The Metrodome, Tray Blackmon and injury news

No, those three things aren't related. But they're all in the same blog post for the following reasons:

I bid farewell to the Metrodome as a baseball stadium on Thursday afternoon, watching a lackluster performance by the Twins against the Yankees. I'm hoping the Twins' new digs (Target Field) will somehow incorporate a white, Teflon roof. In the history of baseball parks, that one has to be one of the most mind-boggling designs ever. It'll still be a special place to me, though.

I did manage to catch up with former Auburn linebacker Tray Blackmon in the last few days for a story that ran in today's newspaper. Here's how it starts:

Tray Blackmon was a strange man in a foreign land playing a game he thought he knew when he took the field for his first exhibition in the Canadian Football League last month.

This was football, just not the kind he was used to. The field was bigger, more players lined up on both sides of the ball and multiple offensive backs fired off in motion prior to each snap. It was like the Arena League game on a field four times the size.

“My mind was in cartwheels, man,” Blackmon said with a laugh. “I couldn’t figure it out.”

Fast forward a month and that is no longer the case. Blackmon, who opted to leave his checkered past at Auburn in search of a fresh start and means to support his wife and four kids, is now a starter at middle linebacker for the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders.

There weren't too many extra quotes, so I'm not going to have any additional nuggets here. But I will say it seems like he's in a good situation, given the fresh start that he desperately wanted and probably needed. For those interested, Calgary's game against Winnipeg will be televised on Comcast Sports South tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. It might be worth a watch.

Also, I can't seem to go out of town without something somewhat major happening on the beat. As reported by AuburnSports.com this afternoon, wide receiver Tim Hawthorne broke a bone in his foot and will be out at least four weeks, possibly as many as eight. Auburn had high hopes this season for Hawthorne, who had the most impressive spring of any receiver. If he misses four weeks, it wouldn't overlap with two-a-days. If it's eight, that would mean he'd miss basically all of two-a-days. That's a big difference. And with foot injuries, you just can't tell how someone -- especially a receiver who has to make frequent cuts -- will be able to come back. With Hawthorne hurt, Montez Billings' academic standing in question, Harry Adams back on defense and Philip Pierre-Louis' role undefined, it's going to be a motley crew of receivers in the mix at the start of summer practice. Quindarius Carr, Terrell Zachery and Darvin Adams have never had a better opportunity to seize playing time. (Paging, DeAngelo Benton. DeAngelo Benton to the white courtesy phone, please.)

One more quick addition: I missed out on going on a Thursday tour of Auburn's new basketball arena, which is slated for completion next summer. From some of the accounts that are out there, it looks like it will be a remarkable facility. I highly suggest clicking on a few of the blogs for some video/photos/accounts of the tour, specifically here and here.

And lastly, barring any major news coming out Auburn, this will be my last post until I return from my vacation next week, when I hope to have something on the blog from my sitdown with safeties coach Tommy Thigpen. Between now and then, I plan to play at least two rounds of golf, win at least one poker game, feast on an unhealthy amount of barbecue and obsess about my fantasy baseball teams.

Vacation musings, plus Ben Tate unplugged

Greetings from comfortably cool Minnesota. I ducked out for a little vacation the rest of this week with a visit back home, hoping to recharge before the unofficial start to the football craze that begins with this month's SEC media days. That picture is of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox for those who wondering. Bunyan is a lumberjack legend from the north who I believe, after 150 years of appeals, was also recently sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator. (Note: I might be wrong on that last part).

It must have been a while since I've flown anywhere, because the airlines seem to have advanced like crazy since I last stepped on a plane (which, to be honest, was only last December). AirTran had a few technological upgrades that made the flight a little bit quicker. They have XM Radio jacks in every seat, which is a nice touch. I think everyone should experience taking off in a plane to "Runaway" by Bon Jovi. It amps things up a little.

There was also Wi-Fi on the plane, which I thought would be great. In fact, I was going to blog something from several miles in the air, but the fine folks at AirTran saw fit to charge $9.99 to use the wireless Internet for the duration of the 2 hour, 12 minute flight. Ten bucks? This is not some space-age technology. For an airline that already charged me $15 for my first checked bag, I figured they might be able to cut me some slack with something that's readily available everywhere a Panera Bread is near. Not so. So cheers to AirTran for the XM. Jeers for the ridiculously priced Wi-Fi.

