Auburn's quarterback competition rages on between Burns and Todd

Chris Todd (left) and Kodi Burns (right) both look to master new coordinator Tony Franklin's "System" offense. AP Andy Staples's Mailbag Have questions or feedback? E-mail Andy Staples. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Andy Staples on Twitter

AUBURN, Ala. -- If Tony Franklin's history didn't prove that the man is utterly incapable of limiting himself to coachspeak, the following declaration might sound like a ploy to put a positive spin on the fact that neither of his top two quarterbacks has played well enough to wrestle the starting job away from the other.

"The longer this thing progresses," the first-year Auburn offensive coordinator said last week after another practice spent weighing the pluses and minuses of Kodi Burns and Chris Todd, "the more it becomes such a wonderful problem."

Anybody else, and the sentiment might sound less than genuine. But unlike most coaches, Franklin rarely minces words. This is the man who sold his offense the way Ron Popeil sells Showtime rotisserie ovens. Heck, Franklin is the man who broke the coaches' playground code of silence and blew the whistle on boss Hal Mumme's shady recruiting practices at Kentucky and then wrote a book about it. So when Franklin, who was hired to give Auburn an offense worthy of its ferocious defense, says he can live with an extended quarterback competition, we can allow him the benefit of the doubt.

Still, conventional football wisdom dictates that if you don't have one quarterback, you have no quarterback. Florida and LSU won national titles in 2006 and 2007 by playing two quarterbacks, but Chris Leak and Matt Flynn were the clear starters on those teams, while Tim Tebow and Ryan Perrilloux were the change-ups.

As Auburn's quarterback competition rages on, it seems more likely that even if Franklin and head coach Tommy Tuberville designate a starter, they'll only be picking the guy who trots onto the field first when the Tigers open Aug. 30 against Louisiana-Monroe. Burns, a sophomore who served as the change-up to Brandon Cox last year in Al Borges' West Coast offense, and Todd, who ran Franklin's offense for his dad at Elizabethtown (Ky.) High before stints at Texas Tech and Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, each will take significant snaps until one proves he can consistently run Franklin's spread better than the other.

History suggests that any offense will sputter if two quarterbacks split snaps all season. And even though Burns and Todd have said all the right things so far, Burns let slip last week that he worries the Tigers may not give both players the respect a starting quarterback deserves. "The hardest part is trying to be a leader, because guys look at you and see that you're splitting reps with another guy and they're not so sure if you're the guy," Burns said. "I think that's the hardest thing for me. In high school and even last year, they would say, 'Hey, Brandon Cox is the starter. He's the man. When he says something, we're going to listen to him.' "

Tuberville isn't worried. He believes the forging fire of preseason camp will establish both quarterbacks as leaders. "Kodi and Chris are both a little bit tired. Their arms are tired," Tuberville said. "They're hanging in there, as you need your quarterbacks to do. You need them to step up and show the players around them that they can withstand anything just like they can. You need good camaraderie and you need good leadership out of your quarterbacks and both these guys are good friends who are competing well."

Tuberville and Franklin can say all this because what they seek is the ultimate system quarterback. No, really. Franklin's offense -- which retails for $2,995 if you're a high school coach in need of a new scheme -- is called The System. They don't need Peyton Manning. They need a quarterback with a decent arm who can consistently, precisely complete a set of short- and mid-range throws and who can, on a running play, read the mind of a 260-pound defensive end bent on decapitating him. And he must be able to do all of this at a breakneck, no-huddle pace that could produce 90 snaps a game (the Division I-A average last year was 71.7).