Thursday, July 17, 2008

Shhhh…do you hear that?

It’s the sweet sound of football season, lurking just around the corner.

The Auburn football team is tentatively scheduled to start preseason practice Aug. 2—or, if you’d like to think of it another way, two weeks from Saturday.

SEC Media Days—the unofficial start of the football preseason—is even closer. Media Days start in Hoover next Wednesday; Tommy Tuberville appears on Friday, alongside head coaches Steve Spurrier of South Carolina, Rich Brooks of Kentucky and Bobby Petrino of Arkansas. And Tuberville won’t be there alone: He’ll be joined by senior center Jason Bosley and junior defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks.

I spoke to Sen’Derrick today about his trip to Birmingham, and it’s obvious he’s looking forward to it. I’ll have a story in next Wednesday’s Opelika-Auburn News about his plans for Media Days—along with a few other things to watch for—but here are a few tidbits:

--He’s looking forward to the Media Days mob scene, which always features hundreds of print and Internet reporters and an equal number of television cameras and radio microphones. But he’s not totally sure what he’ll say, especially to the off-the-wall questions that are a Media Days staple. “I’ll come up with something,” he said with a laugh. “It doesn’t have to make sense, right?”

--He’s not sure what he’ll wear to the event, which is a big decision. Media Days is an opportunity for a lot of players to show off the finer points of their wardrobes. Former Auburn safety Junior Rosegreen wore a dark purple suit to Media Days in 2004; in 2006, Marcus McNeill joked that his cream-and-orange pinstripe number was made from Tuberville’s tablecloth. But one thing’s for sure: Sen’Derrick will have to go shopping. At the moment, he doesn’t own a suit.

--He and his teammates are already excited about the opening of the 2008 season. One big difference, according to Sen’Derrick, has been the attitude in offseason workouts. In seasons past, “voluntary” weightlifting sessions didn’t have great attendance, and players often skipped makeup sessions after missing a workout or two. This offseason, Sen’Derrick says, the attendance has been almost perfect. Credit for that, I suppose, belongs to strength coach Kevin Yoxall, as well as new coordinators Tony Franklin and Paul Rhoads.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

AU coach search update

Auburn’s baseball coach search has indeed picked up steam; it’s just not moving anywhere just yet.

According to a report in the Louisville, Ky., Courier Journal, Auburn has contacted Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, but the second-year Cardinal head coach said “no thanks.”

AU officials requested permission from U of L to speak to McDonnell, but the discussions weren’t very fruitful.

“I was flattered and I appreciated the interest,” McDonnell told the Courier-Journal. “But after a few conversations and reassessing with Tom everything that’s going on here, my family and I feels like Louisville is our home. I plan to be here for some time.” (Note: “Tom” is Louisville AD Tom Jurich.)

McDonnell, who played at The Citadel, spent six seasons as an assistant at Ole Miss before taking the Louisville job in 2007. The 37-year-old coach is 88-45 in two seasons, the best mark in team history. The Cardinals made the College World Series in 2007 and qualified for an NCAA Regional in ‘08.

Attempts by the Opelika-Auburn News to contact McDonnell Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Television update

The SEC has released the early television schedule for the coming football season. And so far—mark your calendars and your DVRs!—three Auburn games have confirmed kickoff times: The Sept. 6 Southern Miss game (Raycom, formerly JP, at 11:30 Central); the Sept. 13 Mississippi State game (ESPN2, 7 p.m.); and the Oct. 23 West Virginia game (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.)

Here’s the complete list so far, courtesy of the SEC office. For some reason, all times are Eastern:

(Thu.) Aug. 28 7:00 p.m.  ESPNU Vanderbilt at Miami (Ohio)
(Thu.) Aug. 28 8:00 p.m.  ESPN N.C. State at South Carolina

(Sat.) Aug. 30 12:30 p.m.  Raycom Sports Hawaii at Florida
(Sat.) Aug. 30 5:00 p.m.  ESPN Appalachian State at LSU
(Sat.) Aug. 30 6:45 p.m.  ESPN2 Mississippi State at Louisiana Tech
(Sat.) Aug. 30 8:00 p.m.  ABC Sports Alabama vs. Clemson (Atlanta, Ga.)

