Gene Chizik was admittedly a pretty strange hire by Auburn. Even though he was Auburn's D-coordinator from '02-04, and Texas' D-coordinator from '05-'06, he went a miserable 5-19 as head coach of Iowa State these past two seasons, and it never looked like he was coming close to turning the Cyclones around.
Naturally, some Auburn fans aren't real pleased about the hire. So much so that they showed up at the local airport in Auburn so they could boo the guy who hired Chizik, AD Jay Jacobs...the instant he got off the plane after making the deal with Chizik. Man, that's some quick work, Auburn fans. Although, in all honesty, I can't really blame you.
Good luck at Auburn, Gene. You'll definitely need it.
I think Auburn will be ok with Chizik as the head coach. You have to remember that he took over one of the red headed step children of the Big 12 Conference at Iowa State. The team he inherited was a robust 4-8 squad in the Big 12 North. In 2007, his first year, he went 3-9 with the team that McCarney had recruited and his conference schedule included Nebraska, Texas, Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas. Texas Tech was the only one in that group that wasn't ranked in 2007 when they played the Cyclones. His schedule was much softer in 2008 yet he was still playing with McCarney's recruits.
In taking over at Auburn, he will actually be getting a team that consists of some pretty good players. He will be able to play defense with those kids and win some ballgames. He proved his defensive skills at Texas. The question is, will he be able to learn how to play offense and score some points to win the games that his defense can't hold on to.