AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -Before they began their head coaching careers with downtrodden teams, Gene Chizik and Lane Kiffin matched wits on college football’s grandest stage.
It was Texas and Chizik’s stingy defense versus Kiffin and Southern California’s star-studded offense for the national championship on Jan. 4, 2006.
Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Vince Young and their teams combined for an instant classic, won 41-38 by Chizik and the Longhorns in the Rose Bowl. Best big game ever? Depends on the perspective.
“I think when you lose the game it’s hard to look at a game as being the greatest game in college football ever,” said Kiffin, now head coach at Tennessee. “But it was an unbelievable game because there were so many great plays being made and so many great players.”
America quarterbacks.
Now those ambitious former coordinators have designs on returning their SEC programs to title contention. And they have good models to follow in mentors Pete Carroll of USC and Mack Brown of Texas.
Both coaches clearly remember one particular play from that 2006 Rose Bowl.
Texas stuffed LenDale White inches shy of a first down on fourth-and-2 at the Texas 45 with 2:13 left and USC up 38-33. Chizik had an idea what was coming with Bush on the sidelines.
“They were going to do what they do best and that’s run the ball downhill. They had Lendale White in there so that was another indicator that that play was probably coming,” Chizik said.
“For years, the fourth-and-(2) haunted me,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin and Chizik share more than that game. Both had risky propositions in their first head coaching jobs.
Kiffin was 5-15 in one-plus season with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Chizik’s 5-19 record at Iowa State was even worse, but the Tigers hired their former defensive coordinator away anyway. He directed the defense during Auburn’s 14-0 season in 2004, posting back-to-back unbeaten seasons counting his first year at Texas.
They have rejuvenated both their respective programs. The brash Kiffin has attracted plenty of headlines – and some high-profile recruits – with his don’t-back-down, outspoken ways.
s heard plenty about Kiffin.
“They love him,” Berry said. “They love his persona, his swagger, the way he carries himself.”
Chizik is more guarded and businesslike. He wouldn’t lobby for his team to be ranked. It’s not his style to exchange barbs publicly with Alabama coach Nick Saban, like Kiffin has with Florida’s Urban Meyer.
He also had some surprise successes on the recruiting trail – like quarterback Tyrik Rollison and receiver DeAngelo Benton.
A win over the Volunteers could land Chizik’s Tigers in the Top 25.
Both teams are chasing their powerhouse chief rivals. For Tennessee, it’s No. 1 Florida. For Auburn, it’s No. 3 Alabama.
There are other ties in the game, besides that memorable Rose Bowl.
When Chizik was a young coach at Central Florida, he spent some time studying the defense of Kiffin’s father and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, then with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He was always very good to me when I was a young coach,” Chizik said. “When I was at UCF I was able to watch Tampa and formulate my own ideas of what I wanted to do.”
Tennessee running backs/special teams coach Eddie Gran was on Tommy Tuberville’s Auburn staff for a decade. Gran helped recruit cornerback Walt McFadden – and plenty of other players – to Auburn.
talk about them when he was here with us,” McFadden said, smiling. “We know he’s saying the same thing about us. We can see him now saying, ‘These guys are sorry. These guys can’t do it. These guys are going to give up.’ … We know our old coach and how he acts on game week.”
Auburn assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor was on Phillip Fulmer’s Tennessee staff from 2004-07. Taylor is practically the anti-Chizik, an outspoken, flamboyant personality who celebrates wildly with players on the sidelines.
“The first thing he said (Sunday) was we have to go in and play hard because he’s sure they got his name on the tombstones,” McFadden said.
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AP Sports Writer Beth Rucker in Knoxville, Tenn., contributed to this report.
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