(Sun.) Aug. 31 3:30 p.m.  ESPN Kentucky at Louisville

(Mon.) Sept. 1 8:00 p.m.  ESPN Tennessee at UCLA

(Thu.) Sept. 4 8:30 p.m.  ESPN South Carolina at Vanderbilt

(Sat.) Sept. 6 12:30 p.m.  Raycom Sports Southern Mississippi at Auburn
(Sat.) Sept. 6 3:30 p.m.  ABC Sports Ole Miss at Wake Forest
(Sat.) Sept. 6 8:00 p.m.  ESPN Miami at Florida

(Sat.) Sept. 13 12:30 p.m.  Raycom Sports UAB at Tennessee
(Sat.) Sept. 13 3:30 p.m.  CBS Sports Georgia at South Carolina
(Sat.) Sept. 13 3:30 p.m.  ABC Sports Arkansas at Texas
(Sat.) Sept. 13 7:00 p.m.  ESPN2 Auburn at Mississippi State

(Sat.) Sept. 20 8:13 p.m.  ABC Sports Georgia at Arizona State

(Thu.) Oct. 23 7:30 p.m.  ESPN Auburn at West Virginia

(Fri.) Nov. 28 12:30 p.m.  Raycom Sports Mississippi State at Ole Miss
(Fri.) Nov. 28 2:30 p.m.  CBS Sports LSU at Arkansas (Little Rock)

(Sat.) Dec. 6 4:00 p.m.  CBS Sports SEC Championship Game (Atlanta, Ga.)

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Out of luck

The math says the Auburn baseball team still has a shot at the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover. But surely we know better than to trust a sneaky thing like math.

In reality, Auburn’s chances of finishing in the top eight of the SEC standings are dead in the water. The Tigers’ chances of going to Hoover have been minimal ever since their SEC series loss at Alabama in the last weekend of April. They entered the final three weeks of the season needing an unrealistic 6-3 finish. At this point, they’re 3-3, thanks to a 2-1 series win at home against 11th-place Mississippi State and a 1-2 series loss at Ole Miss this weekend. This weekend’s series was plenty dramatic: Auburn had every chance to win Friday’s game but fell just short, then cruised to a Saturday win thanks to a dominating effort by Taylor Thompson, then saw its offense shut down on Sunday by Ole Miss pitchers Cody Satterwhite and Scott Bittle.

Auburn faced a tough task even with a win Saturday. With a loss, the Tigers are 11-16 in the SEC, 2.5 games out of eighth place with three games to go. Next week’s series against LSU doesn’t make things any easier: The Bayou Bengals have won nine consecutive SEC games, making them the hottest team in the league and perhaps the hottest team in the country. Even if Auburn somehow sweeps LSU, it won’t be enough. The Tigers need last-place MSU to sweep Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., need Tennessee (currently last in the SEC East) to sweep South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., and need Ole Miss to sweep Kentucky at home.

In other words, it’s not going to happen.

What does this mean for fourth-year head coach Tom Slater? The widespread assumption is that Slater needs to qualify for the SEC Tournament to keep his job. I think that’s a fair standard; AU hasn’t been to Hoover in the Slater era and hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2005, Slater’s first year. Auburn’s SEC record is the worst in the league over the four-year Slater era. Perhaps worst of all, there’s been very little improvement in the program: While some players—notably Taylor Thompson and Grant Dayton this year—have shown improvement, many have not. Throw in grade troubles—at least two of last year’s starters aren’t with this year’s team because of academic issues—and the big picture isn’t pretty.

It’s not always an easy thing to discuss someone losing their job, particularly someone as committed to the job as Tom Slater is to Auburn University. It’s tough to blame Slater for some of the team’s failings, or to believe that a different coach could lead this fairly limited team to more than 11 wins at this point in the SEC season. But it’s the nature of college athletics that coaches receive too much credit in good times and too much blame in bad times. The bad times are certainly here for Auburn baseball—they’ve been here for several years—and Slater may have to pay the price.

Auburn administrators are keeping mum on Slater’s future. But with this season all but certain to end with another disappointment, a decision could be coming soon.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

A largely unexpected Zach Kutch update

It’s possible you thought you’d never again read those words, but here it is: An update on former Auburn kicker Zach Kutch, whose departure was announced without much fanfare last month.

Kutch has transferred to Illinois State, according to this report in The Pantagraph, the newspaper in Bloomington and Normal, Ill.

According to the story, the Redbirds needed some kicking strength: ISU has attempted just one field goal longer than 40 yards over the past three seasons and tried three kickers last year.

Kutch averaged a decent, but not great, 53.2 yards on 16 kickoffs last season and didn’t record a touchback. He had two touchbacks on 14 kickoffs as a freshman in 2005, but struggled at times to keep the ball in bounds.

Illinois State, though, is willing to take a chance. The Redbirds’ head coach, the tastefully named Denver Johnson, seems optimistic.

“We evaluated him, and Zach evaluated us,” Johnson told The Pantagraph. “He knows the situation, and we both feel like it is a good move for him to come to Illinois State. He will have to come in and earn (the position), but we expect him to compete for the place-kicking job.”

Weird historical note: Linebacker Cavari Dailey and wide receiver Joe Walkins previously transferred from Auburn to Illinois State.