AUBURN, Ala. — It was November of 2007 when Ted Roof’s inglorious run as Duke’s head coach came to an end, the 6-45 record in four-plus years standing out on his résumé like a scarlet letter, fairly or unfairly branding the former standout coordinator as someone who had gotten his shot to run a program and failed.

But Roof, whose no-nonsense demeanor mirrors the defensive style of football he preaches, refused to sulk, rehabbing his tarnished image in the profession by doing what all good college coaches do — he immediately got back on the field.

“I know what we did and what we accomplished (at Duke), but at the same time the perception is what it is,” said Roof, who Gene Chizik hired in January to coordinate Auburn’s defense. “And when you pour yourself into something and need to get going again, you need to get the dust off of you. You dust off and move on.”

That's how today's story on Roof begins. Read the rest of it here.

I think Roof is an interesting character whose coaching career has had a few false starts due to circumstance. He was going to go with George O'Leary to Notre Dame after the 2001 season, but things fell through when inaccuracies emerged on O'Leary's resume. Roof landed at Duke as a defensive coordinator. A year and a half later, was the head coach of a program stuck in the mud. He went 6-45, although I can't imagine too many people would have done much better given the situation.

He said point blank that there's he's got to rehab his coaching image before anybody would take a chance on him again as a head coach, something in the future he hopes happen.

What's interesting is he and Chizik's career paths aren't too different. Both were hot-shot assistants at one point. Both got a shot at turning around programs perennially near the bottom of their conferences. It's just that Chizik parlayed a two-year stint at Iowa State into the Auburn gig. Roof couldn't do much to spin his four years at Duke.

Read the article for the full story, but here's some Roof quotes that didn't make it into the main story (we'll call them B-sides):

(On settling in to Auburn)

From a football perspective, I was certainly aware of Auburn University and Auburn University football, but from a community standpoint, I wasn't familiar with Auburn. And it just feels good here. It feels right as far as the size of the town and the pace of life.

(On why he loves coaching)

I knew I wanted to be a coach when I was in high school. There are several things, the way I see it. No. 1, you get to be around young people and help make an impact on someone's life, just like my high school coaches did with me. No. 2, it's ultra, ultra competitive and I love that. I thrive on that. I love that element of it. And the other thing about it is it's always changing. It's the grind of the season, then it's recruiting, then it's spring ball, then it's spring practice, spring recruiting, so it's always evolving and it's always changing. There are different challenges and that's something that I like about it, but the freshness of it, how it kind of revolves the process, how the year unfolds.

(On his mentor, Bill Curry, who coached him at Georgia Tech)

Well, when he was recruiting me I said, 'I want to know two questions. No. 1: will we win if I come there? And No. 2: will you help me become a football coach.' And he said, 'Yes, yes." So he stuck true to his word, but just to see his leadership style, he's a great leader. And the way he leads, with class and integrity, certainly had an impact with me.

(On coaching as an assistant at his alma mater, Georgia Tech)

It was a neat deal. There's a lot of good that can come out of coaching at your alma mater, but there's also some things that may not be so good. You're back home, you're back with the guys you played with and things of that nature. You're also part of a staff and guys calling up, 'What's going on with this?' Even though they're your friends, it's also a business and you don't want your business in the street, so there's a lot of wonderful positives. We were good. And that helps. Because you certainly don't want to be bad. Because we all have pride and take pride in what we do and want to be successful.

(On his time at Duke, where he went 6-45 in four-plus years as head coach)

We did the best we could with what we had to work with. And it was interesting, the last year there we put together probably a 280-page document of what Duke needed to be successful in football to compete with other schools it had to compete with. And we sent a guy to 22 different schools, some schools that were starting up football programs, some schools that were private schools, some schools that had great basketball programs that turned their football program, and a lot of the things that we presented to the president and the board and the AD, they're doing now. And I'm glad of that. Those coaches and those players deserve that.

(On the biggest hurdle he faced at Duke)

Well, I think the lack of institutional commitment. Yeah, I mean ... I don't have enough time to talk about all that. But like I said, you learn and you grow and I grew as a person and I grew as a coach. And like I said, the experience that that gave me has already served me well. And it's nice to be at a place that's committed to success.

(On his one-year stint as Minnesota's defensive coordinator)

I liked it. I'll tell you what: the people up there are wonderful. It was brutally cold. One day we were coming out of church, maybe a couple days before Gene calls when we got back from the bowl game and it was minus-35. And minus-35 is minus-35 any way you want to slice it. But it's amazing, because the people up there, they don't let the weather beat them. They buy the clothes necessary and they get out and stay active. Our boys were doing that. Down here where you've got neighborhood basketball courts, they've got neighborhood pick-up hockey rinks. So being exposed to a different kind of way of life was pretty neat.

(What do you do when you're not entrenched in football)

I've got twin boys that are 10. And whatever they're in to, I'm in to.

(Did your sons get into hockey?)

They actually bought a bunch of skating equipment and hockey equipment about a month before this came along. Way too much money. That stuff is expensive.

(On Auburn's returning defensive players)

It certainly helped in AC's case for him not to go out. I think it was a good decision to come back and play his senior year here. He had a decision to make. I know it was the right decision for Auburn football, but I also know it was the right decision for AC too. He needed this next year. I think it's going to be a decision that's really going to pay off for us and for him. But we've got some guys and I was real pleased with Jake Ricks and Mike Blanc's leadership this spring. I thought they did an excellent job leading. Zac Etheridge is going to be a good leader for us. We've got to get some guys back healthy, Mike McNeil and folks like that. And I was pleased this spring with what Craig Stevens did. He's an awful good football player.

(On if his defensive style will mirror that of his past defenses)

It's the same style. It's certainly got different wrinkles. To coach in the SEC, it's the best league in college football. But at the end of the day, you've still got to stand up and hit somebody in the teeth. That's what you've got to hang your hat on if you want to be successful. And it's not going to be trick 'em. It's up to your ability to strike people and be physical and be hard-nosed.