Patience is a virtue for Auburn

Auburn president William Walker and members of his staff, including athletic director David Housel, used a booster’s plane to secretly go to Louisville to interview Petrino after a 4-3 start. They interviewed him and were set to fire Tuberville after the season, but word of this got out.Tommy Tuberville was as good as fired after a 4-3 start in 2003.

In fact, Auburn was secretly interviewing Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino.

And then the secret got out.

Auburn president William Walker and members of his staff, including athletic director David Housel, used a booster’s plane to secretly go to Louisville to interview Petrino after a 4-3 start. They interviewed him and were set to fire Tuberville after the season, but word of this got out.

Auburn turned the corner, losing only to LSU and Georgia the rest of the way. LSU and Georgia were the two best teams in the SEC and it wasn’t even close.

They were 6-5 and 5-2 in the SEC heading into the Iron Bowl. But instead of the Iron Bowl being the beginning of the end, it was the end of the beginning. Auburn won 28-23 to cap a 7-5 season and 6-2 mark in the competitive SEC West.

After winning the Music City Bowl over Wisconsin by 14, Auburn gave Tuberville an extension. At the same time, President Walker stepped down. Two months later, on March 22nd, Dave Housel, the Athletic Director at Auburn who was involved with the talks, stepped down as well.

So lets fly forward seven months (and back to Auburn from Louisville).

Petrino nearly beat Miami (FL) for Louisville and Wisconsin, who Auburn beat in the Music City Bowl, is undefeated and on its way to a possible Big Ten Crown and Rose Bowl trip for the fourth time under Alvarez and first in five years.

So where does that leave Auburn and Tommy Tuberville, who began 2004 on the hot seat, and it was hot.

Auburn won its opener 31-0, which made me mad because I had Auburn by 37 1/2 points and they did not score in the fourth quarter. Then they dismantled Mississippi State, defending champion LSU, The Citadel, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ole Miss.

They are already 9-0 and 6-0 in the SEC. They have already clinched the SEC West title, their first since 2000. They have already moved to third in the BCS and have looked much better than Oklahoma.

So after everything that has happened, it looks like Auburn made the right move. If they can take care of Georgia on November 13th and Alabama in Tuscaloosa in the Iron Bowl, they will be 11-0. They then will take on Tennessee or possibly Georgia, two teams they would have beaten, in the SEC title game, after a bye week, on December 4th.

They may jump Oklahoma (or Oklahoma could lose) and play in the title game.

Now I don’t think that will happen, but Auburn is #3 in both human polls and the BCS. They have proven their worth and Tuberville has done a great job.

Maybe Petrino could have done better; I don’t know.

But what I do know is that Auburn made the right decision to not fire Tommy Tuberville. I think the pollsters think so too.

So maybe Florida should have waited until after the season to fire Zook. Maybe they would have righted the ship after a 4-3 start. Or maybe they did not want to avoid the fiasco that happened to Auburn.

But that fiasco turned good. It brought them a chance in November for a national title.

Patience is a virtue. Just ask Auburn.