Had the chance to make a huge statement. Auburn had the opportunity to project its school as progressive..........pro-active..........open-minded........non bias......color blind........willing to promote change in Division 1 football. And in the University's search for a head football coach (to succeed Tommy Tuberville) ..... they interviewed a diversified field of applicants.
Auburn is not Buffalo...........or Washington........or Mississippi State......or Kansas State (schools who have recently hired black head coaches, but are nowhere near the top in big time college football).
Auburn.......is ....."big time"........With "big time" facilities and a huge base of die hard fans. Auburn competes year in and year out for conference championships and national rankings.
This is why it was so important for Auburn to make the right decision........the right choice.
One of the candidates was Buffalo University's Turner Gill (right).......a very good head coach (8-5 this year, and the MAC championship) who happens to be black. Another candidate was Gene Chizik..........a not so good head coach (2-10 this year)......who happens to be white.
Guess who got the job?
Auburn hired a coach with 2 years of head coaching experience........a coach who actually had a worse record this year that his first year at Iowa State. Total? 5-19...........
5 wins ........19 losses .......two years.....at a salary of $1,100,000........And Auburn hires Chizik.......at $2 million per year.......A $900,000 raise.....for being a not so good coach.
Turner Gill's base salary at Buffalo is $180,000 a year and he is signed through 2011.......
Only in America........if you're a fair-skinned white guy.
I'm sure Mr. Chizik (left) is a respectable human being with a loving family. It's not his fault.
It is the "Good Ole Boy" network that gets part of the blame....The other goes to these 5 star black recruits themselves.
Imagine an Auburn team 3 or 4 years from now had it hired Gill..........and all those black recruits had said no to Nick Saban , Urban Meyer, and Mark Richt..........and came to play for Gill and Auburn.
But..........it won't happen......Turner Gill never got the chance.......Even with a resume far superior to that of Chizik.......Auburn has wimped out..........
Why...........this is from Charles Barkley and Yahoo Sports:
Barkley said he talked with Gill and Gill was concerned he’d never be a serious candidate because his wife is white. Barkley, and a number of Gill’s peers in the coaching community, agreed, but encouraged him anyway. Apparently such marriages are still uncomfortable to university presidents, major boosters and assorted Klan members.
“He was concerned about having a white wife,” Barkley said. “It’s just very disappointing to me.”
And.....extremely disturbing .....to us too.
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