Jason Campbell, Former Auburn Tigers Quarterback

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So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Jason, appreciate the time. How you been? Well, I'm doing great, guys.

Thank y'all for having me on. I know everything today was something a lot of people saw coming. So, you know, it's just a business part of football. Yeah, you can't be shocked by the news today. If you follow college football, you knew that this was going to happen.

But what was your reaction when it became official? Well, just being at the games over the last couple of weeks and you understand this is a winning business. And as long as you're winning and being in competition and things are looking outward, then, you know, people don't kind of rally behind that. But, you know, just over the last couple of weeks, it just seemed like a lot of the air has gone out of the program.

A lot of the energy hasn't been there. And any time that that's happening, you know, unfortunately, a change is going to have to be made. And especially when we live in a society where recruiting is so huge and, you know, you want to get a recruits and let them know that, hey, you know, you know, Auburn is going to do everything they can to get this thing going back in the right direction. And, you know, to just be able to, you know, give it a chance and understand, too, when you're bringing a new AD, the first thing you don't want him to have to do is have to fire someone, you know, as a coach at his first job on campus. So, I think that's something that played a factor in as well.

If you know you're going to be looking for going to do in a different direction, then you have to go ahead and do what you have to do at this time and just start to try to, you know, start the building process and start the process of giving the AD a chance to interview people that he would like to interview and not have to rush the process. So, this gives him time to come up with a decision that will be best for Auburn here later in the year. I know you love your school. How would you, though, describe the brand of Auburn football right now?

Yeah, that's the thing. I know a lot of people give us a bash flag because of everything that happened this off-season and, you know, things that have happened. But, Auburn is a great school. You know, we're really a family atmosphere and, you know, anyone that comes on our campus can tell that and see that.

And, you know, just unfortunately, like, you make a hire and, you know, fortunately, it just didn't fit. You know, Alan Green was the guy who brought in the AD and, you know, like I said, liked him as a person, but, you know, didn't have a lot of experience in the South Houston Conference and then you bring in, you know, Brian Harsin as a head coach who, you know, was out West and hasn't had a lot of experience with the South Houston Conference. And, you know, it just, it's all about relationships and knowing people. And unfortunately, when that's not the case and the biggest recruiting is, you have to have chemistry with a lot of these high school coaches in the South Houston Conference.

You have to have, you know, familiar with the conference to understand the importance of it on a day-to-day basis. And, you know, like I said, nothing against Harsin. I've had conversations with him and everything.

And, you know, having no problem with him. But at the same time, though, it's all about what's going on between those lines on the football field. And when things are looking promising, it doesn't look like they're going in the right direction. Then, you know, someone is going to be moved.

And in this case, you know, he would, you know, he really does do this today. And I'm pretty sure as a coach, it's probably frustrating and hurtful because you want to succeed and you feel like you didn't succeed. But at the same time, though, you have to understand that the school has to make the best decision that's best for the school and to put us back in a position of being a winning program. You know, we've lost seven or eight SEC games. And, you know, the Missouri game got almost a ball at the goal line. Otherwise, it's eight out of the last eight.

And that's not going in the right direction. Jason Campbell here with us on the Zach Gelb Show. When they hired Brian Harsin, and I know a lot of people thought that Gus Malzahn ran his course at Auburn, but I think Gus is a really good head football coach. I wondered if they were going to be able to bring in a guy that was better than Gus. And it seemed as if the Brian Harsin hire from the start was underwhelming. Do you agree with that? Because it seemed like he was doomed from the start at Auburn.

It's just right from the start of it. Like, you know, once they had moved on from Gus, you know, I'm not sure there was a plan. You know, like I said, like, as far as having a next coach that they wanted to go to, like, right at hand. And unfortunately, when you have your top two guys and you don't want to take the job, now you're scrambling a little bit on trying to find out, okay, how do we feel this space?

And unfortunately, you know, you go through the process. And like I said, you're Coach Harsin. It was a big step up, you know, to come from Boise State and, you know, and to the SEC.

And, you know, financially, it worked out for him from that standpoint. But from a coaching standpoint, though, I think people realize how tough it is to coach in this conference. And especially when you're playing Georgia every year, Alabama every year, LSU every year on your schedule, you know, those are tough games. And they're big rivalry games. And you have to not only win on the field.