ANYWAY, you don't come to this blog for pictures of mythological lumberjacks or petty observations about our nation's airlines. You hopefully come for the Auburn coverage. A few reporters had a chance to talk to running back Ben Tate last week. In fact, I wrote a story about it for Thursday's newspaper that can be found by clicking here.

Now, Tate is supremely confident in his abilities. Some would call it being cocky. I'd agree, but it's not in an obnoxious way. I like it when athletes speak truthfully about what they think they are capable of and what they expect of themselves and the team. And Tate generally doesn't pull any punches. In fact, I wonder if this is the reason tight end Tommy Trott and not Tate will represent Auburn's offense at the SEC media days. Because I can't really think of any other reason. Regardless, it's refreshing to hear someone not give a watered-down, PC answer to some of our questions.

There was a bunch of leftover stuff from nearly 18 minutes with Tate, so I figured I'd throw it up here on the blog as some B-sides. Enjoy.

• Tate appears to have a much larger role in setting up the offense between snaps, which I found an odd responsibility for a running back. But that's how Gus Malzahn's system works apparently. "I have to know fronts," Tate said. "That’s different and it also helps you out. I also have to make protection calls. I have to tell the linemen what to do. If I mess up on a call, it’s always going to be on me. It’s not really going to be a lineman’s fault. Most of the time, if I mess up we’re going to be on the same page together, so we’re all messing up together, so most of the time it still gets picked up – it just might not get picked up the right way."
  
• Malzahn's offense, as you know, likes to move fast, meaning Tate has maybe five seconds to make his call. Or at least finalize his call. "You have to have it rolling off your tongue as soon as you see it," he said. "I would say it’s probably about five seconds. But within those five seconds I might have made five calls because I was wrong on the first four. " Like I said, the man is honest, even when he's taking a dig at himself.
  
• From the sounds of it, strength and conditioning coach Kevin Yoxall, aka "Yox," has put the Tigers through a brutal summer conditioning program. Here's Tate's description of a medium day, one that's not too difficult: "I would say we come out and do maybe two 150s, eight halves, go to the weight room, power cleans, sit-ups, chain pushups. I would say a typical workout is about two hours or 2½ hours."
  
• After three years with Yox, Tate knows which days are the hard ones. On Mondays, "he's going to run you," Tate said. "(He'll) just tell you to go until you throw up." Fridays, with the weekend looming, are always bad. "Most of the time on Fridays," Tate said, "if we haven’t done real heavy legs yet we have to push the sled, come and do like heavy back squats then come back out and do something crazy like carry a 45-pound plate all across the field while lunge-walking or push the boards up the hill or push the boards while pulling a sled."


• Tate thinks Yox has worked Auburn's players a little harder this year than in past years. He's also changed some of the workouts, doing more agility drills and plyometrics, "things that's trying to make us a little faster," Tate said.


• He had an interesting take on former offensive coordinator Tony Franklin: "He’s a good man. I liked him as a coach. I honestly did because he was the kind of coach – he kept it real. I don’t want you to lie to me and say, ‘Everything’s OK. You’re playing OK,’ but then behind the scenes say, ‘Oh, I don’t know how this guy’s doing. Let’s see how this guy’s going to do.’ If I’m not getting the job done, just let me know. Don’t tell me one thing and then do something else. I like that coach Franklin was up front about it. He would come to me on the sideline and be like, ‘Ben, what are you doing? You’re a better player than that. That just sucked. You just sucked. That entire series there, you just sucked.’ I was like, ‘All right, coach.’ At least I knew."
  
• Tate said new running backs coach Curtis Luper is similar in his straight-forwardness: "I know there were times in spring practice where I played up and he was like, ‘Dang, man. That’s good. That’s good. That’s how I want to see it.’ Then there were other times where he was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, coach.’ He was like, ‘Well you have one more chance.’ I would just do something dumb again and he would point to the sidelines and be like, ‘Just go sit down.’ I’d kind of be like, ‘C’mon coach …’ and he’d say, ‘No. Just go sit down and think about what you just did.’ He’s a straight shooter and he’ll just let you know that ain’t it – that’s not what you’re supposed to be doing. Coach Malzahn is the same way."

Auburn adds associate AD, baseball assistant

There were two new hires at Auburn that were announced Tuesday:

1. Scott Carr was named Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs, and
2. Link Jarrett was added as the baseball team's Director of Player Development and recruiting coach

Carr, who spent the last eight years as an administrator for Southern Miss, replaces Nikki Borges, who moved out west with her husband Al, Auburn's former offensive coordinator who now holds that position at San Diego State. Carr most recently oversaw external affairs for the Golden Eagles as well as serving as an administrator for the baseball team. Here's a link to the school's full release.

