Borges Shows Auburn How to Be Offensive

When Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell finally left the field after the Tigers’ victory over Alabama, after he’d talked to the TV cameras and reveled with the fans and dodged a few oranges lobbed onto the Bryant-Denny Stadium turf, he shared the final few steps with the man who meant the most to him.

Campbell wrapped his arm around offensive coordinator Al Borges and squeezed tight. They ran up the tunnel together, Campbell holding his helmet high, Borges clutching his trusty laminated play sheet, the quarterback from Mississippi and the California-born coordinator jogging side by side.

“He’s like a father to me,” Campbell said. “A father away from home. I have my biological daddy, and then I have him.”

In Southeastern Conference country, football runs a close second to family, perhaps not second at all on Saturdays. And there’s no better way to become one of the relatives than to bring a winning recipe to the barbecue.

It all turned out just right for Borges and Auburn in his first year at the school. The third-ranked Tigers (11-0) will play Tennessee in the SEC championship game tonight in Atlanta, hopeful that a dramatic voting shift or a loss by USC or Oklahoma can propel them into the championship game at the Orange Bowl.

Last year’s Auburn team wasn’t anywhere near the championship picture. It finished 8-5, and a sputtering offense in the games that mattered most was a large reason why. The Tigers averaged only 12 points in their six games against ranked opponents, including a shutout at the hands of USC in the season opener.

Coach Tommy Tuberville, after surviving administrative maneuverings behind his back that almost cost him his job, brought in Borges to make some changes.

“I was not a sexy hire,” Borges said. “Tommy looked at me, at the totality of my resume, not what have you done for me lately.”

For Borges, “lately” was an offense at Indiana that ranked 98th in the country. Before that came a one-year stint at California, where he arrived in 2001.

But the history included five years as the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator at UCLA, highlighted by Cade McNown’s prolific 1998 season. However, much of the credit for UCLA’s wide-open passing attack went to head coach Bob Toledo. It’s hard to move up the ranks without any buzz.

“All I wanted was the recognition, to get a head-coaching job,” Borges said. “The good thing about Bob and I was, we philosophically were on the same page. We had very few disagreements.

“It just reached a point where I thought I had to do something. I had to do something to shake up my career.”

He shook it up, all right.

He took the offensive coordinator’s job at California under Coach Tom Holmoe, in what turned out to be Holmoe’s final season.

“It totally backfired,” Borges said. “I got fired in one year. For the first time in my career I was actually looking for a job.”

He found one at Indiana.

“Bloomington, Ind., is a nice place, great school,” Borges said. “But it’s a rebuilding program. For three years I kind of drowned in my own spit.”

The Hoosiers won six games while he was there.

“I learned what it was like on the other side,” Borges said.

Then an old connection came through. Kevin Yoxall, the strength and conditioning coach at UCLA while Borges was there, had moved on to Auburn. He put in a good word with Tuberville, who needed to perk up an offense that ranked in the middle of the SEC.

Borges brought in his West Coast offense, melding it with an attack that focused on running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown. This season, the Tigers finished second in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 33 points a game. The passing output increased almost 30 yards a game, to 229.4.

“It seems like a little more balanced team,” wide receiver Devin Aromashodu said. “Teams know coming into the game that we’re not one-dimensional.”

Campbell had his best season by far, throwing for 16 touchdowns and only five interceptions.

“Everything he’s done for me has been spectacular,” Campbell said. “I’ve enjoyed it. It wouldn’t have been bad if it happened for four years, because he’s such a great coordinator.”

Borges is more than just his coach.

“I always just go in the room joking about other stuff,” Campbell said. “It’s not even about football. I think that’s where it’s grown from. He makes me relax as a quarterback. You don’t want to be uptight, making mistakes.”

That doesn’t mean Borges hasn’t learned how seriously they take their football at Auburn. Shortly after he arrived on campus he went to a baseball game. Fans came up to him in the stands, wanting to meet him. He said there were 30,000 people at the spring football game.

Two weeks ago he experienced his first dose of Auburn vs. Alabama.

“I’ve found that UCLA and USC was really a good rivalry,” Borges said. “Because you could be sitting across the desk from a guy that went to the other school.

“This rivalry is a little more hard core. It’s one they hate each other. In some ways, it’s not good. But it does kind of build up the intensity of the game a little bit.”

After the game ended, Borges gushed: “It was something else. You could feel it, boy. The electricity was in the house.”

Borges would love to go against USC again in January. Not for nostalgia’s sake, but for his new team. His new home.

“I finally found a place that loves football as much as I do,” Borges said. “If you’re a football coach, this is the place to be.”