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This is an opinion column.
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The Monday morning notes column looks at Auburn’s problems at quarterback, Alabama’s new Thundercat formation and Penn State’s decision to fire James Franklin.
But first, let’s take a closer look at UAB, which finally fired Trent Dilfer.
Dilfer was the worst college football coach in America. He had to go. The decision to fire him came on Saturday night after another dreadful effort on the field. All of Birmingham now begins the week in celebration after enduring the sudden collapse of its hometown team over the last 2 ½ years.
Ever faithful, ever loyal, the Monday Morning College Football Six Pack kickoffs by popping champagne bottles for UAB’s fans.
1. WAKE & TAKE
Let us not waste any more time discussing the downfall of Dilfer. We wish him good tidings in his future endeavors, but coaching college football in this modern era wasn’t his thing.
UAB will be a highly coveted job. A good coach can win and win big in Birmingham. We know this because UAB legend Bill Clark went to five consecutive bowl games with the Blazers, won multiple CUSA championships and positioned UAB for its move to the American Athletic Conference.
Clark retired suddenly before the 2023 football season. He needed surgery on back after lifting UAB out of the grave and building the program from scratch.
With Dilfer gone, it should go without saying that UAB president Ray Watts needs to fire athletics director Mark Ingram as well, but we’ll spell it out anyway just in case.
Fire.
Ingram.
Next.
Ingram, if we’re being completely honest, is probably the real reason why Clark walked away from football. We don’t need to get bogged down here by listing all of Ingram’s faults and shortcomings. The bottom line is that he will never inspire any confidence in UAB’s fans after the Dilfer mess and he can no longer raise the kind of money needed to compete in this NIL age of collegiate athletics.
UAB football needs capital investors. It’s time to get aggressive. Look at the Big Ten, which is making plans to partner with a private equity firm in order to infuse the league with more cash. UAB can make the College Football Playoff and compete for a national title. It’s not a pipe dream. Fellow AAC members Memphis and South Florida are both in the hunt for a spot in the CFP. UAB is 10-7 all-time against Memphis and 2-2 all-time against South Florida.
UAB plays Memphis on Saturday in the Battle for the Bones. South Florida comes to town on Nov.22.
Ingram shouldn’t be hiring UAB’s next coach. He had his chance. He blew it with Dilfer. What a terrible hire. UAB needs to clean house and start from scratch, and that begins by replacing Ingram as athletics director.
Does Clark want to be the new athletics director? Does Clark want to coach football again? Does Clark want to lead the search committee for a new coach? These are all questions that need to be asked this week.
2. THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF MORNING
In the meantime, opportunity knocks for UAB’s 39-year-old Alex Mortensen.
Mortensen is UAB’s offensive coordinator. He was elevated to interim coach on Sunday after the Blazers fired Dilfer.
UAB should be reaching out to Jimbo Fisher, James Franklin and Sam Pittman to judge their interest in coaching the Blazers. It’s time to go big, but I’m also not discounting Mortensen’s ability to turn UAB around immediately.
Mortensen is a great young coach. He’s smart and he is well liked. Mortensen worked with Nick Saban for years in Tuscaloosa. He should reach out to Saban for some help this week. Wouldn’t it be great to see the GOAT show up on the Southside and support his old staffer before his first game against UAB’s biggest rival?
UAB still has six games left on the schedule. Mortensen has a chance to prove himself and perhaps earn the head coaching gig this season a la Dabo Swinney at Clemson. UAB’s offense is not without talent. An upset of Memphis seems unlikely, but it’s more possible now than it was with Dilfer in charge.
UAB is a 21-point underdog to Memphis, but don’t rule out something crazy happening on Saturday. This is UAB we’re talking about. Words like “unlikely” and “shocking” are written into this team’s DNA.
UAB hits the reset button on football at a good time. Birmingham’s investors need to begin viewing its hometown team as a pro football startup. There is money to be made if you get in on the ground floor.
Birmingham has always and will forever be a cradle of college football coaching. The hometown team has huge potential.
