A few weeks ago former Auburn Head Coach Pat Dye made headlines because of his comments about the Tigers moving to the SEC East, and now he’s at it again.
Must Read: Auburn to SEC East?
In an interview on Monday evening with The Paul Finebaum Show, former Auburn football coach Pat Dye said that Auburn wouldn’t match Alabama’s tradition, even if they played for 500 years.
Here’s an excerpt from the conversation:
“I don’t look at our situation at Auburn comparing it to Alabama because you could never compare the two,” Dye said. “We could play football for another 500 years and we couldn’t catch up with the tradition that Alabama’s got. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a good football program, and a strong program, and it doesn’t mean we can’t have football teams that recruit good enough to beat Alabama on occasion.”
“It doesn’t mean we can’t have football teams that recruit good enough to beat Alabama on occasion.”
The part of Dye’s comments that stood out to most people was the 500 years part. We can’t even fathom how irrelevant that statement is. For all we know Auburn could win 45 out of 50 contests against the Crimson Tide from 2415 to 2465 on their way to 18 national championships, giving them 46 national titles in school history. 500 years is nearly five times longer than the sport of football has even existed.
But the part of Dye’s statement that stood out to me was the last part. “It doesn’t mean we can’t have football teams that recruit good enough to beat Alabama on occasion.”
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We’re not talking about a mid-major program here. We’re talking about the Auburn Tigers. A team that has won three SEC titles in recent history, and they’ve played for two national titles in the last seven years. Auburn is 19th in the history of college football in wins.
The Iron Bowl is also a rivalry that Alabama leads 44-30-1. That is far from a one-sided rivalry. Auburn should expect to beat Alabama more than “on occasion.” Auburn is actually 18-17 in the last 35 meetings.
Dye has a history of speaking his mind, but you would think that he would have better things to say about the football program he helped build.
The reality of the situation is that Auburn has an inferiority complex when it comes to their big brothers in the state. And Dye said out loud what so many Auburn fans are thinking in their heads. And thats why they’re really mad.