Tuberville: Franklin to remain offensive coordinator

With so many questions about Auburn’s offense swirling a day after the Tigers’ 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt, the only man who could shed some possible light on the situation didn’t have anything to say Sunday.

That’s because Tony Franklin, Auburn’s offensive coordinator, wasn’t made available to speak to the media after practice, bucking a pattern of Sunday sit-downs that has been commonplace at Auburn over the last few seasons.

It had nothing to do, however, with a change of roles on the coaching staff.

Head coach Tommy Tuberville said his choice to keep Franklin away from answering questions was so the coach could focus on doing his job.

“By not letting him talk, I’m trying to put him in a better situation where he can coach and not have to worry about you guys,” Tuberville said. “He gives y’all about 15 minutes, but that’s a month’s worth to write about.”

Tuberville did, however, put an end to the rumors that Franklin’s job was — or is — in jeopardy.

“He’s the offensive coordinator,” Tuberville said. “And, I think Tony’s done a good job of adjusting. I don’t know whether we’ve done a good job of adjusting to what we’ve gone to. But, he’s our offensive coordinator.

“He’s worked harder than anybody here, and he’s as disappointed as anybody here. And he takes as much of the blame. He probably takes more blame than he should.”

Franklin is no stranger to taking a majority of the blame for the Tigers’ struggles this season, saying last week that he’s done a “crappy job coaching football.”

After Saturday’s loss at Vanderbilt, Auburn fans posting on message boards and blogs are saying a lot worse. And from there, the rumors of discord between coaches on Auburn’s staff and Franklin’s possible ouster were fueled.

Tuberville says that’s not happening.

“Everybody’s fine,” Tuberville said of his coaching staff. “Everybody’s in the same roles. Nothing’s changed and I haven’t even talked about it. That’s not our problem right now. Our problem right now is figuring out what we can do and what’s best for the team.

“It’s not anything in terms of relationships or guys not working together. All that stuff gets started when you lose a game or two, but there’s none of that. These guys are professionals, and we’re all in it together.

“Most of that stuff is Internet talk.”

What isn’t Internet talk are the numbers Auburn’s offense has been putting up — or the lack thereof.

Auburn’s currently 103rd (out of 119 Division I schools) in scoring offense, averaging 18.7 points per game. In four SEC games, Auburn’s averaging 12.7 points per contest.

The Tigers are also 104th in total offense (309.2 yards per game), 105th in pass efficiency (104.98), tied for 111th in red zone offense (65 percent) and 112th in third-down conversions (29.7 percent).

“As an offense, to be truthful, we’re just awful,” said junior running back Ben Tate, who rushed for 108 yards vs. Vanderbilt and leads the Tigers with 501 yards and two touchdowns. “There’s no other way to put it. Your numbers don’t lie. When you look at yourself on film, that doesn’t lie either.

“Other teams are probably just licking their chops. We’re just not good on offense right now. We just have to find a way to get better.”

And it starts with finding answers, and not giving into frustration or pointing fingers, says Tuberville.

“We’re also trying to find out what best fits this team,” the head coach said. “We’ve changed each week in terms of formation and insertion of quarterbacks, how to use our personnel, there’s a lot of different things that we’ve tried to do but we’re still looking for the key to the safe.”

And they’ll be doing that with Franklin as the offensive coordinator.

“As long as we get the effort, and (Franklin) continues to get the effort from these players like he is, we’re going to get better and we’re going to win more games,” Tuberville said. “There’s no panic. We just got to look ourselves in the eye — all of us, not just Tony — and find ways to score more points and win games.”

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