SZVETITZ COLUMN: What a difference a day can make

Mike Szvetitz
A View From The Lazy Boy
Published: October 9, 2008

First, let’s take you back to Sunday.

“He’s the offensive coordinator,” Tommy Tuberville said of Tony Franklin less than 24 hours after Auburn lost to Vanderbilt, 14-13.

Remember that?

Well, let’s take you back to two days ago when talking about Franklin’s spread offense.

“This is what we’re going to run,” Tuberville said. “We’re going to run it, we’re going to keep running it and we’re going to get better at it. Sometimes people will say, ‘Why don’t you go back to doing what you did?’

“Well, if you do that, then you are asking for major disaster. ... We’re not panicking ...”

That was Tuesday. Wednesday, someone pressed the button. Sound the alarms.

Franklin is gone — packed up his office in three trips, thanked some students who helped him carry books, videos and boxes, and had a clear path out of the Auburn athletic complex.

His stay was just shy of 10 months.

But what about his offense? Was it packed up in some cardboard and thrown in the back of Franklin’s Hyundai SUV, never to be seen again on the Plains?

Tuberville says no. He’s still committed to the spread. Just not the guy who brought it to him.

The whole truth may never be known, but Tuberville talked about it coming “down to production.” Or the lack thereof.

As the head coach, Tuberville felt he needed to make a change. Auburn’s offense is pretty bad.

Tuberville also said there “was no personal conflicts” between he and Franklin.

Just business.

“It hurts bad,” Tuberville said. “It’s a difficult situation, difficult thing to do in the middle of the season. My responsibility is to this football team and it always will be.”

And that’s really what it’s about: Business. The bottom line. Wins vs. losses. Tuberville’s responsibility.

And if it takes firing an offensive coordinator (or two) he’ll do it.

But why Wednesday? Why three days before the Arkansas game? Why now, when you just gave him the vote of confidence the week leading up?

What happened between the end of Tuberville’s press conference Tuesday afternoon and when he woke up Wednesday?

Something did. But what?

When did he first consider making the change?

“That’s a non-question,” Tuberville said when asked.

Well, not really.

It had to have happened sometime before Wednesday morning, right? You just don’t wake up, pour a bowl of cereal and between bites decide to fire your offensive coordinator. Especially after giving him a vote of confidence twice in the last three days.

But that’s what Tuberville did.

“I’ve come to the decision this morning that we would make this change,” Tuberville said. “It’s just, bottom line, you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to be productive.“

And Auburn’s offense hasn’t been. That’s obvious. So ...

“That’s my responsibility to make sure our offense works, our defense works, we give them the best opportunity,” Tuberville said. “... We just haven’t made any steps forward and I felt like this would be the best time.“

He’s right, there never is a good time to fire someone. But in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately climate of college football, you can see why it happened.

Auburn wasn’t producing. Tuberville wasn’t happy. (Neither were the fans.) Something had to give.

Franklin’s gone.

That’s just the business.

MIKE SZVETITZ is sports editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at or 737-2513.