[Austiger]

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On a personal level, he wanted that job badly when they hired Nutt.

Now he has UA sucking his kneecaps. It must be very gratifying, plus he can name his own terms now.

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Which UA do you mean? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

There's a big difference between wanting the job back when he was a young coach at Ole Miss and leaving what he has at Auburn now. Here is what I have gathered from observing Tuberville as well as following his negotiations from an Auburn perspective:

- If Auburn is to offer an extension, it must be made in writing by Sunday. Tuberville was hunting in Arkansas last night and this morning with RB coach Gran and others and will be back in Auburn today. He makes the Arkansas trip every year (he is from Arkansas for those that don't know.)

- There is a hang-up in his negotiations with Auburn, which has opened a window for him to look at other teams, and he is looking. Whether he is looking seriously or just using it as a negotiating tactic, there is no way to know. The hang-up appears to be the buyout, which he wants reduced in the future. Specifically, he has been promised some things by Auburn and they have not delivered (facility upgrades, etc.) and he wants an out if he doesn't get what he is promised.

- There is a $6 million buyout in his contract currently and Arkansas or whomever would have to pay that. The buyout that is being negotiated is for future years (at least that's what I gather.)

- He loves Auburn and the people, fans, area, etc. He just built a huge house there.

- He is not the kind of person who is going to leave Auburn out of spite for the Jetgate situation. If he were, he wouldn't have coached up Auburn for 4 more years only to leave the program in great shpae, which it is. Those kind of rumors crack me up. As if he wants to "stick it" to somebody by uprooting his family and coaching staff. Most of the players in Jetgate are gone now, although there are a couple who remain. These few people would probably be relieved to see Tubs go, and that has to be a factor in his decision-making. But it's a "I hate having to deal with these people" factor, not a "I can't wait to burn those people by leaving" factor. He is beloved by a lot of people at Auburn for doing things the right way, and he knows that.

- His staff is one year away from the 10 year requirement for state employees to receive retirement benefits. This is a huge deal. They would all lose 9 years of tenure by leaving now.

You can't believe any of these coaching rumors or even what coaches say definitively. At this point, you can't even believe news organizations, which is really sad. Andre Ware's "BREAKING STORY" for ESPN was such a joke when he cited "sources" as saying Tuberville was the leading candidate for TAMU. Turns out he wasn't even a candidate at all and Ware's source was probably AggieAlum97 on the Rivals board. Ware was interviewed on ESPN news after the story broke and the anchor asked Ware if Tubs had a buyout at Auburn. Ware said he didn't know about that. Yeah Andre, why would you? That would involve 30 seconds of research to obtain probably the most vital piece of information on the story you just broke. But what do I know, you're the journalist...

Now this from an Arkansas news station. You just can't believe any news report anymore until it is confirmed by the parties involved. If your second best source is Notorious P.I.G. or swineonyoucrazydiamond, draw your own conclusioins.