Chizik Fashion and Image
4-8-09
by: Mark

I do not like the idea of a strict dress code forced upon a football team. Luckily, I don't know anything about coaching football, so I don't know if Gene Chizik's new dress code for players is a good idea or not. However, I do know that a successful leader knows his strengths and weaknesses. And unless Gene Chizik's son gave him the tie shown here for Father's Day, he should delegate the team's fashion authority elsewhere.

I doubt that the dress code is actually being implemented – it's just a "treat" for the fans. We're told jewelry can't be worn in the athletic complex. Have you seen Chizik's assistant coaches? They're covered in jewelry, and I think Gene's watch is worth more than my car.


Why is a dress code a treat for the fans? Predictably, upon hearing that players would adhere to a strict dress code, fans immediately praised Chizik for being a disciplinarian. Football fans love disciplinarians. Many fans are under the impression that this type of tactic directly correlates to on-field production. Maybe it does, but I don't recall the last time I saw Army or Navy ranked as a top ten team.

This reasoning is similar to how fans tend to think that the number of wins directly correlates to the liters of puke the team produced earlier in the year.

As for other fashion direction by Chizik, I am told that he will continue the tradition started by Tuberville of encouraging fans to wear orange to games*. I don't think he had anything to do with the creation of this dumb Gene Chizik shirt, but it's out there.

I think it's too soon to give a coach the honor of having his head screen-printed across our chests. But, shirt printers love puns. As Bamalike these shirts are, I'm just happy they didn't go with a similar idea;


Auburn dodges their first PR disaster of the past year.

Gene Chizik's head was placed on more than a just shirts when he became Iowa State's head coach. No joke, in 2007, his face was put on a coin produced by an Iowa bank.


Render unto Chizik?

The Chizik coins are said to be made with “antique gold”. I don't know anything about gold, but since the coins sold for only $15 when released, they were probably about as genuine as “Tony Franklin's Bona Fide Tooth Powder”. Even so, the price of gold has made an uncharacteristic jump in price since these Chizik coins were produced in June 2007. Maybe it's a sign.

When I have the choice, I prefer to cheer for guys who I believe are under-appreciated. It's hard to do this for someone who once had a coin made in his image before actually doing anything.

Despite all of his accomplishments, I don't think Bo Jackson has ever been made into a coin. How dare the state of Alabama put a member of the Socialist Party on the state quarter before Bo. It's an outrage.

I'm shocked that I haven't seen Nick Saban on a coin yet. I hope I don't see any coaches on coins, but I wouldn't mind seeing some more Tracy Rocker commemorative plates or Arthur Gustav Malzahn commemorative stamps.

I hate to sound so negative when it comes to Gene Chizik. I'm reading many great things about practice and the assistant coaches. Gene Chizik is doing a great job at keeping as quiet as possible, delegating the important stuff to his awesome assistants and not being Lane Kiffin. That'll work - for now.

E-mail Mark at mark@theauburner.com

Check out tickets for football games which are a loooong way away here.

*I noticed Chizik chewing gum at light speed in some practice videos – a nice throwback to an old Terry Bowden tradition. There's something about chewing gum fast that makes a man look like he's thinking hard.