I'm happy for Major also. A good guy. I met his father at a golf tournament at our course and I can see where Major got his politeness.
All I know of him is what I've seen the past few years, but that's a great impression. Watching what that squad did this year AFTER losing players like Dansby, Thomas, Torber, etc., I really thought there would be a huge drop-off at Auburn. On the contrary, I believe Auburn led the nation in scoring defense, or was certainly "up there." Obviously you can't credit all of that to the def. coordinator, but he certainly seems more than qualified to take over for Greg Robinson. No one out there is guaranteed to succeed, so I'll take my chances with Chizik as much as anyone else.
DoD, UT hired Auburn's defensive coordinator Gene Chizik today to replace departed defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who took the Syracuse head coaching job last week. Cohen could have come up with a better headline for non diehard UT fans, though . Auburn has had one of the best defenses in the country the last few years and Chizik is coming to a team where talent won't be an issue. That's the reason for the excitement. In other news, congrats to the UT mens basketball team on their victory over number 5 Oklahoma State tonight at the Erwin Center. That helps take the sting out of the loss at Aggieland last week quite a bit.
Agreed. Although, it won't be long before said grads will be posting in this thread anyway. I can see it coming.....
Happy for Major. I guess this spells the end of his radio show in Austin (or was that already over?).
the radio show's been gone for over a year. kevin dunn is still a member of "the afternoon show." major didn't have much of a personality on that show, per se, but his insight was uncanny. the dude has serious football smarts. he'll do well at syracuse. he needs that experience before returning to Texas.
Gene Chizik: EDUCATION College: University of Florida (B.S., 1985), Clemson University (M.A., 1991) PLAYING EXPERIENCE (Linebacker) University of Florida (1981) COACHING EXPERIENCE 1986-88- Seminole High School, St. Petersburg, FL (Defensive Coordinator/ Inside Linebackers) 1988-89- Clemson (Graduate Assistant- Outside Linebackers) 1990-91- Middle Tennessee State (Defensive Ends) 1992-97- Stephen F. Austin (Linebackers (1992-94), Secondary (1995-1997), Defensive Coordinator (1996-97) 1998-01- Central Florida (Defensive Coordinator (1998-01), Secondary (1999-01), Inside Linebackers (1998) 2002- Auburn (Defensive Coordinator/Secondary) BOWL EXPERIENCE Player- 1981 Peach Bowl Coach- 1988 Citrus Bowl, 1989 Gator Bowl, 2003 Capital One Bowl, 2003 Music City MISCELLANEOUS Notable: Guided Auburn to a number five national ranking in total defense, a number seven ranking in rushing defense and ninth-place ranking in scoring defense in 2003. Led Auburn to a number 13 national ranking in scoring defense in 2002. Turned around a UCF defense that ranked 81st the year before his arrival, to a number 16 national ranking in total defense in 2001. http://www.auburntigers.com/football/page.cfm?doc_id=167
Ah, it started after I moved from Austin, but I caught it when I was in town several times. And yea, Major came off as a really smart football guy, even if he was a little soft-spoken. Plus the novelty was kindof neat, so soon after he was a player. I do hope he makes his way back to Austin sometime as a real coach, he couldn't stay a "graduate assistant" forever.
I didn't realize this until I saw Chizik's resume posted above, but his wife was my fourth grade teacher(Very hot, by the way). Chizik's not too common a name, but I didn't think it was the same one until I saw SFA on his resume.
