OXFORD — Gene Chizik is the head football coach at a place called the loveliest village on the plains, but he couldn't leave the loveliest village on Auburn University planes Monday.

A mechanical issue grounded the one AU plane on The Plains, and the other plane was in South Carolina.

But Auburn folks have no shortage of planes for fetching football coaches, and local businessmen William Wesson and Stacy Holmes dispatched planes to transport Chizik to and from Oxford.

When the new Auburn coach arrived about 90 minutes late for his Calhoun-Cleburne County Auburn Club speaking engagement at Rookies Sports Grille, he found the perfect segue to sum up his day and the state of his task.

"As patient as you were for me to get here," he told the gathering of 300, "I also want you to be that patient when it comes to where we're going with this thing."

Based on what organizers called a record crowd for the local Auburn Club and a record crowd of 45,000 at April's A-Day game, Auburn fans have given Chizik a chance.

If so, they've come a long way since December. That's when Auburn's controversial coaching transition brought booing fans to the Opelika-Auburn Regional Airport.

Through lampooning from state and national media and supporters writing letters threatening to withdraw support, Auburn fans came to know two numbers reflexively — 5 and 19.

But Chizik's record as a head coach doesn't fly off the tongue so much these days. In six months, Chizik has apparently opened minds with staff hirings, improved recruiting news and a little thing called Tiger Prowl.

One won't soon forget media coverage of Auburn coaches arriving at high schools throughout the state in a stretch limo and a stretch Hummer.

And no, it wasn't because the AU plane was grounded.

Chizik said Monday that Tiger Prowl was about sending a message, and the message drew enthusiastic applause.

"We want kids in this state and we want coaches in this state to know that we are here," he said. "And we're not leaving."

That's what Auburn fans want to hear most, now that Alabama coach Nick Saban has stacked back-to-back recruiting classes ranked No. 1 by at least one analyzing service.

Since Chizik's hiring, he's been tone perfect for a fan base that perceives that Auburn had lost footing in recruiting. They want to hear that he and his staff can recruit and will do it tirelessly ... a not-subtle dig at the previous staff.

Signing-day surprises like wide receiver DeAngelo Benton and visible stunts like Tiger Prowl reassured the base. A little reassurance goes a long way, especially for fans who want to believe.

Chizik apparently has done enough between seasons to open minds.

As for pesky realities — like Chizik's record and the talent base that produced Auburn's 5-7 record in 2008 — it's kind of like Chizik's day Monday. He finished between arriving on time and not arriving at all.

"I don't want to paint a real bleak picture, but I also don't want to — I'm just being realistic with you — I don't want for us to have delusions of grandeur, either," he said. "We're somewhere in between."

How long will Auburn fans wait for results approaching delusions?

Hard to tell, but 300 of them waited 90 minutes to hear their coach speak Monday. And when the Auburn Club's Don Ledford introduced him as "our coach," they applauded.

They've come a long way since December.