The Bodda Getta

In several of his video and/or written features, Jay stated that the athletic program under his leadership was evaluated on the following criteria (not in any particular order, so I think they are equal?): a) on field performance in terms of wins/losses, b) academics, c) game day experience. So maybe that's a good way to frame this discussion in terms of performance. (Not sure if playing within the rules was a standalone measure or rolled up into one of the three--I think the latter.)

I would think that "a" is a pretty objective measure. Certainly one can compile the W/L records and slice/dice in a bunch of ways spanning Jay's tenure. The related subjective measures are quality of wins/losses and what winning percentage is good enough to claim victory on this element. Off the top of my head, this criteria probably does not favor Jay.

I don't have the facts/data for "b", but I did note as I was skimming through the latest issue of the AU Alumni magazine (came in the mail yesterday), Dr. Gogue used some space to highlight the athletic program's accomplishments, especially in the academic area. It was interesting stuff but it didn't tell me how we are doing in a comparison with Auburn's peers. Perhaps it was a veiled attempt to defend leaving Jay in the seat when there is certainly a very real sentiment to make a change. Or perhaps he was simply doing what he should do on a regular basis--noting positive news specific to student accomplishments, including athletes. My gut feel is that Auburn athletes perform at average or above average levels when compared to other institutions. I believe Auburn is a pretty challenging place academically, so I would be willing to state that this could be in Jay's favor.

The game day experience could be looked at several ways. For example, the experience that occurs between the start and end of the event and the experience outside of the official event, such as tailgating before/after a game. It could also be measured in terms of the price for a fan to attend/access the event (either in person or online). I think Auburn provides a very good experience within the event across all sports. I've heard some gripes about tailgating restrictions for RV owners, etc., but I'm not sure what to make of those. One thing I really care about is an athletic department that is run efficiently with a priority on keeping costs down so a family can come to Auburn and enjoy a game w/o taking a second mortgage. I think going to an Auburn football game has gotten out of hand cost-wise, but maybe I'm just a tightwad and stuck in the 80s.

Oh well, I've taken enough space and started to ramble a bit, so I'll end it and let others comment. Cheers!