Auburn football: Tigers' new defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, arrives to join friend Gene Chizik

AUBURN, Ala. -- Brian VanGorder already had a pretty good job with the Atlanta Falcons. In four seasons, he had helped the Falcons reach the playoffs three times.

Few NFL observers expected him to leave.

Until Auburn football coach Gene Chizik came calling with an offer that appealed to the former college coach.

VanGorder listened.

After agreeing to take the job Monday, VanGorder was introduced Wednesday as Auburn’s new defensive coordinator.

“Very difficult decision,” VanGorder said. “We were slow and deliberate throughout the process. I just think right now, for myself, for my family, that this offers a great opportunity.”

Chizik targeted VanGorder from the start of the search process.

From there, the conversations began, although VanGorder declined to discuss the timeline of his talks with Chizik. He did say that the Falcons were aware of Auburn’s interest throughout the process.

“There was one guy I talked to,” Chizik said. “Not five, not 10. One. I was going to exhaust every avenue I could before I had to move on to guy No. 2, but I never got to that place.”

VanGorder has known Chizik for more than a decade, going back to when Chizik replaced VanGorder as Central Florida’s defensive coordinator before the 1998 season.

The two coaches never worked together, but both rose to prominence in their stints as defensive coordinators, and as Frank Broyles Award recipients in 2003 and 2004 -- first VanGorder, then Chizik won the award for the nation’s top assistant football coach -- they shared a trip on a plane together.

“We’ve been able to bounce ideas and compare this and that through the years,” VanGorder said. “It’s been a real solid, solid relationship.”

The coaches share similar defensive philosophies.

VanGorder has worked in the 4-3 formation -- the same base formation Auburn has run for the past three years under Ted Roof -- in every stop he’s made as a coach. Nothing about that will change now that he’s at Auburn.

“I’m a 4-3 guy,” VanGorder said. “Having said that, we consider (the defense to be) a base 4-3, very multiple in its makeup.”

Tasked with improving a defense that finished the season ranked 78th in the country in total yardage allowed this season, VanGorder offered little on his defensive philosophy. Throughout his career, he has directed defenses built around speed.

“We talk about effort to the football and an ability to run to the ball,” VanGorder said.

For the first time in half a decade, VanGorder will have to become a recruiter again, an opportunity he said he relishes. Auburn’s coaches can go back on the road Friday as National Signing Day approaches Feb. 1.

He has five children; three are in college now. Being a parent, he said, has given him insight into the mind of high school kids that he did not have seven or eight years ago.

And VanGorder believes he can offer something to recruits that most kids do not think about when picking a college.

“The development part of it, which is so crucial, they don’t really factor in a lot of times to their decision,” VanGorder said. “I’ll be able to really sell that particular area to a young kid.”

A few of the details surrounding VanGorder’s duties still need to be ironed out by the new defensive coordinator and his head coach. For instance, it has not been determined whether he will replace Roof also as linebackers coach.

And Chizik deflected a question about whether VanGorder’s hiring would bring more coaching staff changes by saying that those details had not been discussed, either. Those decisions will come later.

“I’m really, really looking forward to getting in, learning my way,” VanGorder said. “I certainly hope I can do everything to help the program improve.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Auburn football: Tigers' new defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, arrives to join friend Gene Chizik."