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With Tigers 104th in offense, Franklin fired
Auburn's experiment with the spread offense didn't even last a season, as first-year offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was abruptly fired Wednesday.
Head coach Tommy Tuberville said Wednesday he's not satisfied with progress being made on offense and felt it was best to make a change. He said he will take a larger role in working with the offense the rest of the season.
Franklin was Tuberville's fifth offensive coordinator in the last 10 years and was hired just prior to the Chick-fil-A Bowl last December. Tuberville felt the offense had become stagnant under former coordinator Al Borges and was looking to go in another direction.
Heading into the Arkansas game this Saturday, Tuberville is looking again.
Even though his background is on defense, Tuberville plans to take a more active role in the Tigers' offense the rest of the way. They've scored just five offensive touchdowns in four SEC games and are tied for last nationally with Washington State in plays that have gone for negative yardage (57).
And, really, it was a struggle from the outset this season, starting with uncertainty at quarterback. Chris Todd and Kodi Burns have both struggled with their consistency.
Following the 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt last Saturday, several players openly questioned the direction of the offense.
The next day, Tuberville tried to diffuse some of the talk out there and emphasized that it was no time to panic. He added that Franklin was his coordinator and would be the guy in charge of finding some answers to the Tigers' offensive struggles.
That all changed Wednesday afternoon when Tuberville relieved Franklin of his coaching duties.
Auburn's experiment with the spread offense didn't even last a season, as first-year offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was abruptly fired Wednesday.
Head coach Tommy Tuberville said Wednesday he's not satisfied with progress being made on offense and felt it was best to make a change. He said he will take a larger role in working with the offense the rest of the season.
Franklin was Tuberville's fifth offensive coordinator in the last 10 years and was hired just prior to the Chick-fil-A Bowl last December. Tuberville felt the offense had become stagnant under former coordinator Al Borges and was looking to go in another direction.
Heading into the Arkansas game this Saturday, Tuberville is looking again.
Even though his background is on defense, Tuberville plans to take a more active role in the Tigers' offense the rest of the way. They've scored just five offensive touchdowns in four SEC games and are tied for last nationally with Washington State in plays that have gone for negative yardage (57).
And, really, it was a struggle from the outset this season, starting with uncertainty at quarterback. Chris Todd and Kodi Burns have both struggled with their consistency.
Following the 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt last Saturday, several players openly questioned the direction of the offense.
The next day, Tuberville tried to diffuse some of the talk out there and emphasized that it was no time to panic. He added that Franklin was his coordinator and would be the guy in charge of finding some answers to the Tigers' offensive struggles.
That all changed Wednesday afternoon when Tuberville relieved Franklin of his coaching duties.
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