Jarrett spent the last four seasons as East Carolina's hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator. He'll assist Scott Foxhall with recruiting and work with hitters along with Jeff Duncan at Auburn, working specifically with catchers defensively. Jarrett played at Florida State from 1991-94 and with the Colorado Rockies' organization from 1994-98. Here's a link to the full release on the Auburn Web site.

Tuberville coming to the big screen

Saw this story on ESPN.com and this story on SportsIllustrated.com about the "The Blind Side," the movie being made out of Michael Lewis' best selling book about former Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher.

Several coaches are playing themselves in the movie, including former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who didn't personally make an in-home visit with Oher in real life but has a chance to do so in the movie.

Other coaches in the movie are Nick Saban (who dons an purple and gold colored tie to recreate his time with LSU), Houston Nutt (Arkansas), Lou Holtz (South Carolina), Phi Fulmer (Tennessee) and Ed Orgeron (Ole Miss).

Here's a Tuberville portion in the ESPN story, which was written by Mark Schlabach:

Tuberville, who still lives in Auburn, said he didn't hesitate to wear a Tigers shirt during the film.

"I'll always be a fan," Tuberville said. "It's a job. I made it a lot longer than I thought I would. Ten years in the SEC is a long, long time."

Other than appearing in commercials for soft drinks and potato chips and a grocery store chain while at Auburn, Tuberville's acting experience was limited.

Tuberville couldn't help but take a little dig at Saban too:

Overall, Tuberville said his first Hollywood acting role was rewarding. He said the coaches were able to spend a lot of time together during one day of filming, when they spent nearly eight hours on set.

"I've got this acting thing down now," Tuberville said. "It was a good time. They weren't asking us to play a bad guy or anything. Of course, I'm sure Nick had a hard time doing that."

And in case you're wondering about Tuberville's acting chops, this part might alleviate your concerns:

During one of Tuberville's scenes, Hancock asked him to stop moving his hands. The director told Tuberville that people watching the film would be distracted by the movement. On the next take, the coach clasped his hands together and kept them still.

"See, you're coachable," Hancock told him. "I know that now. We'll coach you up and make you look good."

The movie, which stars Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates, Tim McGraw and a relative unknown Quinton Aaron as Oher, is set to be released Nov. 20 of this year.

Independence Day, Wikipedia and Gus Malzahn

Hey all. Hope everyone is enjoying today's 4th of July celebration, one of the better holidays of the year. There is nothing quite like celebrating American independence by watching a fireworks finale set to music written by a Russian to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon. That's always my favorite moment of the day.

Also, it brings to mind one of my favorite articles from the satirical newspaper The Onion: "Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years of American Independence." The picture alone slays me.

ANYWAY, I wrote a Gus Malzahn feature for today's paper because, well, he was the only assistant coach hanging around the complex last week. Oh, and he's also the offensive coordinator, so that's kind of important too. Here's how it starts:

AUBURN, Ala. — Offensive gurus generally aren’t without their quirks.

Steve Spurrier never passes up a chance to take a clever dig at a rival. Tony Franklin’s down-home brand of blunt honesty is at the same time his best and worst trait. And Mike Leach, for as much as his air-it-out offense has altered the Big 12 football landscape, has an unusual obsession with pirates.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s staid personality, one cut from the cloth of one of his coaching idols, Nebraska’s stoic Tom Osborne, doesn’t seem to fit the mold.

Yeah,” Malzahn said wryly. “I’m not into pirates.”

No, Malzahn, who was Gene Chizik’s first permanent coaching hire last December, is into football, particularly the up-tempo, no-huddle brand that paved the way for his quick ascension in the coaching ranks, and not much else.

“I don’t do very many things,” he said, “but what I try to do, I try to be very thorough.”

Malzahn is an interesting interview. He's very short with his answers, very concise. There's not a lot of extraneous stuff with him, which I gather is the way he operates all the time. Here's a few B-sides that didn't make it into the article or that I didn't get to elaborate much on:

• It seems that Malzahn's offense has been scoffed at at every stop of his coaching career, especially back when he was first honing the system at high schools in Arkansas. "I think that's fair to say because it was real extreme at that point," he said. "Specifically, there were very few no huddle teams at all, but somebody going fast, it was very new. It was new for officials. But it was a great advantage."

