Paramore column: Chizik deserves a fair chance

In slightly more than two months, Gene Chizik will field his first Auburn football team when the Tigers take on Louisiana Tech at Jordan-Hare Stadium. What happens from that moment until the final whistle of the Alabama game on Nov. 27 could range from pleasantly surprising to one of Auburn’s worst regular-season records in history.

Most people will agree with that assessment, for the Tigers have as many question marks entering a season as any in recent memory. What they might not agree with is this conclusion: Gene Chizik deserves an honest-to-goodness chance before anybody decides the guy can’t coach.

I know all about 5-19 at Iowa State, the 500-plus yards and 38 points his Texas defense gave up while winning the national title game. But while this is hardly the Cyclone program, neither is it the Longhorns, at least not now.

In this day and age of college football, everything begins with the quarterback position. If you’ve got one (see Georgia, 2008), you can win 10 games with average talent surrounding him. If you don’t (see LSU’s five-loss 2008), you can have talent galore and still be a disappointment. Right now, Auburn doesn’t have a quarterback. Gus Malzahn must find one when fall camp opens. If he doesn’t, all the smoke and mirrors in the world can’t keep this from being a losing season.

Obviously, that’s not the only issue on this ballclub. There is zero depth across the offensive line, very little at linebacker and the secondary. No wide receiver on the roster has proven he can be a play-maker and last year’s kicking game was suspect at best. And unfortunately for Chizik and his cohorts, there’s little they can do about that right now.

There is some help on the way in the form of true freshmen and a couple of junior college transfers. It says here wideouts DeAngelo Benton and Emory Blake will be in the rotation by the time the Tigers go to Tennessee on Oct. 3, and Eltoro Freeman and Nick Fairley have a chance to start on the other side of the ball at linebacker and defensive tackle, respectively. Auburn fans are ecstatic about quarterback Tyrik Rollison being cleared by the NCAA’s academic wing, but there should also be caution about a true freshman signal-caller in the SEC. Peyton Manning even had a difficult time with that transition and he’s only the best quarterback on the planet.

Bottom line? Chizik inherited a team that is far below Auburn’s normal standards from an athlete standpoint. He’s put together what looks like a competent staff that has had success both on the field and in recruiting. But barring total idiocy in the coaching box this fall, what transpires in 2009 is not and will not be his fault. That distinction would belong to his predecessor.

Can he pull off an upset or two? Sure, especially if someone develops under center. If they do, then Chizik will look like a genius. In a nutshell, he’s got little to lose this fall and everything to gain. But he’d better enjoy that status while he can. It won’t last long. Not at Auburn.