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Auburn announced Wednesday that Cornerbacks Coach Phillip Lolley will be moving back into the administrative side of the football program. Lolley has been with Auburn since 1999 and this is not the first time he has served in the athletic office.
He was the Director of NFL Relations when new Head Coach Gene Chizik brought him back to the field in 2009. Prior to that he had served as the conditioning coach from 1999 -2000 and as the secondary coach in 2000-2003 when he coached Jim Thorpe Award winner Carlos Rogers.
Lolley becomes the third coaching change from the 2011 staff after Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn left to become the Head Coach at Arkansas State and Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof left to become the DC at Central Florida.
The move has the appearance of one that may be taking place to make room for new DC Brian VanGorder to bring someone else on staff. After all it's only natural for a coordinator to want to have someone come along with him.
If that's the case, one has to expect the replacement might well come from the NFL ranks.
Nonetheless this writer hopes that Phillip will be able to still have a hand in recruiting because he has the respect of high school coaches across the state of Alabama.
Yes Phillip Lolley knows the coaches in this state as good as anyone, having served as a high school coach himself from 1978-1998. He was Head Coach at North Jackson High School for 10 years and led the Chiefs to the 4-A State Championship in 1993.
Coach Chizik said in a prepared statement yesterday, "We appreciate Coach Lolley and the contributions he has made to the Auburn football program in his various roles over the years and we look forward to him continuing to help with the program's success in his new capacity."
I too appreciate Coach Lolley. I'm thankful this morning for his hard work and service to Auburn University for the past 12 years and I'm thankful he will still be part of the Auburn family. While I don't question this move, I do have one question ...
Who will be the new Cornerbacks Coach?