Auburn football: Gene Chizik leads Tigers back on track

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s not far down the road from Raymond James Stadium, site of Friday’s Outback Bowl, that the formative years of Gene Chizik’s life took place.

He grew up in Clearwater, got his first coaching gig at Seminole High in St. Petersburg, went to college up the road at the University of Florida in Gainesville and even met his wife nearby.

Now, 23 years after he began his football coaching career, the first-year Auburn coach realizes his life has come full circle.

“As I’ve said before, I just feel really blessed,” Chizik said. “And I feel blessed to be the head football coach at Auburn. Obviously, I feel blessed to be back here playing in the Outback Bowl in a Jan. 1 bowl.

“It’s as good as it gets for me personally.”

It’s been a whirlwind first year on the Plains for Chizik, who exceeded expectations after being a surprise choice to take over Auburn’s program last December.

The first public reaction to Chizik’s ascension on the Plains was a disgruntled fan voicing his displeasure to Aubrn athletic director Jay Jacobs on the airport tarmac after rumblings of Chizik’s hiring went public, but the consensus after one season is that Chizik has the program back on track.

Despite the usual attrition that comes with a coaching change and being saddled with a low number of scholarship players, Chizik’s team won seven games this year, two more than last year and enough to shed the stigma of his 5-19 record in two years at Iowa State.

“That’s how it is when you have a coaching change,” Auburn defensive end Antonio Coleman said. “Some people are not going to be happy, and some people are going to be happy. I think from the time he stepped on the Plains until now, he’s won everybody over, the Auburn family.”

Bumps along the way

There were bumps along the way. Running back Eric Smith’s arrest on third-degree assault charges in August was a black eye for the program, although Chizik reacted swiftly, suspending the running back immediately before allowing him to return to the team.

Despite a 5-0 start, the Tigers suffered a midseason swoon, with three straight October losses raising questions of whether they would repeat last year’s downward spiral.

But it never happened. Auburn bounced back to earn an invitation to a New Year’s Bowl game for the first time since 2007. Chizik’s seven wins are more than Ralph “Shug” Jordan, Pat Dye and Tommy Tuberville had in their first year on the Plains.

Chizik also became the only first-year Tigers coach to lead Auburn to a bowl game. Terry Bowden’s undefeated crew in 1992 was ineligible for postseason play.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” senior tight end Tommy Trott said. “We just kept our heads up. We kept fighting. The coaching staff, I can’t say enough about them.”

While most of the attention has been on the field, Chizik’s biggest strides have come off of it. Jacobs sought a coach who would make Auburn a major player on the national recruiting scene after the latter years of Tuberville’s tenure produced several mediocre classes.

So far, Chizik has done just that. After hiring a staff full of highly-regarded recruiters, the Tigers raised Auburn’s profile through a series of publicity stunts in the spring, some (the “Tiger Prowl” limousine tour of the state) more successful than others (the “Big Cat Weekend”).

Regardless, recruits have taken notice. Auburn has the No. 7-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to Rivals.com, a group highlighted by five-star recruit Michael Dyer, one of the nation’s top high school running backs.

Through it all, Chizik has maintained a level head, knowing there’s plenty of work to be done. Nevertheless, he thinks things have gone according to plan.

“I’m satisfied with the fact of us working toward building a foundation for what we know is going to be great here,” Chizik said. “I don’t think there’s any question in my mind that we’ve done that. We have a chance for eight wins in our first year, but, more importantly, we have set down a foundation for a very, very bright future here.”