Jay Jacobs is in control of Auburn athletics

Jay Jacobs is the most powerful Auburn athletics director since Pat Dye.

For 10 years in the big office, David Housel’s options were limited in a lot of areas. When it came to hiring and firing coaches in major sports and other major decisions, there were lots of fingers in the pie.

It became obvious just how dysfunctional the situation was when Housel, trustees Earlon McWhorter and Byron Franklin and president William Walker sneaked away to interview Bobby Petrino two days before the Iron Bowl in 2003.

The trip, along with its atrocious timing, wasn’t Housel’s decision. It was Walker’s. That, along with SACS probation that hit shortly thereafter, changed the way the Auburn athletic department runs.

Even before Housel officially retired, Hal Baird took over as the man in charge of Auburn athletics. But Ed Richardson, who followed Walker as president, was determined to make final hiring decisions. He wouldn’t seriously consider hiring Mike Anderson as basketball coach. He rejected John Pawlowski as baseball coach.

Six years later, Jacobs is firmly in charge of Auburn athletics. He made the call, controversial at the time, to hire Gene Chizik as football coach. He’ll make the call on whether Jeff Lebo returns as basketball coach and he’ll make the call on who replaces Lebo if a change is made.

President Jay Gogue puts it very succinctly: “I don’t fire coaches. I fire athletics directors.”

And that’s as it should be.

No one operates in a vacuum. I’m certain there are people who Jacobs turns to for advice and counsel. But the final decisions are his. The Board of Trustees and president have their proper roles to play, too. But, in the final analysis, for the first time in a long time, the drama and intrigue that were so much a part of Auburn athletics for so long are gone.

And that is refreshing.

Article courtesy AuburnUndercover.com