So Long, Tuberville. It's Been Real

In the end, Saban did it (so typical).
It was to a Nick Saban squad that ended the orange-and-blue reign of one of Auburn football's most liked and respected head coaches.

The 36-0 shutout to instate hyper-rival Alabama was too much for Tubby to wince away, to deflect, dodge and leap over. He had to lay on his sword this time.
I still can't believe Tommy Tuberville is out.
He did exactly what the great ones do. Win.
But even that wasn't enough for Tubby, even went undefeated in 2004 (13-0). But Tuberville, unlike 99 of 100 other coaches (what are the odds?) got zero. Zelch. Nada.
I'll say this: Tubby was a formidable opponent, that always fielded a team worthy of respect and honor. As an LSU fan, it was a privilege to look over from the Purple and Gold sideline to see his snarling at a referee and snickering to himself with his arms folded.
He'll be missed. He never backed down from a fight or battle. If a reporter mentioned a percieved superiority of an opponent, Tubby would fire back that his team could match them power to power. He was often wrong, but you had to love the gusto.
In the end, he simply ran out of time, made to look old and out of date by the new-breed coaches such as Urban Meyer, Saban and even Les Miles who fielded huge HeMen-like teenagers who could run, catch, juggle. The old school coach got schooled.

In 10 seasons at Auburn, Tuberville compiled an 85-40 record, reaching the No. 2 national ranking at the end of the 2004 campaign.

In tribute I post this Tuberville archive from the past 2 seasons, including some highs and lows for Auburn football.

5 Reasons Why Auburn Fired Franklin

Say what you want about Tommy Tuberville and those Auburn Tigers, but complacent they aren't. How to explain the sudden firing of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin after only 6 games? There's gotta be a reason, right? Here's 5 reasons why Tubby had to do it:

THE NEW 2-LOSS STANDARD: After LSU's helter skelter championship run last season with 2 losses, it's no longer an excuse not to keep BCS goals in order. Doing the math, Auburn is still in the race, of course they need crazy help. But to close ranks and circle the wagons with 2 losses is a way of saying, "War Eagle!" If Tubby didn't act now, especially after that close win over Mississippi State, the Arkansas game would have been needlessly suspenseful (Quote me: It won't be now.)

THE CHRIS TODD FACTOR: Let's be honest, here. Aside from Tebow the SEC is not a quarterback factory. The guys that line up behind center here on a little more than middle-manager punching bags. They're not supposed to win games, just manage them. In the spread, Todd can do neither. What bites is that Todd knows the spread offense, he ran it in high school (Franklin was the offensive consultant at Todd's high school). The spread offense is not for game managers, but for real efficient, aggressive, mobile quarterbacks, in other words, those not at Auburn.

THE VANDY LOSS: Contrary to popular belief, Tuberville, while not okay with losing to them, had actually nursed his wounds after the LSU game. A loss to a top 10 program can actually help your cause late in the season when rankings get a big muddled. But the Vanderbilt loss? After being up 14-0 in the first quarter? Tuberville knows full well that he recruited better athletes than Vandy did. He knew full well that in a smashmouth, slugfest his team would win, perhaps easily. The spread offense made him a liar. Auburn's first 2 possessions they lined up like a normal offense and crisply, quickly scored two touchdowns. They went to the spread after that 2nd possession. They didn't score a single point after.

THE TIDE IS RISING Ask any Auburn fan what game is a must-win in any season and it's the Iron Bowl. Losing 3 to 4 games this season is not an option, not with a potent Alabama at the other end of the state (Auburn still must play Georgia and at West Virginia). Tuberville in the last 5 years has endured an unrewarded perfect season, a failed coup at the university and a bunch of bad calls, but one thing he can hang his hat on is his 5-year dominance of the Tide. Threaten that and the claws pretty much come out.

THE FREE KODI MOVEMENT: Quarterbacks Kodi Burns and Chris Todd have alternated during games and are still battling for the starting job. Despite Burns being way more mobile and versatile in the offense, his playing time has diminished in recent weeks. Tuberville likes Burns and looks to Florida, LSU and South Carolina (well maybe not the Gamecocks so much) as running effective dual-quarterback systems. Auburn never could master it. Tubby wondered why.