• He knows that will be the case coming back to SEC at Auburn after a tumultuous year with Houston Nutt at Arkansas, where the two clashed over offensive philosophy. I asked if people would be resistant to the offense in the tradition-bound SEC. Here's his answer: "I don't know if resistance is the right word. Maybe skepticism. Maybe people are skeptical. Not so much now but early on, probably."

• Malzahn pointed out that some of those walls have already been broken down in the SEC and around college football for that matter. Urban Meyer, for instance, has done wonders with a unique offense at Florida. I don't think Gators fans seem to mind. "It probably does (help), because they're very unique," Malzahn said. "As well, we're unique. But you kind of see college football, you kind of see it being more unique, not traditional. Each year it changes a little bit. I mean, you look at what Oklahoma did last year with the speed. They're running no huddle with a fast pace. And of course they were very successful."

• Malzahn said most of his coaching idols were from the high school ranks in Arkansas, since that's where the majority of his formative coaching years took place. But he did identify one college coach that he really admired: Nebraska's Tom Osborne. "His professionalism," Malzahn said of what impresses him the most. "Of course he was a winner. And he was different. He was different than a lot of the coaches. ... Of course, they ran the option. As far as scheme-wise, definitely (we're) a lot different. But as far as trying to model myself as a coach, as a person, as a professional, that was what I wanted to be similar too."

• Malzahn was a walk-on receiver at Arkansas for Ken Hatfield from 1984-85 but admitted he "wasn't good enough to play." Going to Arkansas, though, was something he always wanted to do. "Just growing up in the state.," he said. "That's the only school in the state and a lot of those players dream about being Razorbacks. I was just like a lot of them. So it was a chance to play there and get a shot." Malzahn transferred to Division II Henderson State, where he played and later graduated in 1990.

• Tulsa seemed to be the only time in college so far where he had free rein to run his offense as he saw fit. That's because Malzahn had a kindred spirit in Todd Graham. Graham was a high school coach in Allen, Texas, while Malzahn was at Shiloh Christian in Arkansas. "I put out a little video and he bought it and called me in 1998, '99, somewhere around that, and we started talking," Malzahn said. "I went to Springdale High School and he was at Tulsa as the defensive coordinator. I took my teams over to team camp, so we kind of developed our relationship a little further, and he said, 'Hey, when I get a head job a little later, I want you to be my coordinator.' So I said, OK, sounds good, whatever. Well, that came to truth. He was great. We had the same exact philosophy, so it was a really good situation for me."

• Malzahn on his coaching demeanor: "I would say I'm probably pretty intense. I would say I'm a perfectionist. I want it to be perfect. And I think if you demand that, you don't get very many chances to coach your guys. The time limits and the rules, you've got to take advantage when you're out there. You've got to make the most of it."

• Thought this was telling: Malzahn used to play golf quite a bit but doesn't get out too often anymore. "I'm not good enough anymore to be good, so I don't like to play," he said. That sounds like the words of a perfectionist. (Strangely, I've never been good at golf, yet I still like to play. I think that makes me a glutton for punishment.)

• Malzahn was straightforward in acknowledging depth and learning a third offense in two years would be major hurdles for Auburn this year. But he couldn't give a timetable for when things normally click in his offenses from past instances. "I think you look at the Tulsa situation, we were solid the first year and the second year it all clicked," he said. "But it's hard. Each situation is different, so it's hard to put a timetable as far as when guys can get it, because the dynamics of how many young guys have to play, how many veterans you have that understand coverages and can easily adapt a new scheme or something. So there are a lot of variables where it's hard to put a specific timetable on it where, 'Hey, we should be clicking by this time.' I think it's a work in progress, and of course the more information I get, the more I know about our guys, and the more our coaches know about our guys, the quicker we can answer that question."

• In that regard, this summer is invaluable in making progress. "Of course we put in our base offense in the spring," Malzahn said. "And the whole key is this summer on their own if they can build upon that base and have a better understanding than when we left the practice field in the spring, and they come to fall camp where it's a little more natural. That's the goal. And then you can add all the fancy stuff later."

• Malzahn wouldn't mind being a head coach someday. But that's way, way down the line. "Somewhere down the line at this level I do, but I'm not in any hurry," he said. "We've got high goals here and Coach Chizik has put together a plan and we want to see that thing out. So that's my focus."

