Auburn football has taken a hit in recent days due to revelation from New England Patriots QB coach Jordan Palmer’s comments on the program’s inability to prepare quarterbacks to play at the NFL level.
Of course, 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton is living proof that idea is not canonical truth.
That said, the Patriots Talk Podcast–part of NBC Sports Boston–had Palmer on this past week and the NE coach did not hold back on his criticism of the Tigers offense in recent years under former head coach (and current UCF Knights coach) Gus Malzahn.
His frustrations stem from Jarrett Stidham’s inability to adapt to the Patriots offense–in part because of Malzahn’s archaic offensive methods, which including foreign gridiron lingo (transcript provided by Brobible):
"“What people don’t realize — and I’ve been doing this a long time — Jarrett had as far to go mentally in terms of what he knew, not in terms of intelligence, in terms of what he knew about football, he had as far to go between college and pro as anybody I ever worked with,” Palmer said.“Gus Malzahn’s offense at Auburn, I think, even further from the NFL than Art Briles (at Baylor)’,” Palmer continued. “In Gus Malzahn’s offense, they don’t even call the receivers – they’re not even letters, they’re numbers. There’s a one-man, a five-man, a seven-man, a three-man.“And this isn’t an indictment on his offense. I’m just saying, what they expect you to know on offense at Auburn is the furthest thing from NFL offenses. And I think the Patriots offense is the most complex.”"
Fans of the program have seen in recent years an offense unwilling to take gambles, often relying on pretty basic HB dives and draws up the middle. Auburn football has relied on strong defensive play to keep them afloat, but the void of creativity on the scoring side of the ball has led to the Tigers falling below the likes of Georgia and Texas A&M in the SEC pecking order.
Luckily, newly minted offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has heard the rumblings and is making sure this “Auburn QBs are unprepared for the pros” narrative is one that follows Malzahn away from the Plains:
Auburn OC Mike Bobo: "We want to be a wide-open pro style offense."
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) March 22, 2021
War Eagle to that!