Tommy Tuberville is a class guy.  I covered him at both Ole Miss and Auburn and he has always been easy to talk to and very accommodating with both himself and his staff.  I like Tommy a lot personally and think he is one of the better coaches in the very tough SEC.

Yesterday, you saw what may be the last desperate act of a man who may have dreamed too big.

In an effort to recruit more athletic offensive players to Auburn, Tuberville decided it was time to whip out the spread.  All across the country, the spread allows quarterbacks to fling and receivers to get big time opportunities.  In a big time SEC program, that means exposure and the opportunity to play on Sunday.  As good as Auburn is on defense, their offense has lagged behind most years.  The spread would be an opportunity to attract recruits to Auburn. Considering the competition is now Nick Saban, arguably on of college football's best recruiters, Tuberville needed to pull out all the whistles and bells to stem the tide of recruits heading toward Tuscaloosa.

Tuberville decided to hire Tony Franklin, who installed the spread at Troy State and had a great deal of success with it.  But in doing so, Tuberville didn't have the horses.  And if you don't have athletes capable of running the spread, you are not going to score.  Even against Vanderbilt.

After the Tigers lost to Vandy last weekend, Tuberville decided that "the offense was not making progress", which is code for "oh my God, what have I done!?"  Tuberville needed a sacrificial lamb to satisfy the villagers with pitchforks and torches, led most likely by trustee and noted conniver Bobby Lowder.  Lowder is involved in every aspect of Auburn athletics and if he's not happy, you're miserable.  Tommy Tuberville was miserable and did the only thing he could to keep himself employed: He drove the bus right over Tony Franklin.

Now that Franklin is gone, Tuberville says he will get involved with the offense.  A defensive coach by trade, this is new ground for Tubs.  The big question is has the horse left the barn and gone too far.

Tommy Tuberville is a solid coach and to survive as long as he has at Auburn and the SEC has been admirable. But you kind of wonder has the damage been done and if given a similar opportunity at another school (Clemson perhaps), would he bolt the Plains?  And who will want to work for him seeing as how he's had several coordinators in the last few years, some moving on to bigger things (Bobby Petrino, Gene Chisik, Will Muschamp) and some just being fired (Al Borges, Franklin.) 

Auburn still has time to get it together this season.  The Tigers have gone to a bowl game in 8 of 9 of Tuberville's seasons at the school, which is a terrific accomplishment.  But there are some that feel that he's never gotten his program over the hump and the embarrassment of yesterday indicates a program that's about to go into regression.

One thing about Tommy Tuberville: Don't bet against him.  Most of the time, he's happy to prove you wrong.