AUBURN, Ala. – Gene Chizik knew he'd be recording a video Thursday for the 10-year anniversary of Auburn's 2010 national championship, touring the Tigers Den at Jordan-Hare Stadium, and having lunch with Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and director of athletics Allen Greene.
A detour on the way into the stadium, however, caught the former Auburn head coach by surprise.
That's when Chizik, Malzahn, Greene and executive associate athletics director Tim Jackson paused while a banner commemorating the 2010 Auburn Tigers was unveiled outside the stadium's south end.
"So that's what this is about," Chizik exclaimed, reacting to the banner that shows him holding high the crystal national championship trophy.
"Well deserved," Malzahn said to Chizik, the coach who brought him to Auburn in 2009 to be the Tigers' offensive coordinator.
"Your leadership as the head coach leading us to the national championship, unbelievable," Malzahn told his former boss while pointing to the banner. "We just wanted to do something special for you. That's going to be up forever, so every time you come back, there you go. You deserve that."
A studio analyst for SEC Network, Chizik coached Auburn from 2009-12 after serving as the Tigers' defensive coordinator from 2002-04.
"So many great memories with so many great people, our fan base," Chizik said. "One of the brightest memories I have is our fans coming to that game out in Arizona, and all of them couldn't get in, there were thousands of them outside, and they came there to see that game and support the Auburn Tigers."
Auburn defeated Oregon 22-19 on Jan. 10, 2011, to claim the program's first national championship in 53 years.
"I think about the fan base, so many great players, so many great coaches, so many people who were involved behind the scenes. An incredible journey, an incredible memory," Chizik said, pointing to the banner over his shoulder. "I am so appreciative of that, and [Auburn] feeling like it was good to have a great memory that all of the Auburn fans and all the players can hold on to forever."
Several members of the 2010 team will attend the LSU game Saturday when Auburn honors the national champs. Malzahn has been coordinating the banner unveiling and 2010 commemoration since January, making several adjustments because of the pandemic.
"Coach Chizik, his leadership that year, winning the national championship, he's a great coach, great person," Malzahn said. "I'm just happy for him. We've been working on this a long time, glad it came into reality today."
This weekend we recognize our 2010 National Championship team.
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 30, 2020
Today, we started it off honoring @CoachGeneChizik with a banner at Jordan-Hare Stadium! pic.twitter.com/KVbUoKa8c9
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer