Talkin'

Three links for you with some choice quotes from various, uh, Auburn-affiliated individuals ...

1. Neil Caudle, as recorded from a press meet by Andy Bitter:

-- On actually being in the mix for once:

(Caudle) has to answer all the annoying questions from we the media about who will win the starting job come August. Does he mind?

"No," he said point blank. "It definitely beats the alternative of nobody caring what you have to say."

I bet you it certainly does.

-- On the world's most crowded quarterback depth chart:

For those counting, there are seven scholarship quarterbacks on the roster right now ... It'll be interesting how Auburn deals with having seven QBs on the practice field. "I'm not really sure," Caudle said. "We'll address that later when we get closer to two-a-days. But it's weird having I guess seven quarterbacks in the meeting room now and seven quarterbacks on the field. It gets really crowded. So there's going to have to be some system to work that out, but we're not real sure right now."

-- I think I cab squeeze one more excerpt in under fair use (maybe?), so here's an intriguing clothing-related tidbit:

Don't know if anyone had mentioned this in the spring, but Caudle was wearing a blue, team-issued T-shirt that had the date for the Iron Bowl (11/27/09) on the right sleeve and the date of the SEC championship game (12/5/09) on the left sleeve. "Obviously two of the more important dates on the schedule," he said.

Well, frankly, given Auburn's odds of making it to Atlanta and the three consecutive losses in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, I'd personally rather have the Georgia game on the opposite sleeve. But I'm not going to argue with dreaming big, either.

--There's even more great stuff from Bitter and Caudle on the recent dismissals, Deangelo Benton, the turnover at offensive coordinator, and more. It's a legitimate must-click.

2. The Sporting News had the bright idea to ask Pat Dye, noted sufferer of NCAA violations, about Alabama's NCAA violations. The response:

"There's no question it has changed. I don't know about Florida State, but the thing with the Alabama case is that they didn't really significantly hurt the program. They didn't punish them very much. In the past, the school had to pay for their mistakes. This is not going to affect (Alabama) in terms of winning games."

Spoken like a true Auburn man, Coach. And not just in terms of "they let Alabama off the hook!" but in "What, there's something going on outside the SEC? Don't know anything about that." (I personally thought the Tide's punishment did sort of fit the crime, but no way do I want Dye to think that way.)

3. At the AUfficial site, Tommy Thigpen is the latest coach to answer 10 questions. As usual, those questions deal with everything from how the Spanish can "smoke and drink more than I've ever seen" without cutting their life spans, the Super Friends, hairstyles, and Ready for the World. Suffice it to say, it's terrific stuff. In my favorite response, Thigpen explains how the Auburn defensive staff is not like bacon:

Bacon never tastes as good as it smells, but Ted (Roof) is as good a person as I've ever met. Sometimes the hype gets built up about a person and you get disappointed, but Ted has far exceeded my expectations. Rock (Tracy Rocker) and I have got to know each other real well. I would've thought that I had known Rock for 25 years with as close as he and I have become already and I don't normally get that close to people ... And then (Phillip) Lolley is as good a friend as anyone. Being on this side of the ball and working with this group has probably been the most fun I've had being on staff. This room of guys is a really good mix of us.

So, in short, Auburn's defensive staff is like a kind of super-bacon that does taste as good as it smells.