisher is the leading candidate to be named the head coach at #Auburn after Iron Bowl
 

Scott Reaves‏@ScottR334

 Things are changing several times daily when it comes to the #Auburn coaching search but all signs point to Jimbo Fisher
 
Scott Reaves‏@ScottR334

 Example of how things change: Jacobs was on pace to be jobless last week now he remains the AD. Support from Gouge and others
 


 

[Tiger Wench]

The main reason I ask is because of what this guy is Tweeting. I don't know if his source is on this time but hes been alot more credible than not.

Scott Reaves‏@ScottR334

 After speaking to those in the know...as of today J. Fisher is the leading candidate to be named the head coach at #Auburn after Iron Bowl

Bullshit.  Not happening. #personalskreets

[Townhallsavoy]

Bullshit.  Not happening. #personalskreets

Don't pull a Prowler on us.

[The Prowler]

Jimbo ain't coming, like TW stated about two or three weeks ago. His agent is floating his name out there to get more money from FSU.

[Pell City Tiger]

Jimbo ain't coming, like TW stated about two or three weeks ago. His agent is floating his name out there to get more money from FSU.

FSU is fucking broke ... roughly $20 million in the red broke.

[jmar]

Jimbo ain't coming, like TW stated about two or three weeks ago. His agent is floating his name out there to get more money from FSU.

Jimbo is not the kind of guy Evans is talking about at Auburn. I want to win and thought it possible to do it sooner with Petrino but Auburn has bottomed out and a Jim Leavitt is probably as good as it gets at reinstituting structure and building a program back up. Gruden has high praise for Leavitt, a friend... enough to tout him for the ASU job before they chose Graham.



 

[JR4AU]

Heath confirms what I've been hearing.  Sad.   

[AUownsU]

Read this quote from Heath..

What did Evans see during his workouts? What was and is missing from the Auburn program?

“Discipline, structure, accountability, and most importantly, mental and physical toughness,” he said. “It’s non-existent. It’s absolutely pathetic, and I know those are harsh words, but see, the thing about mental and physical toughness is, they’re created. They really are. I can show you the man that looks the biggest and the toughest, and most likely, I can put him in some circumstances where he’d crumble. Great coaches know how to make great men, and they’re built. You don’t come out of the womb with great character, great discipline, great emotional and physical fortitude. Those things are created in you by great men. …

“Do you have to do it the Nick Saban way? No, but there has to be instant accountability for every breath you take.”

and read what the Louisville beat writer has to say and tell me BMFP shouldn't be the #1 candidate for the job.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/19625175/crawford-why-post-petrino-life-is-no-picnic

Under Petrino, something like a cell phone ringing in the offensive meeting room was a major infraction. If Paul Petrino heard a phone ring in one of his meetings, there was no telling what might happen. Forget confiscation, the phone would be lucky to survive, and the player might feel lucky to survive. In the first offensive meeting under Charlie Stubbs, Kragthorpe's new offensive coordinator, a phone rang, and players sat up in their seats, cringing almost reflexively. Stubbs stopped speaking, the phone rang once more before it could be silenced, there was an expectant moment of quiet, then he continued without acknowledging it.

It was a new day

Even before that, the change was evident. The first time one position group showed up for some "voluntary" skeleton drills such as all teams run during the summer, they started to run the drills outlined on a sheet for them by the new coaches. About 15-20 minutes in, one player said to the other, "That's it." The others were confused. These were 45-minute or 1-hour drills under the predecessors. They'd gotten to the end of the list in a fraction of that time. They ran through the drills three more times, then stopped.
 
Wide receivers, accustomed to a precision attack in which coaches would literally measure out the steps that each player would run before cutting or making a move in his route, now were told, instead of how many steps, to go out seven yards and curl, or whatever the route was. The result was routes that wound up growing less precise.

He had assistants staying in the U of L football complex until 11 p.m. over the summer going over game film of teams they wouldn't play for three months.
 
Players derived a great deal of confidence from the offensive game plan. During coaches' meetings, assistants would each propose their "scoring plays" of the week, those they determined would be most likely to break for big gains or scores. When an agreement was reached, they'd tell the team in running through the script of the first 15 or 20 plays, "This is the touchdown play."
 
The staff was right so many times that players began to believe them when they told them a particular play was going to score. And the offense was so effective that players derived confidence from that. Eric Wood, a center at the time, told me for a story I did for the newspaper, "We just can't wait to see what they have planned every week. You really look forward to seeing the game plan to see what they've found to attack."
 
I remember sitting with Wood in the film room one summer, and he was operating video of Miami, explaining not only their line schemes but their pass coverages. He could barely keep still. "See that corner?" he said. "When he turns his feet in, he's going to drop off in coverage. If he's straight ahead, he's going to press-cover." On another play he laughed at a Miami blitz and said, "We're going to gash 'em."
 
They did.
 
Away from the lines, Petrino was never a warm and fuzzy presence. Players interacted largely with their position coaches. Fear was a powerful motivator. Petrino was known for violent outbursts of temper, and his criticism, while constructive, was painfully, brutally honest. And, as many players would tell you, usually on the money. He heard one local high school star was belittling the program on an official visit and kicked the player out, ending his recruitment on the spot. 

After a couple of scrapes with the law in Petrino's first month, U of L football went three seasons without any stories about its players getting into serious off-the-field trouble. When U of L went to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl, Petrino wouldn't let the players out of the hotel on New Year's Eve. "Will you guys have a party?" we asked linebacker Brandon Johnson. "Yeah," he said. "We'll have 50 parties -- two deep."
 
Nobody was leaving the rooms. Players who came to U of L with rough reputations wound up staying in line. If players had problems, coaches became a constant presence.

[djsimp]

I swear, this whole shit pile with Auburn football seems almost like a conspiracy.

[The Six]

I swear, this whole shoot pile with Auburn football seems almost like a conspiracy.

Brave New World or 1984 variety?

[RWS]

I swear, this whole shit pile with Auburn football seems almost like a conspiracy.

IT'S THAYT GOT DAMN REC AGAIN!

[djsimp]

IT'S THAYT GOT DAMN REC AGAIN!

Those bastards.

[djsimp]

Brave New World or 1984 variety?

Pick your poison. This bs just doesn't make any sense to me.

[JR4AU]

I swear, this whole shit pile with Auburn football seems almost like a conspiracy.

It's beyond me how bad this shit is.  Evans is saying what my "source" told me weeks ago.  I'm glad he's saying it publicly.  That should get the attention of any the patient people left.  Whoever the  new HC is, it's going to take him a full year to unfuck the attitudes he finds there.  It will no doubt lead to some attrition too.