The Fall of Auburn

Center of Excellence? Did Marsh also get the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence?

What? O.k.: I'll spell it out. On a message board you can be as creative as you want and pretend to know more than you know. It's not responsible, sure. But I was making a joke about "poetic license". This doesn't happen as much on these boards b/c a ton of posters use their real name, so there's less of an anonymous flavor. Some athletic boards -- like US Waterpolo -- require real names for screen-names b/c posters used to front like they were more knowledgeable, more experienced and had more connections than they really did in a non-virtual world. You coached Marsh and swam for him? How does that work? Creativity and poetic license. :)

I think lots of people were jealous of Auburn's success and assumed they must be cheating (sound like some other topic to anyone?). Especially on the men's side Auburn always seemed to add a couple studs mid-season that proved to be just what they needed to win NCAAs. The fact these guys tended to be foreign raised red flags to a lot of people. There was a lot of discussion about this on collegeswimming.com. I tried to do a search there, but the search function doesn't seem to go back far enough for the thread or threads about Marsh's departure. I'm going purely by what I read over there. I have absolutely no personal knowledge about Auburn or Marsh and as far as I know they're pure as the driven snow. Leaving Auburn for MAC was a major step down in my opinion...sorry but if you think otherwise I won't try to convince you. According to some Auburn has some very serious issues with regards to recruiting, hazing and scholarships...I've met Dave and have a lot of respect what he accomplished as a coach...however it seems there may have been some serious issues with the program and the timing of Quicks arrival and the departure of Marsh have never been fully disclosed....and may never be. As for the meltdown....hard to say but it will be interesting to see how long Quick stays around and if/how this will effect recruiting in coming years. Finally....I have to give a huge kudos to Cielo for his standout swims given the apparent training/taper changes this season and how much of the rest of the team fared.

Kind of like Lincoln was born in a log cabin that he built with his own hands.:) O.k.: I'll spell it out On a message board you can be as creative as you want and pretend to know more than you know. It's not responsible, sure. But I was making a joke about "poetic license". This doesn't happen as much on these boards b/c a ton of posters use their real name, so there's less of an anonymous flavor. Some athletic boards -- like US Waterpolo -- require real names for screen-names b/c posters used to front like they were more knowledgeable, more experienced and had more connections than they really did in a non-virtual world. Creativity and poetic license. :) What? You coached Marsh and swam for him? How does that work?

Leaving Auburn for MAC was a major step down...sorry but if you think otherwise I won't try to convince you. You don't need to convince me. I'm not seeing a lot of successful college coaches moving to club coaching--"Center of Excellence" or otherwise. But, who knows, maybe he was tired of dealing with the NCAA, his AD, etc.

Not because of the performance of his teams, but because of possible rules violations. People are always accusing Auburn of shady dealings. I'm not saying I agree, that's just what the rumors were. Seriously? I swam in college with his wife and have spent some time with him. He's seemed to have some pretty high ethical standards. This is the first I've heard of shady dealings. Exactly what is he supposed to have done?

"so I think my opinion is more betterer than yours." Wow, you guys are slipping out there---this should have been the give-a-way that he was yanking on our chains a bit and kidding. Having said that, he could have helped coach, then swam for him or swam for him and then coached. Either way, very possible....But, again, the more betterer comment is the give-a-way---:)

But is it really a step up? Seems to me that MAC has some serious issues with falling standards (particularly the masters group).:joker: In all fairness, Marsh's control probably doesn't extend that low... Ignoring the blatant dig I'll comment on the situation. MAC is a huge program. I don't know the exact numbers but it's well over 500 in multiple practice groups in two pools. You've got everything from the tiny little kids all the way to the Olympians. The place has a real buzz now. Marsh has definitely brought an attitude and work ethic with him. He's pretty much omnipresent, showing up at events all the time and making himself quite available. Coaches are fantastic as well. I can't comment on any Auburn situation. I can say that thus far his tenure with us has been a very positive experience. The Masters team has benefitted as well. I've recently switched to MAC. It's pretty awesome to have 20 lanes SC and 10 LC for USMS team. The coach is outstanding and the swimmers dedicated. I'm such a homer. Go 'Heels, btw!

Leaving Auburn for MAC was a major step down...sorry but if you think otherwise I won't try to convince you. Are you talking out your backside here or do you actually have some evidence that this position is a huge setback for Coach Marsh? His wife was the one who told me about the move they were making long before it happened. The way she told it, it was a great opportunity. What is your opinion based on? Auburn has some very serious issues with regards to recruiting, hazing and scholarships...I've met Dave and have a lot of respect what he accomplished as a coach...however there were/are some serious issues with the program and the timing of Quicks arrival and the departure of Marsh have never been fully disclosed....and may never be. WTH? Can you back this up with ANY evidence? There was nothing to "disclose" when Marsh left as far as I know. He was offered the USOC position and took it. If you are going to besmirch Marsh's reputation you'd better have some evidence because all I've ever known/heard about him has been reputable.

If you are going to besmirch Marsh's reputation you'd better have some evidence because all I've ever known/heard about him has been reputable. I don't know why you think this is true. It's obvious that it's okay to throw accusations around on this forum with no regard to evidence.