Iowa State coach Gene Chizik has been hired as the next football coach at Auburn, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said in a statement.
"Gene [Chizik] confirmed for me today that he is accepting the head coaching position at Auburn," Pollard said. "I'm disappointed for our Iowa State fans and student-athletes that he has chosen to leave our program after only two seasons.
"I understand that it [Auburn] is a dream job for him, but the timing and the way it played out has been hurtful and disappointing. Although this is a significant set back, we will get through the challenge because the Iowa State University athletics program is far greater than one person."
A former Auburn defensive coordinator, Chizik will succeed Tommy Tuberville, who resigned following 10 seasons. The hiring was first reported by several media outlets, including AuburnUndercover.com, the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register.
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs has not confirmed the hiring.
"I think that if everything continues to go well in the next few days, we'll have the process narrowed down pretty well," Jacobs told reporters after landing in Auburn on a university jet. "We'll just go from there."
Asked whether he had hired Chizik, Jacobs said: "We're just still working through the deal."
Jacobs was on the plane with university president Jay Gogue and other athletic department officials, reportedly returning from a trip to Memphis, where Chizik's agent, Jimmy Sexton, is based. A couple of dozen fans greeted the plane, and some of them heckled the Auburn officials for apparently choosing a coach with a losing record.
An Auburn spokesman said no announcement was scheduled, and an Iowa State spokesman also said he couldn't confirm the reports. Sexton declined to comment. Pollard was out of town and unavailable for comment, spokesman Steve Malchow said.
Chizik made $1.05 million in base salary and guaranteed pay last season under a six-year deal and would owe Iowa State $750,000 if he takes the Auburn job.
Auburn was paying Tuberville an average of $3.3 million a year and agreed to give him $5.1 million to buy out his contract despite calling his departure a resignation. He stepped down after a 5-7 season and the Tigers' first loss to rival Alabama in seven years, a 36-0 rout that was the final blow for a team that was predicted to win the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Chizik is 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State after stints running the defenses at Auburn and Texas. He coached the nation's top scoring defense in 2004 in his third and final season with the Tigers. That defense allowed just 11 points a game, and Auburn went undefeated.
Pollard had acknowledged on Friday in a statement that he was aware Chizik had met with Auburn officials and was a serious candidate for the job.
Before coming to Iowa State to replace Dan McCarney, Chizik was one of the hottest defensive coordinators in the country. He led teams at Auburn and Texas to a 29-game winning streak in more than two seasons before losing in 2006 to Ohio State while at Texas. He was the Frank Broyles national award winner in 2004 and served as the coordinator on Texas' 2005 national championship team.
But he's gone just 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State -- including a 2-10 mark in 2008. The Cyclones went winless in Big 12 play this season, and their win total has dipped in each of the past three seasons.
The team's defense regressed in every major statistical category this season. The Cyclones worsened from 65th to 111th nationally in total defense, 93rd to 110th in scoring defense, 44th to 95th in rushing defense and 91st to 115th in total defense.
Their struggles were particularly apparent in the Big 12, which has become one of the nation's highest-scoring conferences in the past several seasons. The Cyclones allowed at least 28 points and at least 422 yards of total offense in every conference game this season. Iowa State also allowed 28 points in 14 of 16 conference games under Chizik.
Iowa State currently has a 10-game losing streak, which ranks tied for the second-longest in FBS football with SMU. Washington has the longest at 14 games.
But the Iowa State program has traditionally struggled in the latter stages of the Big Eight and Big 12 conferences. The Cyclones had 17 non-winning seasons in a 19-year period before McCarney took them to five bowl games during a span of six season from 2000-05. McCarney was let go after a 4-8 record in 2006.
Iowa State has never notched an outright conference championship in the 117-season history of the program. The Cyclones shared Missouri Valley Championship titles as co-champions in 1911 and 1912.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3767115
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LOL @ Auburn. Wowzers.
"Gene [Chizik] confirmed for me today that he is accepting the head coaching position at Auburn," Pollard said. "I'm disappointed for our Iowa State fans and student-athletes that he has chosen to leave our program after only two seasons.
"I understand that it [Auburn] is a dream job for him, but the timing and the way it played out has been hurtful and disappointing. Although this is a significant set back, we will get through the challenge because the Iowa State University athletics program is far greater than one person."
A former Auburn defensive coordinator, Chizik will succeed Tommy Tuberville, who resigned following 10 seasons. The hiring was first reported by several media outlets, including AuburnUndercover.com, the Birmingham News and the Mobile Press-Register.
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs has not confirmed the hiring.
"I think that if everything continues to go well in the next few days, we'll have the process narrowed down pretty well," Jacobs told reporters after landing in Auburn on a university jet. "We'll just go from there."
Asked whether he had hired Chizik, Jacobs said: "We're just still working through the deal."
Jacobs was on the plane with university president Jay Gogue and other athletic department officials, reportedly returning from a trip to Memphis, where Chizik's agent, Jimmy Sexton, is based. A couple of dozen fans greeted the plane, and some of them heckled the Auburn officials for apparently choosing a coach with a losing record.
An Auburn spokesman said no announcement was scheduled, and an Iowa State spokesman also said he couldn't confirm the reports. Sexton declined to comment. Pollard was out of town and unavailable for comment, spokesman Steve Malchow said.
Chizik made $1.05 million in base salary and guaranteed pay last season under a six-year deal and would owe Iowa State $750,000 if he takes the Auburn job.
Auburn was paying Tuberville an average of $3.3 million a year and agreed to give him $5.1 million to buy out his contract despite calling his departure a resignation. He stepped down after a 5-7 season and the Tigers' first loss to rival Alabama in seven years, a 36-0 rout that was the final blow for a team that was predicted to win the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Chizik is 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State after stints running the defenses at Auburn and Texas. He coached the nation's top scoring defense in 2004 in his third and final season with the Tigers. That defense allowed just 11 points a game, and Auburn went undefeated.
Pollard had acknowledged on Friday in a statement that he was aware Chizik had met with Auburn officials and was a serious candidate for the job.
Before coming to Iowa State to replace Dan McCarney, Chizik was one of the hottest defensive coordinators in the country. He led teams at Auburn and Texas to a 29-game winning streak in more than two seasons before losing in 2006 to Ohio State while at Texas. He was the Frank Broyles national award winner in 2004 and served as the coordinator on Texas' 2005 national championship team.
But he's gone just 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State -- including a 2-10 mark in 2008. The Cyclones went winless in Big 12 play this season, and their win total has dipped in each of the past three seasons.
The team's defense regressed in every major statistical category this season. The Cyclones worsened from 65th to 111th nationally in total defense, 93rd to 110th in scoring defense, 44th to 95th in rushing defense and 91st to 115th in total defense.
Their struggles were particularly apparent in the Big 12, which has become one of the nation's highest-scoring conferences in the past several seasons. The Cyclones allowed at least 28 points and at least 422 yards of total offense in every conference game this season. Iowa State also allowed 28 points in 14 of 16 conference games under Chizik.
Iowa State currently has a 10-game losing streak, which ranks tied for the second-longest in FBS football with SMU. Washington has the longest at 14 games.
But the Iowa State program has traditionally struggled in the latter stages of the Big Eight and Big 12 conferences. The Cyclones had 17 non-winning seasons in a 19-year period before McCarney took them to five bowl games during a span of six season from 2000-05. McCarney was let go after a 4-8 record in 2006.
Iowa State has never notched an outright conference championship in the 117-season history of the program. The Cyclones shared Missouri Valley Championship titles as co-champions in 1911 and 1912.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3767115
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LOL @ Auburn. Wowzers.