Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was relieved of his duties Wednesday halfway through his first season of directing a spread offense that never caught fire. Franklin is no longer on the coaching staff, said an Auburn official.

Head coach Tommy Tuberville told the team 3:30 of the dismissal.

"After evaluating where we are at this point of the season offensively, I felt it was in the best interest of the Auburn football program to make this change," Tuberville said. "I'm not satisfied with where we are and I am personally going to take a larger role with the offense the remainder of the season. We are going to work harder than ever to make sure we consistently improve as we move forward."

Tuberville said he'll decide in the next day or so who will call the plays in Saturday's game against Arkansas.

Auburn is 104th in the nation in total offense.

Hired weeks before the Chick-fil-A Bowl last December, Franklin signed a two-year contract on Aug. 11 worth $280,000 annually, guaranteed through 2009.

Franklin made a splash in the bowl game when Auburn ran a season-high 90 plays and a season-high 423 yards. But the Tigers struggled in SEC games, scoring just five touchdowns in four games.

The Auburn-Arkansas is a classic matchup: Auburn is 103rd in the nation in scoring offense. Arkansas is 112th in the nation in scoring defense.