Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik to join SEC Network
Gene Chizik is back in the SEC – sort of.
Chizik, who coached Auburn to the national title in 2010, is joining the SEC Network as an analyst, he told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday.
"Obviously it was a great opportunity, and when the whole possibility of the SEC Network was announced I was really excited about it and the opportunity to stay involved in football, to stay around the game and to get on the media side intrigued me," Chizik said. "We're looking forward to moving forward with this."
Chizik, who also co-hosts a radio show on Sirius/XM, will be in studio beginning at halftime of Tennessee's game against Utah State on Aug. 31. His primary role will be as a studio analyst on Mondays and Tuesdays but will contribute to other SEC Network programming.
During his time as a head coach, which ended when Auburn fired him after a disastrous 2012 season, Chizik was not known as a dynamic media personality and admits he was intentionally bland at times in public settings. But Chizik has felt more comfortable being himself during his break from coaching and received very strong reviews for his work on ESPN-U during National Signing Day in 2013.
"I've really enjoyed the media side of it," Chizik said. "It's fun when you can do what you love to do, which is analyze college football, watch games, break them down both before and after and it's just fun for me and it's really been great for me. I've had to really stay in touch and stay up with things going on nationally, keeping me involved in the game, and I just think my personality and me being able to use my 27 years of experience in giving some insight has been fun."
Chizik declined to speculate on whether he wants to get back into coaching down the road.
"Being with ESPN and Sirius/XM, I'm really excited about that and I want to be the best at what I do with TV and radio and being apart of the media," he said. "What's down the road, I'm not even going to speculate because for me I've always been the kind of guy who's tried to be the best at what I'm doing at that moment and that's no exception here with being college football analyst."