At the crucial point in the season Chizik pulls a “no quarterback” read “no leader” déjà vu as he jerks his starting quarterback at halftime after only four and a half games. He repeats his identical error from the preceding season and makes certain he doesn’t really have a quarterback. Young wide receiver Sammie Coates identifies unknowingly the real problem, “they [the coaches–Chizik] really didn’t want to win deep down.” The coach’s chaotic decisions reveal how he unconsciously undermined his team to the point of near mutiny and in the end micromanaged himself out of a job. Others including his defensive coordinator and a freshman quarterback speak volumes about Chizik’s unrecognized retreat. Yet the head coach has much to teach about the secret pressure of success.
From ‘All In to All Out’
As college football prepares to begin its bowl season, a major player on the scholastic gridiron stunned its faithful fans by sabotaging its long-held tradition of success. The performance of the 2012 Auburn University football team represented an unprecedented collapse of historic proportions. No other former national champion has fallen so far so fast. Two short years after winning it all, Auburn posted the worst record ever for a former champion. The team lost nine of its 12 games.
@2023 Andrew G. Hodges