3. RISING STAR
The coaching carousel is about to start spinning. James Franklin is out at Penn State. He was a good coach for the Nittany Lions, but not good enough. Who’s next? The job is Curt Cignetti’s if he wants it.
Cignetti is the coach at Indiana. The Hoosiers flew out to Eugene, Ore., on Saturday and upset the suddenly-way-too-cocky Ducks. Penn State loves its Italian American coaches. No doubt Joe Paterno would appreciate Cignetti, whose rise through ranks are proof of a coaching savant.
Cig’s teams play tough. That’s what Penn State needs to win big games. I’ll throw out another name, though. It wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented for Penn State to hire a coach from Vanderbilt. Vandy’s Clark Lea likely isn’t leaving his alma mater for another gig in the SEC, but it’s worth giving him a call about the new opening in the Big Ten.
4. CRASHING COMET
The Freeze Warning hit a new low at Auburn after this latest loss to Georgia.
Auburn (3-3, 0-3 in the SEC) has now lost nine games in a row to its rival, which ties Georgia’s all-time winning streak against the Tigers.
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze promised changes after this latest loss to a Top 10 team. It’s time to make a shift to the future and give freshman quarterback Deuce Knight some meaningful reps in games. Things don’t get any easier for Auburn this week. Next up: No.16 Missouri (5-1, 1-1).
We’re the midway point of the season, but trends are already well established at Auburn. Starting quarterback Jackson Arnold can’t complete passes down the field. It limits the Tigers’ offense. Look no further than the second half against Georgia. Coach Kirby Smart made the necessary adjustments. When Auburn tried to counter, Arnold badly overthrew a wide open receiver down the field.
Through six games, Jackson has completed just one pass greater than 15 yards after halftime.
5. YOUR EMAILS
E.G. writes …
I am a die hard Auburn fan, always have been and always will be. I totally agree with the title of your column, “Hugh Freeze has perfected the Art of Losing,” and this is because he is too stubborn to see that the weakest link on the offensive side of the ball is at the quarterback position.
Yes, the offensive line has had some problems, but during the Georgia game that unit played pretty well. How dare [Freeze] ask “Why can’t we have the same defensive calls we had in the second half as we had in the first half”? You can’t put this on the defense, Brother Freeze. It’s the defense that keeps us in every game, and the defense kept us in this game and gave us a chance to win. You cannot expect a defense to battle a Top 10 team like they did and then we come out of halftime and our offense runs three quick plays that last less than 30 seconds every possession and our defense is right back on the field. This was our offense the entire second half.
It has to be mentally exhausting and debilitating to play defense at Auburn, knowing no matter how great you play you are not going to get any help on the offensive side of the ball, knowing your offense is so inept that no matter how few points you allow on defense, your offense is going to score less. What happened to Auburn between the first half and the second? Many are asking. Georgia made adjustments on both offense and defense and we did nothing to counter. Our coaches don’t know the meaning of in-game adjustments.
Let’s get back to the quarterback play. I think Oklahoma exposed us to all of college football. Jackson Arnold played for Oklahoma. They knew he doesn’t handle pressure well. They knew he held on to the ball too long and took sacks. They knew he couldn’t read defenses. They knew he was not a passing quarterback.
So, they stacked up the box against us and brought pressure every single play to stop the run because they knew he would not beat them passing the ball. That’s why he was benched at Oklahoma. So Oklahoma laid the blueprint for every team that Auburn will face. Bring pressure and stop the run and you will win the game.
6. LENGTH & GIRTH MVP
This week’s Hugh Freeze Honorary Length & Girth Weekly MVP (it’s a major award) returns to a familiar name.
Alabama left tackle/quarterback/fullback/receiver Kadyn Proctor is building his Heisman campaign one week at a time. Proctor lined up in the new Thundercat Formation against Missouri and rumbled to the goal line. But why didn’t offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb give it right back to Proctor and let him score the touchdown?
Think Proctor’s Heisman campaign is a joke? Think again. Travis Hunter won the Heisman last season by playing two positions. Proctor has already played four positions through six games.
Does the big man kick field goals, too?
MAILBAG SOUND OFF
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