First off, let me state I have no inside knowledge of the current Tubberville situation and only know what I’ve read on websites (credible and not).  I think I have enough information to know that Tubs called out the Auburn administration.  I personally think the Auburn administration was going behind his back again to see what coaches were interested.  I think Tubs realized this and said something to the effect of, “Screw this.  If you don’t want me just give my $6 million and lets move on as you’re not running me off so let’s just get this over with.”  I don’t think the Auburn administration had any intention of letting him go until they knew what coach(es) they could get.  I really think Tubs forced their hand .  Kudos to Tubs for getting out of the mess and most importantly not letting his players dangle in the wind because the Auburn administration is acting like a cheating spouse hitting on other coaching candidates.  Plus, Tubs just got a $6 million lottery ticket that he bought last season.

By all accounts I think Auburn wants Muschamp or Leach while checking on that old flame Bobby Petrino.  I don’t think Petrino is stupid enough to leave an Arkansas program he just joined after all of his drama last season.  Plus, his team was getting better as the season wore on so I don’t think he’d wants to go through another adjustment year.

As for Muschamp, his wife is an Auburn alum but he was just named the “Coach in Waiting” in Austin.  I think it’s obvious that title was given just because Mack and Co. knew the interest in Muschamp was so high and they didn’t want to establish a crazy benchmark for paying a standard DC.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Muschamp as I know his wife enjoys living in Austin but she did go to Auburn and he coached there.

Then there’s Leach.  He’s obviously interested in UW and by some reports, his agent indicated Leach and Tech haven’t had any discussions related to an extension.  My guess is Myers has told Leach and his agent that they want to extend him but haven’t officially extended him anything.  My guess is the agent’s thoughts are that until there’s an extension on the table discussions can’t really take place.  Sounds like a good agent when other programs have interest.  All things equal I think Auburn loses out to UW for a guy like Leach.  He seems more like a West Coast guy and I could see him living in Seattle.  Not saying he won’t take Auburn over Tech but I think he’d prefer UW over Auburn because Leach knows he can be successful anywhere.

If Auburn misses on Leach or Muschamp I have no idea who they get.

My prediction – They money whip Will Muschamp just like Bama did with Nick Saban.  They’ll fall on their face for a week or two and then just offer so much money to Muschamp that he can’t turn it down.

Back to Tubs – This guy played this thing perfectly.  According to reports from last season , A&M was going to make a serious run at him.  Auburn stepped in and gave him that big extension with the $6 million buyout to help prevent his leaving which worked because A&M backed down and hired Sherman.  One year later Tubs calls the Auburn administration on the carpet because they’re flirting again and got his $6 million lottery ticket.  Now he doesn’t have to deal with the drama of wondering every year what’s going to happen with his job.  He’s got enough confidence he knows he can go somewhere and probably do well.  Tubs is about as solid as they come from a coaching standpoint.

I still also believe that Auburn was flirting with Petrino last season.  I think the Auburn admin thought they could get Petrino again and Tubs would be happy going to A&M so Tubs could just be let go with no penalty for Auburn.  At some point Petrino got cold feet and Auburn freaked because Tubs could be leaving so they gave him that extension because it looked like Petrino wasn’t coming back to college.  Two weeks later Petrino had a change of heart related to the NFL and wound up at Arkansas.  Auburn was miffed because Arky had Petrino and they were stuck with poor old Tubs.  I personally think had A&M extended out their search for a couple of weeks then Tubs would be in Aggieland and Petrino would be in Auburn.  Tubs wanted out last year and Auburn wanted Petrino but Petrino was the only one that was uncertain when the pieces needed to fall.

Whatever is really going on it’s just good drama and Tubs is a richer man without the headache this morning.  That’s why I love the man.