Catching up with QB Neil Caudle

It's been quite a summer for junior Neil Caudle, who's finally in the thick of a quarterback race for the first time in his career.

As a result, he has to answer all the annoying questions from we the media about who will win the starting job come August. Does he mind?

"No," he said point blank. "It definitely beats the alternative of nobody caring what you have to say."

Caudle ran the gamut with a few reporters yesterday. Here's what he had to say:

• He's been doing some schoolwork and working out with receivers during the summer, just working on routes and timing. "This is kind of the most important time we have, because we can all get out there every day, get out there on our own and really work on things as much as we need to for as long as we need to and work on the exact things we need to do," he said. "In practice, we just run what is scripted and if we mess it up, we just go over it again, but you've got to move on and work on some other stuff."

• Caudle thinks the work is especially important considering Auburn is installing Gus Malzahn's offense. "It's really a timing offense as far as the routes go and the passing game," he said. "So it's really important this year, not just because it's a new offense, but because of the way the offense is structured."

• He said he's treating the quarterback competition as a job interview. "It's intense," he said. "You can't really take any days off and can't really take anything for granted as far as the job goes."

• He's worked sparingly with one of the prizes from Auburn's 2009 recruiting class, wide receiver DeAngelo Benton. Caudle said it's clear that Benton has good hands and knows the game well. It's just a matter of the freshman learning the routes and running them crisply.

• For those counting, there are seven scholarship quarterbacks on the roster right now -- Caudle, senior Chris Todd, junior Kodi Burns, redshirt freshman Barrett Trotter and true freshmen Tyrik Rollison, Clint Moseley and Robert Cooper. It'll be interesting how Auburn deals with having seven QBs on the practice field. "I'm not really sure," Caudle said. "We'll address that later when we get closer to two-a-days. But it's weird having I guess seven quarterbacks in the meeting room now and seven quarterbacks on the field. It gets really crowded. So there's going to have to be some system to work that out, but we're not real sure right now.

• Malzahn is Caudle's fourth offensive coordinator, joining Tony Franklin, Steve Ensmiger and Al Borges, something Caudle never envisioned when he first came to Auburn. "It's really tough," he said. "Coming in, I had it in my mind that it was going to be one offensive coordinator all the way through, and I'd get to work with him a lot. Fate hasn't worked out that way. I guess I've had something like four offensive coordinators. And it's been tough, but that's just life, especially in this business, which has a high turnover of coaches. And you've got to expect different offenses coming in and out until things start working."

• He's added about five pounds since the end of spring, hoping to add some overall strength. He's also been doing a lot of long toss to strengthen his arm. "This time is always a good time to get your arm stronger, because there is time to go out and long toss and you can really take care of your arm instead of the grind of a season or practice," he said.

• Gene Chizik has been straightforward in laying out his team rules, not leaving any gray area. Still, Caudle, like many of his teammates, was a little surprised at the dismissal of safety Christian Thompson, defensive lineman Jomarcus Savage and linebacker Marcus Jemison last week for violating team rules. "It showed that they weren't joking about these rules, and they're real serious about making Auburn have a good image and for this team coming together," he said. "The off-the-field stuff will help us on the field also. It definitely showed the whole team they are serious about it. I'm sure a lot of people were surprised, because normally that would have been just a suspension or a slap on the wrist or something. But I think that it's really an eye opener. They know that these coaches really mean what they say and will act on what they say." (Quick aside: I realize Chizik is trying to make a point with these dismissals, but I always find it funny that the players in question are always second- or third-teamers and not starters.)

• Don't know if anyone had mentioned this in the spring, but Caudle was wearing a blue, team-issued T-shirt that had the date for the Iron Bowl (11/27/09) on the right sleeve and the date of the SEC championship game (12/5/09) on the left sleeve. "Obviously two of the more important dates on the schedule," he said.

Notes and notes and notes

Had a notebook in today's paper on some miscellaneous football things. You can read the whole thing here, or you can read the Cliff's notes version right here, in bullet form!

• T'Sharvan Bell is now a safety. The 6-foot, 177-pound cornerback got moved after Christian Thompson was dismissed from the team and Aairon Savage suffered an Achilles' injury. Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen, by the way, does not expect to have Savage available this season. That's how severe the injury was.

