Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges apologized for having to postpone a scheduled telephone interview Monday morning, but a Washington Post reporter was in his office.

Their topic was former quarterback Jason Campbell, a first-round draft pick of the Redskins and the most recent reference on Borges' resume. Another reporter, from another town, might have asked about first-round draft picks Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams -- two more Auburn stars, two more references on Borges' burgeoning resume.

The recent NFL draft, following Auburn's unbeaten season, made me wonder: Has a college assistant coach ever had a better year?

In Borges' first year as Auburn's quarterback coach, Campbell went from a run-of-the-mill SEC quarterback to a run-for-the-Heisman quarterback. In Borges' first year as Auburn's offensive coordinator, Brown and Williams flourished in an offense that employed both as runners, receivers and occasionally together.

His team went 13-0 and finished second to Southern California. His boss, Tommy Tuberville, was honored as national coach of the year.

A college assistant couldn't dream up a better season unless it ended with a head-coaching job.

The epilogue: Borges didn't get so much as a nibble. No offer. No interview. Not even a call.

He just had a career year for an assistant coach. Wouldn't one athletic director just call?

"That was a little frustrating," Borges said.

Head coaching wasn't a career goal of Borges starting out. Then, after years of running offenses, running an entire team became more appealing.

But if the head-coaching call never comes, the 49-year-old coach can get along famously without it. He still qualifies as one of college coaches' great success stories -- a guy who didn't play football beyond his senior year of high school in agriculture-rich Salinas, Calif., where he pumped gas and drove a water truck before becoming a tire builder.

He remembers running over pipes as a truck driver. He remembers being as inept at building a tire as he was at driving a truck.

"Some people say, 'If I'm gonna do a job, I'm gonna do it the best I can,' " Borges said. "I never had that mentality.

"The only thing I ever did well was coach."

He did that well enough to overcome an early resume that didn't include a college degree, much less college playing experience. His path to big-time college football isn't the one less taken; it's the one never taken.

You go to junior college for a year before dropping out. You fritter away a few years on odd jobs before finally attaining stability at a tire-building plant. You quit after a year to become an assistant coach at your high school alma mater. You receive your college diploma from California State University, eight years after graduating from high school.

But all along the line -- at Diablo Valley College, in the USFL, at Portland State and Boise State -- Borges proved he could coach. Later, he was twice a finalist for the national assistant coach of the year award as UCLA's offensive coordinator in 1997 and 1998. His reputation survived what he called "the season from hell" at the University of California in 2001 and the two following years in Indiana, where Tuberville hired him after the 2003 season.

A year later, Borges has one of the toughest acts to follow in college football. His own.

"The good news about Auburn is you can replace good players with more good players," Borges said. "Here, you get enough guys where you have a chance."

His new quarterback will be sophomore Brandon Cox, whom Borges describes as "a very accurate passer with great pocket presence." His new running backs will come from a foursome of Tre Smith, who missed last season with a shoulder injury; Kenny Irons, a transfer from South Carolina; Brad Lester, who was redshirted last season; and former Maryville High School star Carl Stewart.

"Carl Stewart had a heckuva spring, beyond my expectations," Borges said. "He really ran the ball well."

While the runners and passer are new, the offense is a year older and more receptive to expansion. Auburn also will have an experienced group of receivers and a promising offensive line, led by All-SEC offensive tackle Marcus McNeil.

That should be enough for an old tire man to keep the offense rolling.