Auburn History Lends To Future

Hoover, AL - When Gene Chizik too over at Iowa State two years ago, he was coming off two straight years without a loss as defensive cooridinator at Texas and Auburn. He siad he wanted to change the culture at Iowa State, a school with a history of losing, he wanted to get the Cyclones used to winning. He is coming to Auburn, who already has a history of winning.

“It’s good to come back to a place where when you left, we were unbeaten,“ Chizik said. “Before I got here and long after I leave, Auburn will still have that tradition.“

“He said, ‘When I left here, we were a winning ball club’ and he thinks we still are,“ Tight End Tommy Trott said. “It’s tough to work 365 days a year and only win five games. I signed the year they went unbeaten. And going into my fifth year, we won nine or ten games every year.“

Auburn had only three players selected to the pre-season All SEC teams, and voted fifth in the pre-season poll in the SEC West.

“The talent level is there,“ defensive end Antonio Coleman said. “We don’t pay any attention to those pre-season polls, nobody has played a game yet, so people don’t know.“

“It’s been the hardest summer we have worked since I have been here,“ Trott said after coming off knee surgery. “We use to just go throw for like 30 minutes a day, but now we are doing drills, running and lifting every day.“

It’s a different enviroment inside the Auburn Athletic Complex. They have added ping pong tables, a pool table, and Playstation video game consoles. “It does not feel like we are going to work,“ Trott said. “Now we can relax and it’s fun to be part of Auburn football right now.“