• Two players -- linebacker Da'Shaun Barnes and defensive lineman Andre Wadley -- are taking a medical hardship this season, according to AuburnSports.com. Barnes had hip problems. Wadley had kidney issues. Both will remain on scholarship, but they will not count against the Tigers' limit of 85.

• While my request to speak to quarterback Chris Todd is pending (and quite honestly, might not happen until August), word from some of his teammates is the senior can fire the ball pretty hard when he wants to. "He’s putting some zing on that ball,” running back Ben Tate said. “I had to tell him sometimes, ‘Hey, Chris. Don’t throw the ball to me that hard. We’re just playing catch. You’re just trying to get warmed up.’ ”

• In former Tiger news, linebacker Tray Blackmon led the Calgary Stampeders with 7 tackles and a forced fumble in a 40-27 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in his Canadian Football League debut last night. "I felt like I went out and I played hard and I gave great effort," Blackmon told The Canadian Press. "I had a couple plays I wish I could have back, maybe a couple errors out there. I wish I could have maybe ran harder to a play. We'll just go back and try to work on those little things and try to get better." Also, Tray is a blogger. Here's his first blog post about the opener.

• Also of note, AuburnSports.com says Harry Adams, who moved to wide receiver in the spring, will be moving back to cornerback. Not surprising, considering the sudden lack of depth in the secondary.

Blackmon to start for CFL's Calgary Stampeders

We here at the Ledger-Enquirer are still working on getting in touch with former Auburn linebacker Tray Blackmon, but in the meantime, Blackmon makes his Canadian Football League debut tonight for the Calgary Stampeders. That's the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders for those that care.

This game preview lists Blackmon as Calgary's starting middle linebacker when it takes on the Montreal Alouettes tonight at 8.

Also, here's a team Q&A with Blackmon from back on June 4 in which he had good things to say about his star-crossed time at Auburn. Here's an excerpt:

"No matter what, I have nothing bad to say about the people at Auburn. I love them because they took really good care of me and they’re still like family to me. That’s why I say that this is just the way things were meant to be and I’m trying to seize the moment and take advantage of it."

Auburn AD Jay Jacobs: The B-sides

Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs was kind enough to sit down with the Ledger-Enquirer this week for an interview that touched on many subjects. The majority of it can be found here on our Web site, but as always, not everything made the cut.

That's where the vast expanse of the Internet comes into play. Here's what didn't make it into the regular edition of the paper. Call it the scraps. Call it the stuff that was on the cutting room floor. Or, as we like to do, call them B-sides. And if you doubt that the "leftover" material can be good, remember, at least according to Wikipedia, that Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," the Doobie Brothers' "Black Water" and Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" were all B-sides. And those are some solid songs.

So, without further adieu, the remainder of the Jacobs interview:

Auburn ranked sixth in football revenue for the 2007-08 school year, according to a recent report in Street & Smith's SportsJournal. How pleased are you with the money that's coming into the program?

"We're certainly very pleased with the Auburn people giving back to Auburn, which is a large part of that. That was actually for last year, the report was from last year. Certainly with the economic times that there are, it's far more difficult for everybody, including our fans in the Auburn family, but I certainly am proud of the job our folks are doing in Tigers Unlimited. But with the demands of winning, the expectations that each of us at Auburn have for all of our teams, and building a $90 million basketball arena, we budget wisely and conservatively and try to do things as good stewards of the athletic department. We've been able to put a little bit of money away for a time like this year, where it's level funding for all of our sports and all of our support areas, but we certainly do appreciate it. But there are demands that we've already obligated those funds to, it's going to be about a $5 million annual debt service just on the new basketball arena. So I'm certainly proud of that fact, but in order for us to continue to provide for our team so they can win academically and athletically, we have to continue to find ways to generate more and more revenue. And certainly can't do it without the folks that provide financial support to us through Tigers Unlimited. So we haven't actually seen all that money come in, because they include promise-to-gives for future times. But certainly are excited that we're up there at the top in that area and don't know exactly how the economy this year, what kind of spot it's going to put people in so they can fulfill those pledges that a lot of that report was based on."

Have you spoken with Tommy Tuberville since December?

"No, I haven't."

Is that unfortunate considering the relationship you two had when he was the head coach?

"When he came to me and said that he he didn't want to coach anymore, after getting through those couple of weeks there, I think the best thing was just to give him his space. But no, I haven't spoken to him. But he's a guy that loved Auburn and I wish nothing but the best for him and Suzanne and Tucker and Troy and Miss Olive."

