Around the SEC: Auburn turns to the spread

The Auburn Tigers are willing to give the no-huddle, hurry up spread a shot in the Southeastern Conference to put them over the top.  (AP Photo)

By Harold McIlvain II

Auburn Tigers head coach Tommy Tuberville could be ahead of the game with the implementation of a hurry up, no-huddle offense in the Southeastern Conference.

He could be setting a revolutionary trend that puts the university atop the SEC Western Division for this year and for the future.

Or he could have a front row seat at a failed attempt at what some have questioned will work.

The switch to Tony Franklin’s offense won’t be all new, as the team used the philosophy at last year’s Chick-Fil-A bowl against Clemson to amass 423 total yards of offense, 233 from the air with 190 from the ground.

Either way, it is a bold move for a football team that has the best conference record (26-6) in the last four years and has been a traditional running back power house.

But Tuberville sees the new offensive philosophy having a big impact on his program heading toward the future, impacting what is most important:  the players.

“The one thing I do like is our players in college football, all of us, we know they come to practice every day. It’s hard. It’s physical,” Tuberville, a Camden, Ark., native said. “They get tired. And sometimes they get bored because of the things that you do.

“This offense puts a smile on their face. They have fun running it. It’s always something different, and I think it gives you the opportunity to use more than one player. You can spread it around, use the talent you have on your team.”

But the benefits do not end there.

“Plus, it helps in recruiting,” Tuberville said.  “I’ve never had 20 commitments in my life, even when I was at the University of Miami. This year we have 20 commitments, and a lot of it’s due to the offense we’ve gone to and the ability to recruit a lot more skilled players.”

Switching from a two back system to a wide open, no-huddle offense is a drastic switch, and no one has tried it to the extent Auburn will this season.

So why the drastic change in a formula that has produced a program that has been the best over the last few years?  Simply put, it can put them over the top.

“The head coach is a guy that’s got to make decisions on what you think’s best for your team,” Tuberville said. “Over the years we’ve had a good football team–just playing defense, solid kicking game, saying we’re gonna line up and run the football at you. It’s hard in this league to consistently pound and pound the ball; people were ganging up on us. Eight, nine, 10 people in the box.

“If we wanted to consistently say, okay, we’re gonna stay with winning eight, nine games, sometimes maybe win 10, I think we could have stayed with the two back offense. I also looked at recruiting. I’ve looked at the change in football. I’ve looked at quarterbacks. I think that this offense gives you an opportunity for a lot of variables to improve on.  Tony Franklin is a one direction guy. He understands this offense. He’s worked with it. He’s tweaked it. He knows how to practice it. He knows how to recruit for it. He knows how to game plan for it.”

Tuberville was looking for something that could bolster his offense, something that could add some points.  That something was a hurry up, no-huddle offense, which goes away from the Auburn tradition of running the ball.

But Tuberville assures that the team will be as tough as past teams, but will the team hold up doing it week in and week out, playing on the same level while successfully running the ball?  Even he doesn’t know that just yet.

“It’s gonna be different going into the SEC ’cause we’re gonna play teams that can really play defense,” Tuberville said. “That’s going to be a challenge for us. I think it’s also going to be a challenge for the defenses to get ready for us in a short period of time.”

So with a major program in the SEC switching to the no-huddle, is this the offense of the future for the conference?

“I think the jury’s out,” Tuberville said. “I think people are gonna watch us in terms of not just how we do this year, but how we do in recruiting. Can you recruit for this?  I think if you go back and look at it, it’s hard to find a Matt Stafford at quarterback, a true drop back guy, because high schools are getting away from that.  I think that’s what we all have to look at in terms of our football teams over the years; can we go out and find those guys?”

The team has a dynamic quarterback in Fort Smith native Kodi Burns, but he will be challenged by Texas Tech transfer Chris Todd, who played in Franklin’s offense in high school.

Tuberville considers the offense to be the future in high school football, but admits that the program will have to wait and see if it works at the collegiate level, although some are running portions of the offense.

“Florida is running a little bit it of it,” Tuberville said. “West Virginia is running it. Now Michigan is going to be running it. I think if you have some success from some of those schools, I think you’re probably going to see more and more colleges that are gonna go to it, simply because of the ability to recruit some of those players that fit more in that scheme.”

But Tuberville will know after a season’s schedule that features LSU, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia if the offense will work in the conference.  And he could be a step ahead of the game in the system’s most important factor:  recruiting the right players.

Around the SEC will take a look at a different team every Thursday and discuss its current situation heading into the football season.