Doug Gillett has some career advice for Tommy Tuberville, but I believe Tubs should take a job other than the head coaching post at Iowa State (although I happily welcome our Cyclone brethren to the Auburn-hating club!).
As we began hashing out in a recent comment thread, I believe Coach Tuberville should be the next defensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Whoa! Put your shoes back on . . . this ain’t Baghdad and you wouldn’t hit me, anyway, since I’m just a disembodied entity who lives inside your computer. Here are my reasons for believing this would be a good idea:
1. He has experience. Coach Tuberville has been a Division I-A defensive coordinator, enjoying success in that position at Miami (Florida) and Texas A&M when those teams were good. He has spent the last 14 seasons coaching in the Southeastern Conference and is familiar with every coach in the league, including Gene Chizik. What better resume could there be?
2. Hiring guys with ties to Auburn has worked out well before. The level of cross-pollination between the Classic City and the Loveliest Village over the years has been pretty remarkable. Georgia’s winningest head coach, Vince Dooley, went to Auburn and coached there. Georgia’s greatest defensive coordinator, Erk Russell, went to Auburn and coached there. Two of Mark Richt’s best assistants, Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels, went to Auburn and coached there. Joel Eaves, the athletic director who revived a moribund Georgia program, came to Athens from Auburn. I mean, I hate Auburn and all, but, when a guy from Auburn has the good sense to cross the line and come over to the Georgia side of the rivalry, he’s O.K. by me and he’s a pretty good bet to work out in the long run.
3. Coach Tuberville might have a little extra added incentive to want to beat Auburn. On the list of attributes I look for in a member of the Bulldog coaching staff, a burning desire to pummel the Plainsmen isn’t at the very top, but it’s in the top five.
4. Coach Tuberville’s Tiger teams went 3-1 against the Gators between 2001 and 2007. Remember that list of attributes I look for in a member of the Bulldog coaching staff? The ability to beat Florida is in the top three.
He also recruits well, brings the "riverboat gambler" mentality that might reawaken the dormant spirit of Dark Richt, and probably would work well with Mark Richt after the two of them visited the troops together earlier this year.
This idea sounds like a winner to me. If we’re going to have as our defensive coordinator a guy who was a graduate assistant for the Hurricanes in 1986, it should be Tommy Tuberville rather than Willie Martinez. What do you think?
Go ‘Dawgs!