At Auburn, offense is nobody’s business.

Can somebody explain to me exactly what Gene Chizik was looking for in his offensive coordinator search?  Because whatever it was, this doesn’t sound like it.

… Not only does Loeffler have to figure out who’s who, he also needs to figure out what’s what. As in, who’s going to play quarterback and in what offensive scheme?

Because right now, even he doesn’t know.

No one does, really.

With only one year as a college coordinator, Loeffler doesn’t have a set style — a set scheme.

He’s multiple. He’s adaptable.

As a quarterbacks coach for most of his career, he’s had to learn how to teach other people’s systems — everywhere from Michigan to the NFL’s Detroit Lions to Florida and Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer.

Now at Auburn — with it being his show — he’s got plenty of talent and options to do just about anything he wants

And he’s going to explore them all.

So much so that he’s enlisting help from every coach in the offensive meeting room.

“At the end of the day, doing the job that I’m doing, it’s about the people around you,” Loeffler said. “We’ve got great coaches here. Like we said at the beginning, this isn’t my offense. This is going to be our staff’s offense and Auburn’s offense. Everyone’s going to have input and we’re going to develop this thing to do what’s best for our football team.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to come up with a plan that is best and that’s going to be established through every mind in that office.”

You think during his interview, Loeffler looked Chizik in the eye and said, “Coach, whatever we run, it won’t be my offense”?  (If he did, you hope Chizik had enough of a sense of humor to ask whose offense he would run and whether that guy would coach at Auburn for a lower salary.)

What’s weird about all this is that Chizik’s background is on defense.  You’d figure that he’d be more comfortable hiring a defensive coordinator who wouldn’t mind some input from the head guy and a coordinator for the offense to whom he could simply hand over the keys and walk away (analogous to what we think Richt does).  But BVG doesn’t strike me as a guy who needs a kibitzing head coach and if Loeffler is being allowed to wing it after only one year as a college coordinator… well, this is shaping up as an interesting year on the Plains.

13 Comments

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13 responses to “At Auburn, offense is nobody’s business.

  1. BMan

    Please let Trooper Taylor be involved so we can see wide receivers in motion jumping up and chest bumping with the tailback, or the QB towel waving to indicate changes before the snap.

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  2. travis

    So, the Seinfeld offense? Good luck with this plan, auburn.

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  3. Cojones

    By interviewing all others on the O team he may find hidden gems of offense that he never has studied with these particular athlete’s abilities. While he may not be of a set offensive plan/school due to a varied background, what’s wrong with solicitation of staff that, in the least, will be on the same page when planning for their particular talent? Can’t hurt, and if the inference is that he doesn’t know any offense, his staff will know soon enough and he will lose their confidence. On the other hand, by including all their input, he has them pulling together as if the O is their idea as well. Could be a great innovation by demonstrating he is flexible to receiving new ideas and having them pull at the yoke in unison. Who knows?

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  4. TheGambler

    Loeffler’s led Michigan & Florida to National Championships. 6 of his QB’s got drafted by the NFL, including Tom Brady. His style is situational. If the defense is playing well, play conservative, if the opposing offense is scoring a lot, open up the offense. This makes him dangerous as a Head Coach because he doesn’t come in with a single dimensional offensive philosophy.

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  5. Sanford222view

    Watching the Pro Set Spread Wishbone Dumpster Fire offense on the Plains should be interesting next season.

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  6. Comin' Down The Track

    Offense is nowhere?

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  7. 69Dawg

    I think the guy can be dangerous. If he actually schemes to take advantage of his talent instead of having to recruit talent to fit some scheme, he will be ahead of the curve. Most D minded coaches are of two camps when it comes to Offense. Erk always said he ran the triple option at GSU because he could never figure out a good way to defend it. The other side is the HC that just wants the offense to not kill the D with their turnovers. Let the D win the game (see Saban). No matter what you think of Cheatik he has won a National Championship with a full throttle O and a mediocre D.

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  8. Keese

    Can we get an over/under for how long Chizick will last at AU? I say 2

    The redneck at the airport will have the last laugh

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  9. OldDawg55

    I think it’s ill-advised to automatically drop the new OC into a dumbass category…is it just taking a biased cheap shot at Auburn? The man may have a very good offensive philosophy (dream) that he is now in a position to put into play..and it sounds like he already is using a simple leadership approach. We don’t have to denigrate other coaches to sow our football superiority..just play smarter, harder, and use our own style to beat them. I, for one, don’t think Auburn is teetering on the brink of disastor. Time will tell.

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