It’s January, and Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville is looking for a defensive coordinator.
But what else is new?
Coaching searches are nothing new for Tuberville, who has replaced eight offensive or defensive coordinators in nine seasons at Auburn. The most recent coordinator search, which produced Tony Franklin to replaced Al Borges at the reins of the offense, happened in December.
The only aberration was the 2006 offseason, the first in Tuberville’s tenure to go by without a single coaching change.
Tuberville’s current quest is for a replacement for Will Muschamp, who left AU for the same position at Texas after two seasons. The search continued this weekend in Anaheim, Calif., where Tuberville is attending an American Football Coaches Association convention.
Former Georgia Tech coordinator Jon Tenuta is the most-discussed candidate. Several other experienced coaches with defensive backgrounds are currently unemployed, including former Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Dom Capers, former Duke head coach Ted Roof and former SMU head coach Phil Bennett.
Whoever Tuberville tabs for the opening, the Tigers’ defense should be solid in 2008.
For one thing, AU is set to return eight starters from last year’s defense, which ranked sixth in scoring defense and sixth in total defense under Muschamp.
For another, Auburn’s defense has been remarkably steady under Tuberville, despite a frequently changing stable of coordinators.
The Tigers’ scoring defense has ranked 17th nationally, on average, since 1999, Tuberville’s first season on the Plains. They’ve had four defensive coordinators in that stretch: John Lovett from 1999-2001, Gene Chizik from 2002-04, David Gibbs in 2005 and Muschamp in 2006 and ’07.
Tuberville, a former defensive coordinator at Miami and Texas A&M, has been the constant, along with defensive line coaches Don Dunn and Terry Price.
The biggest worry might be in recruiting. Muschamp was a big part of the Tigers’ recruiting efforts, helping to bring in all seven of the defensive prospects who have verbally committed to Auburn.
The sooner a new coordinator is in place, the better for AU’s recruiting. But some prospects may have made personnel connections to Muschamp.
Gainesville, Ga., defensive end Keith Wells, a top AU target, told Auburnsports.com that he is reconsidering his interest in AU now that Muschamp is out of the picture. Wells told the Web site he wants to speak to Muschamp before making any decisions.
“I want to see what happened, why he resigned, where his thoughts are,” Well said. “Is he going to recruit me to Texas? Do the Auburn coaches still want me?
“I want to see what he has to say. I’m not sure exactly how much the other coaches want me at Auburn.”
Though Wells has verbally committed to Florida State, verbal commitments aren’t binding. He told Auburnsports.com he is still keeping his options open — and for now, that includes AU.
“I’m going to wait and see what happens,” he said. “That’s all I can do right now.”

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Auburn scoring defense under Tommy Tuberville

Year rank coordinator
1999 – 33rd John Lovett
2000 – 28th Lovett
2001 – 48th Lovett
2002 – 13th Gene Chizik
2003 – 9th Chizik
2004 – 1st Chizik
2005 – 6th David Gibbs
2006 – 7th Will Muschamp
2007 – 6th Muschamp

Auburn total defense under Tommy Tuberville

Year rank coordinator
1999 – 55th John Lovett
2000 – 14th Lovett
2001 – 39th Lovett
2002 – 26th Gene Chizik
2003 – 5th Chizik
2004 – 5th Chizik
2005 – 19th David Gibbs
2006 – 19th Will Muschamp
2007 – 6th Muschamp