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From the Associated Press...

 

Chizik: Auburn hired ‘right guy’

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

 

AUBURN, Ala. - Gene Chizik wanted to win titles at Iowa State but instead went 5-19 in two seasons and lost 10 consecutive games.

 

He knows the same results won’t fly at Auburn.

 

Chizik said Monday he understands the expectations as he takes over at Auburn following Tommy Tuberville’s departure. A former defensive coordinator under Tuberville, Chizik said there is only one way to quiet fans upset by his hiring.

 

“You got to win,” Chizik said during a news conference.

 

A half-dozen or so times,Chizik confidently said he was the “right guy” for the job, but he has some convincing to do. Many Auburn fans are wringing their hands at the prospect of a coach with a losing record going head-to-head against Alabama’s Nick Saban, who just ended Auburn’s six-year winning streak in the rivalry and spent much of the season ranked No. 1.

 

“Nobody’s expectation that is a fan of Auburn University is higher than mine,” Chizik said.“That sums it up. My expectations are very high. I understand that the people of this place, including myself, they want championships. That’s my expectation of myself. That’s what I take with me to sleep with every night.”

 

The results at Iowa State weren’t spectacular, yet Athletic Director Jay Jacobs said Chizik’s plan for turning around the Cyclones was part of what got him the job.

 

“He was on path there at Iowa State to turn that program around in a positive way,” Jacobs said.

 

He called Chizik a “tireless recruiter” with a solid plan to improve Auburn after the Tigers’ 5-7 mark in Tuberville’s final year, his first losing season since debuting with five victories in 1999.

 

Five victories in two years got Chizik an offer of a twoyear contract extension at Iowa State. He reportedly will receive a five-year contract worth about $2 million a year from Auburn, about double his former deal that included a $750,000 buyout.

 

Jacobs declined to provide details but said it will be heavy on incentives such as winning and graduating players.

 

Chizik, 46, said he hopes to end his coaching career at Auburn.

 

“I can assure you, you hired the right guy,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind.”

 

A former Auburn and Texas defensive coordinator, Chizik was hired over the weekend to replace Tuberville, who officially resigned but received the same $5.08 million contract buyout he was due had he been fired.

 

That set off a whirlwind search that included at least eight interviews.

 

Among the most high profile was Buffalo’s Turner Gill, who would have been the second black head football coach in the SEC after the now-departed Sylvester Croom of Mississippi State.

 

Former Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley railed over the hiring of Chizik, saying Gill’sresume was clearly better than Chizik’s and that he believed racism played a factor. Gill led once-moribund Buffalo to a Mid-American Conference Conference title.

 

“I just can’t believe they picked this guy over Turner Gill. I’m just in shock,” Barkley said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “I believe race had a factor. Of course I do. First of all, you can’t compare these two, their records. That’s not even close to being fair.”

 

Asked about Barkley’s similar earlier comments to ESPN, Jacobs said: “Well, my reaction is I was picking the best fit for Auburn.”

 

Chizik was defensive coordinator under Tuberville during the Tigers’ perfect season in 2004, and he was co-defensive coordinator on a national championship team at Texas the following year.

 

Several of his former Auburn players were on hand at the news conference, including NFL defensive back Carlos Rogers. Rogers said Chizik is “like a father to me.”

 

“With his passion for the game and his commitment to football and his job, I thought he was the best guy,” he said.

 

Chizik’s first orders of business are hiring a staff and trying to solidify the recruiting class. Some previous recruits have withdrawn their pledges, and Saban pulled in the nation’s top recruiting class last season and grabbed a number of the state’s top prospects.

 

That made the ability to bring in talent a top priority for Auburn in making the hire.

 

“There’s not one more important thing than that, when you talk about winning than me being involved in recruiting,” Chizik said. “That’s who I am.That’s what I have to be.

 

“When this [news conference] is over, I’m out of here. I’m hitting the road, and we’re getting after it. I will be the spearhead of that at all times. Whether it’s on the phone or in person, that’s happening.”

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Iowa State AD: Chizik broke word

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

 

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard said Gene Chizik assured him twice last week that he wouldn’t dump the Cyclones for Auburn.

 

That’s just one of the many reasons Chizik’s departure was such a kick in the gut for Iowa State - which once again finds itself trying to pick its football program off the ground.

 

An emotional Pollard addressed the media Monday for the first time since confirming that Chizik was leaving to coach the Tigers, despite a 5-19 record in two years with the Cyclones.

 

Pollard said that Iowa State’s fans, staff and players “deserved better,” and even called Chizik’s character and values into question.

 

He said he had a hard time coming to terms with Chizik’s recent actions in light of what he displayed in his two years at Iowa State.

 

“He’s got to reconcile in himself what he told all these players and what he told our administration and what he’s doing now. And if he can live with that, more power to him. I know Jamie Pollard couldn’t have done that to this place.”

 

Pollard, who was largely lauded for luring Chizik away from Texas in 2006, got choked up when he brought up the fans who had contacted him to offer their support. But he refused to address any questions about his search for Chizik’s replacement.

 

Pollard said Chizik - who had orally accepted his offer of a two-year contract extension through 2014 a week before the season finale against Kansas State on Nov. 22 - interviewed at Auburn last Thursday.

 

He said Chizik left him a voicemail Thursday night saying he wasn’t leaving for Auburn, and that Chizik reiterated his stance in a phone conversation between the two on Friday morning.

 

But Pollard said that neither he nor assistant athletic director Steve Malchow could get Chizik to return their calls or text messages Friday afternoon, leading Pollard to believe that “something had gone awry.”

 

Chizik told Pollard on Friday night that Auburn had offered him the job and that he and his wife, Jonna, were flying to Auburn on Saturday, to decide whether to accept it.

 

“I told him Friday night ‘You can go do that. You don’t maybe ever have to talk to Jamie Pollard again or think about Iowa State again. But I thought, based on what I know about you, that you couldn’t do that.’ For whatever reason, he chose to do that - and that’s his choice - and, am I mad about it, disappointed, do I feel he betrayed me? I don’t know. At this point I don’t really care, because he can’t help me win or lose another football game,” Pollard said.

 

Pollard has had meetings with Iowa State’s players since Chizik’s departure.

 

He said that several of the current players have told him they’re “100 percent” behind the school, while others are weighing their options.

 

Pollard said no players have yet told him they plan to transfer.

 

“They’re hurt, they’re disillusioned, they don’t understand. But time will heal them,” Pollard said.

 

Iowa State has seen a lot more lows than highs since it started playing football way back in the 1890s.

 

But even for a program used to heartbreak, this one stings.

 

Chizik was regarded as one of the nation’s brightest young coaches when he took over before the 2007 season. Iowa State’s fan base largely rallied aroundhis arrival, buying into the hope that Chizik could, eventually, lead the Cyclones to prominence in the Big 12.

 

Though Iowa State regressed to 2-10 this season, Pollard saw enough from Chizik to offer him an extension. In the end, it wasn’t enough.

 

Chizik never even won a road game, yet still landed a job at an upper-echelon SEC school.

 

“I give them credit for hiring a 5-19 coach,” Pollard said.

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