BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - When Heath Evans talks, Auburn fans, players, coaches and administrators, all the way up to President Jay Gogue, should listen.

The former Auburn fullback had a lot to say Friday morning about his old school on the Smashmouth Radio Network on ESPN 973 The Zone in Birmingham.

None of it reflected well on the current players and coaches.

Evans is retired after playing 10 years for the Seahawks, Dolphins, Patriots and Saints in the NFL and now works as an analyst on the NFL Network. Before winning the SEC West at Auburn in 2000, he played on back-to-back losing teams in 1998, Terry Bowden’s last season, and 1999, Tommy Tuberville’s first year, “but guess what?” Evans said. “We lost a certain way.

“We lost with pride and integrity. We lost in a way that you couldn’t find a player on that field that ever quit. We lost in a way that also allowed us to come back and beat the tar out of Georgia when we had lost five or six games already. They were third in the country. We held our own against some of the better Alabama teams ever that had Shaun Alexander.”

Actually, the 1999 Auburn team was 4-5 when it beat No. 14 Georgia 38-21 in Athens. That team also took a 14-6 halftime lead on No. 8 Alabama, the eventual SEC champion, before losing 28-17.

This Auburn team, Gene Chizik’s fourth, is 2-7 heading into Saturday’s game against No. 5 Georgia. Evans said he saw this collapse coming while he worked out in Auburn during the 2011 NFL lockout. That was the off-season after the Tigers won the BCS championship.

“I saw this coming and nobody wanted to believe me,” Evans said. “It was a scary off-season for me, that off-season of 2011, because I do, I bleed orange and blue. I love that school. I love those kids, and I love what an Auburn man is supposed to stand for. It’s hard to watch (Auburn) football now on a Saturday afternoon.”

What did Evans see during his workouts? What was and is missing from the Auburn program?

“Discipline, structure, accountability, and most importantly, mental and physical toughness,” he said. “It’s non-existent. It’s absolutely pathetic, and I know those are harsh words, but see, the thing about mental and physical toughness is, they’re created. They really are. I can show you the man that looks the biggest and the toughest, and most likely, I can put him in some circumstances where he’d crumble. Great coaches know how to make great men, and they’re built. You don’t come out of the womb with great character, great discipline, great emotional and physical fortitude. Those things are created in you by great men. …

“Do you have to do it the Nick Saban way? No, but there has to be instant accountability for every breath you take.”

Evans echoed the sentiments of a lot of Auburn supporters about AD Jay Jacobs and head coach Gene Chizik. If you took a poll of the fan base, both Jacobs and Chizik likely would be out, and the vote probably wouldn’t be close.

“They’re great people,” he said. “I love them both. Jay and Gene have been amazing to me, but it’s no different than when I was putting on a helmet for Auburn or putting on a helmet for one of the team I played for in the NFL. You’ve gotta perform. Gene knows it. Jay knows it. This is a business we’re all in. … The world we live in, it’s what have you done for me lately.

“The one thing that’s great about Auburn and Alabama fans, they know their football. They’re not dumb fans. They can look on the field for the most part and say, ‘Wow. There’s just mental mistakes all over the place. What’s going on here?’

“I’ve had Auburn fans, especially over the last two years, say, ‘What’s going on? I’ve never seen Auburn players do the things that we’re doing now.’ “

Evans was especially harsh in discussing the Auburn quarterbacks.

“My thought is Auburn’s future quarterback is not on that roster right now,” he said. “If I was the head coach taking over this week, that’s what I’d tell them. I’d sign their transfer letter, let them go anywhere without having to sit out. If they wanted to stay and compete, they’d actually show me something about themselves that I didn’t think existed, and I’d probably be a little bit excited about them.

“I love looking into the eyes of quarterbacks. ...There’s just something about a quarterback’s eyes. I don’t like any of the quarterbacks’ eyes at Auburn right now.”

On the failure of the Auburn coaches to hold the players accountable, Evans said, “It’s not good for these kids’ character. It’s not good for them as future fathers, not good for them as future businessmen to take it easy on them. This world we live in is a tough, demanding world so we can lovingly put a lot of pressure on these kids. … I just don’t think that’s being done. I think these kids are being coddled and babied, and it’s the opposite of what these kids need.”

Evans also was asked about the recent news that Auburn has hired a security firm to monitor players that live off-campus and make sure they make curfew.

“It’s humiliating,” he said. “It tells me we have a bunch of Dez Bryants on our team, and it’s a joke. Ask Nick Saban if he’s doing that. If you don’t have mentally tough and physically tough players, you’re going to lose. Well guess what? Mentally and physically tough players, they’ll make their curfew. Mentally and physically tough players, they’ll show up to practice on time. Mentally and physically tough players, they’re going to be mentally and physically prepared to play every single Saturday. ...

“That’s the (New England) Patriot way, and I believe in it. Look across the state, Auburn fans. The Patriot way can be done in college football with grand success. Nick Saban, if he was really getting truthful in his heart of hearts, he’d say there are a lot of coaches that could implement this very same way and have close to this very same success if they were willing to just toe the line when it comes to discipline and structure.”

Click here to listen to the entire Evans interview on ESPN 973 The Zone or go to www.973thezone.com.