Auburn Football: A Complete Turnaround
Going from 0-39 to 3 straight winning seasons including 3 straight playoff appearance and 2 playoff victories
By Jack Tuner, Head Coach
Auburn High School (VA)
In 2012 I had the privilege of meeting Carl Pauli the Principal at Auburn High School located in Riner, Virginia and Tim Baynum, the Assistant Principal. That meeting would change me as a coach and Auburn Football. Auburn was a school on a 29 game losing streak, they had been scoring an average of 4 points a game and had given up an average of 53 points a game. Auburn had been there opponents’ Homecoming opponent an average of 6 times a year. In the history of the program there had only been 3 winning seasons, 2 playoff appearances and 1 playoff victory. In the previous 10 years there had only been 12 wins.
Before I took the job I contacted 5 coaches that were on the Auburn schedule that had been playing them and had knowledge of the program. Every coach who was also was a friend of mine told me not to take the job -you couldn’t win there. The more they said I couldn’t win there the more I wanted the challenge. I took the job because of that and in the meeting with Mr. Pauli he was honest on what he wanted and what the school needed. More importantly, he gave me what I needed to build a program. The icing on the cake was the friendship that was developed during that time and how much I wanted to build a winner for him and the school.
Upon accepting the job in late May and finally meeting the team I was in total shock. I had never seen a more defeated group of kids in my life. After speaking with them and giving them a pep talk on how we are going to build the program together and a summer lifting schedule, I left there defeated myself. I pulled over in tears and called my wife and told her I couldn’t coach these players – we are going to get killed.
I was going to call Mr. Pauli and resign but after a few choice words from her I went to work on building a program.
We started our summer workouts on a May Monday and what happened that day was the start of something that no one would have believed. At
4:55 the team was lined up exactly as I had told them to be dressed and ready to go, and they had a look of hope and a desire to be coached and led to something better than they had experienced. At the end of that first workout I made a statement to all: give me one year with these kids and I, along with your hard work, desire and belief, will build you a winner.
For the next 4 years that group was the hardest working group of players a coach could ever have. We went 0-10 that first year, but the community, school and players knew we were on to something special. Our off season workouts went great where we had 100% attendance and our lifting maxes rivaled and bettered most in our area. The team went into August with a different mindset. We won our first two scrimmages leading into our regular season game with Narrows High School on the road. The losing streak was over as Auburn won 27-0. When we got back to school the parents, cheerleaders, teachers and community were waiting on us. That night and those players that played for me made me understand how important that coaches are to these kids and how believing in them and giving them a purpose can bring a group together and accomplish something as a team.
How did we go from 0-39 to a winning program:
Again, after that first meeting I was in total shock after that first workout. I wanted to make sure I gave the team an opportunity to become a winner. After years of reading American Football Monthly and the many articles and testimonials from other coaches in the same situation I developed a program to meet our needs to be successful.
I am a Wing-T offense coach that believes in a discipline/ physical ball control offense. We averaged 32 points a game the last 3 years, and averaged 4,000 rushing yards. That helps keep our opponent’s off the field that are more talented and athletic. It has really helped our defense go from giving up nearly 55 points a game to only 17 a game. We became the team that only one team a year made us their Homecoming game and those teams are a division above us. We are in the smallest classification in the state.
The following is a list of what we did to develop our program:
1. A strength and conditioning year round program to become tougher and more physical. In football you must win the line of scrimmage. We have 100% participation because we had it set up as a class.
“Football had a direct effect on the success of our other sports. Not only were our student athletes bigger, faster, and stronger, we saw improvement in soccer, basketball, and track and field because our multi-sport athletes were better” said Paul Dominey, Athletic Director at Auburn High School.
2. Leadership: I used a former article from AFM to set up a program to share leadership duties within the different classes from seniors to freshmen. It made everyone invested in program.
3. Practice habits:
A. Organization
B. Speed
C. Discipline ( coaches holding players accountable for doing things correctly)
4. Accountability:
A. No missed workouts
B. No missed practice
C. No discipline problems at school
D. Great academic standing at school
5. Team first attitude: No one person is more important than the person beside you in the locker room or in the huddle. Your actions effect more than you.
“How does a high school football program go from 39 straight losses to three straight winning seasons, including 3 playoff appearances and 2 consecutive playoff victories? The answer is simple: You hire Jack Turner as your head football coach,” said Auburn High Principal Carl Pauli. “ Losing every football game 39 times in a row does something to your entire school. It hurts school spirit so deeply that
it permeates every other aspect of the school climate. Students, teachers, and the community begin to lose faith in the school’s ability to success in anything. It’s a terrible feeling.
“When I first met Jack Turner in 2012, I was amazed. Coach Turner has a big personality and he seemed just “too good to be true.” However, he was so impressive in the interview, I had to hire him. The announcement of his hire alone sent a surge of excitement throughout the entire school and community. In his first meeting with the boys, the enthusiasm was palpable. There was hope in the real possibility of success!
“Coach Turner’s hallmark philosophies were soon written on the whiteboard in the weight room: ‘You must hate losing more than enjoy winning!’ ‘We must outwork our next opponent, every rep, every day.’ ‘Team first attitude!’ ‘Embrace the physical style of football.’ ‘Embrace the toughness!’ and ‘Embrace the total commitment!’ He assured me that if we couldn’t be more athletic and talented than our opponents, we would be stronger and more conditioned; the offense would “gut out” 3 yards per down, and claw our way to the end zone while keeping our opponents off the field.
“All I had to do was create an Advanced PE class with a focus on strength and conditioning during the last period of the day, and he’d do the rest. It all paid off when we won our first varsity football game on the opponent’s home field! The fans rushed the field. I rushed the field. The celebration lasted through the following week at school. The once defeated group of boys now held their heads high as victorious men! Our school climate quickly transformed, and success became the expectation in all athletic programs as well as academics. Coach Turner’s charismatic personality as a member of our teaching staff also infused positivity into our school and community. He also is, and always will be, my personal friend. “
I have coached at bigger and more prominent schools but my time at Auburn has made me a better coach and more importantly a better role model. I will always have great respect and admiration for that group of players for their hard work, dedication and desire to work. Auburn has taught that all young men deserve an opportunity to succeed – Jack Turner.
