By Charles Bennett
AUBURN – There’s no arguing that Auburn coach Gene Chizik knows his football, but there’s evidence to suggest he wouldn’t make much of a promoter.
A true promoter would hype the gate for the A-Day spring game at 2 p.m. today at Jordan-Hare Stadium by labeling it an “Orange and Blue Armageddon,” or perhaps "a war where future All-SEC players will be forged from the crucible of competition."
Chizik basically says it’s just another day of spring practice, and he emphatically states that today’s game carries no more weight in player evaluation than any other practice.
“Historically, our spring game is going to be another scrimmage,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of base offense, a lot of base defense. Fundamentals of the game is really what we’re looking for here. Blocking and tackling and angles of blocks and angles of tackles. So it’s going to be more of an evaluation tool in that regard than anything else. But it would be viewed upon by us as no different than any other practice.”
So much for the “Wow” factor.
FOR MORE, READ SATURDAY'S ANNISTON STAR
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The "wow" factor is mitigated by the freshman/sophomore factor. Gene is just lowering expectations. And I think it is justified in our situation.
Coming off a National Championship, coupled with losing a lot of experienced players, the fans have to keep an open mind right now and give the coaches and team a chance to find a successful balance of talent and schemes. What is possible?
An interesting fact is how little time college kids get to practice compared to high school kids. Once you accept the limited time coaches have to teach a new system to freshmen, and how little game day experience the rest of the team has, the perspective of the problem should help temper expectations.
Old coaches used to say it's better to master six plays than to confuse the team with fifteen. Our coaches are just reminding us of where we are.
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