Here we discuss Auburn’s recent hiring of Steven Leath as its next residing president, and how he may impact Auburn football.
Auburn has had success in the past with hiring former Iowa State faculty — enter Gene Chizik — and it now welcomes its new president in Dr. Steven Leath. Leath had spent five-and-a-half years in Ames, IA, where the Cyclones failed to post a winning record following his implementation in 2012. Whether he will impact the course of Auburn football, as his reputation with the sport would imply rough patches in success ahead.
Comparing Leath to whatever Chizik could or should have been is entirely irrelevant. Leath will have no say in what happens on the field or, as it seems, on the basketball court. If there are any concerns for Leath to have detrimental effects on the upcoming football season, they’re heavily uneducated guesses or prophetic ramblings of nonsense.
Whether anyone cares to admit it or not, Leath isn’t going to do anything beyond what current athletic director Jay Jacobs has built. Failing to win four games the past four seasons at Iowa State has no implication that Auburn is going to start heading south — the foundation for success is already built.
Leath did have a voice with concern to Iowa State’s head coach availability following the departure of Fred Hoiberg.
“I approached this like a dean’s search,” Leath said in an Ames Tribune article in June, 2015, “it’s the second-highest paid person on the campus. It certainly seemed reasonable to be involved on some level.” The Ames Tribune also reported that Leath was present during interviews alongside David Harris and Jamie Pollard.
Auburn’s former president, in comparison, did not seem to have much of an impact on athletics as much as Leath appeared to be involved. The Anniston Star, AL, reported a student protest at Jay Gogue’s presidential mansion in 2008 following former football head coach Tommy Tuberville’s resignation. The article suggests that many people had believed that Tuberville’s resignation had be forced upon him, students speculating that Gogue was potentially involved.
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At that time, Jacobs was under fire. Bobby Lowder, acclaimed Auburn trustee, was declared an Alabama fan.
Now, Jacobs is looking at a potential contender in 2017 with both softball and baseball getting off to hot starts.
Whatever is speculated to change with the hiring of Leath can be thrown away. As far as athletics are concerned, it seems as if Jacobs will be keeping everything under lock and key — and that’s OK with me. Positively speaking, Leath seems to be deeply involved with a developing basketball culture as he was in Ames. This will be essential to Auburn’s rising success in the SEC, as well as driving more fans to see the growth.
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Here’s to aviation and basketball.