When he resigned, it was announced that he would take on an ambassador role for Auburn University. Has he done so?

"I don't think so. The president offered that for him. He'd be assistant for the president. I think he had lost 15 pounds (after his departure) and he was exhausted. I think that maybe hopefully he's taken some time to make sure he's in good shape mentally, physically and spiritually as well. But I don't know if he's doing anything with Auburn at this time."

Former offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, now at Middle Tennessee, had some unflattering things to say about Auburn recently, saying that there was a great distrust between the coaches and administration and that the tension at the athletic complex was palpable. What do you think when you hear something like that?

"I wish nothing but the best for Tony. I wish nothing but the best. We certainly appreciate his time here and just hope he has nothing but successes the rest of his life. It sounds like, based on what I saw, that's he's at peace where he is and we're going to continue to do things the Auburn way. But he's a brilliant offensive mind and I wish him nothing but the best."

How much has changed in football since your playing days in the early '80s?

"The recruiting game has completely changed. And football has changed, but particularly in our Olympic sports, I know that's not what you're asking about, but when you have 10th graders making a commitment. But the reason that is is because they're so much more informed now because of the Internet, they can learn more about an institution, the good, the bad, the whole deal, so actually in some cases have more access to more information and can make a better informed decision on some of the foundational things, and so the recruiting game is completely changed. Somebody made the comment, there are two seasons, there's the fall and there's recruiting season. And people's attention to those things. It's made it more challenging, particularly for the student-athlete. There's always somebody asking them now what they're going to do and every time they respond, it ends up somewhere, being broadcast some way. So I think that's a different dynamic, but now you can only sign 25 where at one time you can sign a lot more than that. So it's highly competitive for those top 25.

What about the game itself?

"The game hasn't changed that much. I think it goes through phases, but basically in this league, you've got to be able to play defense and run the ball and mix it up on offense. That really hasn't changed very much. And that's what I like about this offense. I think they were maybe sixth or seventh in the nation in rushing. But it's a fun offense that the guys like to play in, because you never know where we're going to hit you, and that's a fun deal compared to when I played the wishbone, and we were either right, left or up the middle. There wasn't a lot of guessing."

You were teammates with Bo Jackson and Auburn's strength coach when Tracy Rocker was at the school. Were those players unique talents in a football sense?

"In 2004, with Carlos Rogers and Carnell (Williams) and Ronnie (Brown), those were those kind of guys. (Marcus) McNeill. Those were those kind of guys. And they're not only great players but great people. And there's a direct correlation between your aptitude in the classroom and your aptitude on the playing field, and you can't not be competitive in the classroom and be competitive on the football field. It'd be short-lived, today in particular, as academically challenging as it is as much as you have to learn on the football side. So those guys, Bo Jackson and Tracy Rocker and those I mentioned, and countless numbers in between, they're good, solid people, they know how to work, they have a good work ethic, and that's where this program has to get back to in a couple years is get back to those quality people and those quality athletes. But we've got a lot of great, quality athletes here; we just don't have (enough) of them. Our troops are depleted, and it's going to take a couple years, but Gene (Chizik) and his staff, they're putting a foundation back in this program, because they both see, and these other eight assistant coaches, they know what great looks like, and that's what they're building here. And it's going to take some time. And so it's a tough environment with our current guys, but I'll tell you this: you won't be more proud of how they work and how they behave themselves and compete in the classroom and on the field, but we've just got to get some more guys to help those that are currently here."

What's the status of the new $92.5 million basketball arena?

"It's on budget and right on schedule. We plan to be in there August of 2010 and open up the season there for women's and men's' basketball in the fall of 2010. It's going to be an unbelievable place for folks from Columbus, Montgomery, the Auburn area to go and watch basketball. It's going to be a unique facility, it's going to be a family atmosphere, it's going to be real tight. It's going to be one where you can sit on the concourse and order popcorn and you'll be able to continue to watch the game. There won't be any walls between the concourse and the court. It's going to be a really state-of-the-art facility, one of the best in the nation."

Is there a plan for what to do with Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum?

"Athletics operates one-third of that facility, and our plan has been now we're in our third year of our five-year plan, is to be completely out of that facility, because how we got to it was about a $30 or $40 million cost in infrastructure that needs to be done to that facility — heating and air and electrical and plumbing. That's how we got to the new basketball arena. And so I would suspect that the arena once we're out of there, and we'll be out of there in two years, once athletics is out there, there is still health and human performance, Kinesiology is still housed there along with some other support, academic areas. And as soon as those decisions are made about where they're going to go, I would suspect that Beard-Eaves is coming down. Because you still have that cost down there to continue to operate. You've got to spend some money, and it probably wouldn't warrant it to keep it."

