I've been reading Coach Chizik's book all reason, a chapter or two at a time. I plan to finish it Saturday before the Alabama game.
I just read about the 2009 season. Two things stand out in the Coach's rehashing of his first season as Auburn's coach. The first thing was the selection of Chris Todd as the starting QB. Todd and Kodi Burns had split starting duty in the 2008 season. That didn't work out well. Chizik says the team was divided in 2008. The defense played well and was pointing fingers at the ineptitude of the offense. Some of the players favored Burns while other favored Todd.
Chizik and Malzahn picked Todd as the starter. The only criterion was which QB gave the team the best chance to win. Their answer was Todd. But that wasn't all of it. They asked Burns to move to wide receiver. Kodi took it hard that wouldn't be the quarterback, but he accepted his role as the best way for the team to win, and he addressed the team and said that thought he was disappointed the team would be as one and move forward. We all know that it all worked out well. Kodi wasn't a great receiver but he was a winner and helped the team just by being on the field.
Coach Chizik & his staff first had to earn the trust of the players, which they did. I hope they still trust him now in this difficult season.
The other thing was reading about the Ole Miss game. Auburn started 5 & 0 but lost two games in a row before the Ole Miss game. The Tigers beat the Rebels when Ole Miss was no doubt favored even at Jordan-Hare. If we had lost to Ole Miss, we certainly would not have finished 8 & 5. Then there was the injury to Zac Etheredge. That was a harrowing thing. If the Ole Miss player had not remained still on top of Zac, he might have been paralyzed for life. What a miracle.
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