Like I said before, you have to win and recruit it. And that comes with relationships and people being familiar with you, coaches, high school coaches being familiar with you. And you the new guy coming in, and they already have a familiarity with a lot of these other coaches or these other coaches already have experience, you know, at the Power Five level, then, you know, you're playing catch-up from the get-go. And, you know, I think Auburn has kind of learned a lot through this situation and learned a lot about and understand what it is that we need and the sense of direction that we need to go. And, you know, and being able to tie certain people back to the university that are loyal to the university and love the university and do everything they can to make sure we're back in a successful place. And I think this is why they're making decisions and trying to get things going because they don't want to waste any more time if they see something that's not going in the right place. They just got to cut their losses and understand that, hey, we got to get this one right. And we have to make sure that we're pointing everybody in the right direction. We have to make sure that guys, other players, other teams can just take a deep breath and find a way to use the next four weeks to just play for each other and play together and understand what you're putting on film, the next coach that comes in here, he's going to see that. And you want to make sure that you're representing the name on the backfield jersey and the emblem that's on the side of your helmet in the best way possible because that's when I find out the most about you is through tough times.

Not when everything is going well, but can you lace it up and go out there and fight for each other when things haven't been going your way lately? Jason Campbell here with us. I know it's really, really, really early, but is there a name already that you go, okay, this is a guy that I want to be the next head football coach at Auburn?

I wouldn't say there's a name. I just think they have to go through the process. You know, I understand like they probably should put five or seven guys out there that they really, really should target and then just go through the interview process and the relationship. The hardest thing about this is we're still in season. And so a lot of these coaches, you're not going to be able to talk to or even touch until the season is over with.

So, you know, most of it is going to have to be self-evaluation of studying, you know, the program and then studying what is it that we need and who do we need to help lead this and help galvanize this program and get it back to being one of the most dominant programs in college football, you know, being a lead program and where we're competing at a high level. So I just think, you know, we have to get a new AD and opportunity to do diligence and also to not rush this because that's why you make the decision at this time. So you don't have to feel rushed and everyone suggests, are you going to please everybody? No, you're not going to please everybody.

It doesn't matter who you are. Everybody's not going to be on board, but it's not about everybody. It's about what's best for the program and who do you trust to operate at this point. So there are some great candidates out there and everything. Like I said, Auburn is a great, great job.

If anybody tells you differently, then they're wrong. They're just one of the most profound football jobs in college football. Definitely one of the top 10 in college football programs. So like I said, people care about it here. They love it and know with the right leadership, you know, this thing can get stirred up really fast and get going back in the right direction because of the transfer portal. And if you look at what Josh Haifa has done at Tennessee within the transfer portal, how fast he was able to turn things around, it's not like the old days where you have to let recruits get older and everything.

But nowadays, you can change things quickly with the transfer portal. Would Dion Sanders excite you? Because I've seen that name thrown around a lot on social media today. So Dion is a great guy, man. He's, you know, he's a great guy.

He's extremely well thought of. And the thing about it is, you know, Dion has done so much for the HBCU. My dad went to the HBCU college and it would be a huge loss from the SWAT community if he was, you know, to jump after this year, after what he's done in such a quick time and giving them the platform that they deserve and the opportunities that they've gotten and the TV opportunities and everything. It is such a great opportunity for them to get to this level.

And it would be a huge loss for the SWAT and everything. And that's the part that's hard about this because people would be unnamed beyond a lot of people's radar this year. Yes, a lot of colleges are going to interview them and rightfully so. But I'm just, you know, this is an African-American, man. I just enjoy what he's doing for the brand of HBCU and giving those kids opportunities that they never could have even imagined and everything. But we're all going to accept him. Yeah, we would accept him, no doubt, because he's a exceptional coach and a person, you know, someone that has a redemption story. But some things are just bigger than football.

I appreciate the answer, and it's definitely a fair response, and I respect it. Another name that's thrown out there is Lane Kiffin. Would that be a name that would maybe get the juices flowing? Well, Lane has always been a name. I think he came up last time they were looking for a coach. And like I said, he's a great offensive mind.

Football is all about scoring touchdowns now that he's been putting points on the board. And, you know, he's another guy that's going to get that attention and everything because of what he is from my offensive mindset. And, you know, Lane has been at a different major program before and everything.

So, you know, he kind of understands what it is that comes along with moving from one program to another program. And I think it's a little bit harder once you do it within conference, but the same, especially on the SEC West side of it. So, yeah, I'm sure interviews and things will come calling for him and, you know, and other coaches as well. But like I said, whoever the AD and the president feel fit for Auburn, I think it's going to be the direction they go. And we have to get this one right, you know, because, you know, the last two years, you know, things haven't been what you really, really wanted, but we have got to get this right. If we want to be a team, you know, we can't keep having a revolving door.

So we just got to be patient this time and not rush it and get it right. Jason Campbell really do appreciate you carving out some time for us today. Hope all is well with you and thanks so much. Thank you.

Appreciate it. The Listening You Love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

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