With Auburn being so football-centric, do the other sports get overlooked?

"The ones that matter the most, which are those student-athletes, know that they're not overlooked. That's the No. 1 concern of us and all of Auburn people. And what a great group of student-athletes. We just took about 30 of them out to Richard Quick's memorial service. And if people had the opportunity to get to know, and some people do but many don't, had the opportunity to get to know our student-athletes, they'd be so impressed with them, not only as world-class athletes but just as people. Yeah, you would like more interest to be shown in all of our Olympic sports, but it certainly doesn't take away from our commitment to them or our experience that the student-athletes are having. They'll be national champions for the rest of their lives, and they'll be better citizens for having competed here, whether they won a championship or not. You wish that there was more exposure for those so that people can really see the quality of individuals and the championships, but the world we live in now, the shock effect seems to be what grabs the headlines, and sometimes whether they're accurate or inaccurate, those are the things people seem to gravitate toward."

How do you get away from it all?

"I hang out with my girls. I have three daughters, 17, 14 and 11. I don't do much of anything. I played golf one year ago. That was the last time I played golf. One time. And I'm going to play here in the next few days with some buddies of mine. It'll be a scramble. I hope. But I hang out with my girls. And recently, 4½ months ago, we stared fostering two little girls, they're 4 and 2. And that's all full-time. So I've got a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, an 11-year-old, a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old. All girls in my house. So that's what I'm doing and it's wonderful that I can take my work home or bring my home to work, because it gives me the best of both worlds. It gives me the opportunity to continue to develop my daughters, and they get the opportunity to see what great looks like when they see these exceptional student-athletes that we have here at Auburn. So they're role models for them."

You sound outnumbered in your home?

"I was outnumbered when I got married. [Laughs] But it's a blessing. And the foster thing was something that my wife and I had wanted to do for a while, and we went through the licensing last September and got a license in January and got two little girls the first week of February. And it's a ministry for us. We're just trying to stop a vicious cycle, and our goal is for these little girls to go back to their home and hopefully sooner rather than later they'll be able to do that. And then we'll try to help somebody else out. There's a verse that says, to whom much is given, much is expected. And we've been very blessed. We have three healthy daughters and an incredible wife and mom, we just felt like we needed to do a little bit more. Hadn't always felt that way. And it was a process, and now we feel like with our youngest at 11, now is the time to maybe help somebody else that is struggling in a way we can't identify with, so that's what we're doing."

Three players no longer with the football team

Rumors have been swirling for days about attrition on the Auburn football team. Some proved to be true.

Defensive end Jomarcus Savage, safety Christian Thompson and linebacker Marcus Jemison are no longer with the team and will not return, an athletic department spokesman confirmed this afternoon.

No reason was given for the players' departures. Auburn head coach Gene Chizik was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

All three players were members of Auburn's 2008 recruiting class and figured to factor into the Tigers' plans this season in backup roles.

• Thompson, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was in line for most playing time of the three. Although he played sparingly last season, he was part of a three-man crew set to back up starters Mike McNeil and Zac Etheridge. Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen was pleased with Thompson's potential this spring, singling him out as the best tackler of the group. His departure leaves Drew Cole and Mike Slade as Auburn's remaining backup safeties.

• Savage, a 6-foot-2, 287-pound lineman from Huntsville, Ala., redshirted last year after being hampered by shoulder problems during August's two-a-days. He had season-ending surgery in September to correct the problem and finished the spring as a third-string defensive tackle.

• Jemison, a safety-turned-linebacker from outside of Birmingham, broke his leg during Auburn’s first scrimmage last August and missed the season. The 6-foot-2, 199-pound redshirt freshman moved to linebacker this spring to help the Tigers add depth to the position. He too was a third-teamer.

This is the second wave of attrition since Chizik was hired last December. Four players on the 2008 roster left the team for various reasons around the new year.

Linebacker Tray Blackmon is trying to make the roster of the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders. Wide receiver Chris Slaughter left the school in early January. Two others transferred. Defensive lineman Raven Gray left for Division II Delta State and defensive back Ryan Williams, who struggled academically at Auburn, enrolled at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss.