JerryAU

4) Dabo did it with one of the weakest schedules every year vs a historically watered down ACC. CBH has to navigate a brutal schedule in the strongest division of the toughest conference in the nation and his two main rivals appear to have planted themselves on the top of the mountain of CFB. Give Harsin the same parameters Dabo has had it's all but guaranteed he'd be fine easing through the regular season with little to no wear and tear on his team and he'd have a roster with fresh legs by the time the CFP rolled around.

Auburn is a running team and this should be a testament to our long standing power running game. "RBU" should never under any circumstances fail to field a 1,000 yrd rusher every single year.

What's even more painful is watching SEC teams that are well coached, well developed solid talent playing smart disciplined football + superior talent nearly every week. Some of the nations best football coaches are in this conference as HC's/Coordinators not to mention a slew of the best talent evaluators and recruiters in the sport. If you take the field against them with inferior talent it just makes it that much harder to compete. With that said, Big Cat is this week with a nice amount of 4*'s still left to commit and I feel like Auburn gets some great news over the weekend. Pile up the 4*'s with a few 3*'s mixed in and put them through Harsin's boot camp of development, we should be able to hold out own long enough for recruits to see what Harsin's building here at which point the 5*'s will take notice. fingers crossed

I kinda understand from a players perspective. I still wish it was viewed as a challenge and with some importance because as a fan I hate to see bowl losses.

Pruitt's wife made 25 payments to a mother of a player to help her make her car payment? WTH? I can't imagine what a coaching staff's have to deal with from parents, grandparents, uncle, mentors now that NIL is allowed.

Rolling with a much more professional group from what I see which is s huge positive for the operation.

It appears they will be upgrading personnel and in turn replacing some folks, the next few months should be interesting.

A bird in the hand...... It's best to get 'em while you can, generate some positive vibes for the program immediately. It's also a feather in the staff's cap when they get their year-end reviews.

I'll miss the hell out of Chizik (he is the best analyst in the business IMO), but congrats to Takeo!

I really wish the "meaningless bowl game" analogy would fade away from the Auburn program considering how piss poor our teams have been in bowl games for over a decade now. Another WIN is another WIN and winning a bowl game closes a season with a positive vibe in many ways including sending our graduates out on a high note.

I understand what you're saying, but this will be the 5th yr of December early signing period and every college coach should be prepared for the hurry-up type recruiting. I think the problem is "We ain't one of them" in terms of gathering top rated prospects so far. We may not have a staff full of elite recruiters BUT I'm willing to cut them some slack because they had to get accustomed to the landscape down here and the cut-throat recruiting trails they've had to navigate for the last 12-16 months. I just feel like there are a ton of 4*'s on the table and with Big Cat this week I think we see a huge up tick in commits to the O&B.

This is nothing more than a pure trash piece from an idiot writer.

IMHO, when dealing with a bunch of teenagers I think the coach will remain a major fixture in college sports. Developing green teenagers mentally, psychologically and physically to get them to a professional level falls on the coach and his support staff.

How else should they recruit though? You have to first pursue the top guys, if they don't catch on you move down your board and pursue the next round of guys. Just because the lower rated guys jumped and committed elsewhere doesn't mean Auburn made them wait around forever - it's flipping July.

If he'd just made that comment - dropped the mic - and walked off the stage - while giving the entire crowd the double fisted bird I'd be just as pleased. He shows much more discretion that I would.

Auburn currently has 2 collectives (NIL Auburn & Friends of Auburn NIL) - a 3rd collective set to launch this Friday (Plains NIL Club) which is run by football players because the other 2 NIL's were taking too big of a cut (%) of the revenue from the players - a 4th collective (On to Victory) is rumored to be released very soon with a marketing campaign to raise $30million in 3 yrs. That's (FOUR) 4 NIL Collectives in only 7 months and they are all ACTIVE!

Total buy in may never happen even at a place where the HC just won the program's first NC in over 40 yrs (UGA). If UGA people can't get behind Smart (a former player) after what he's built, then they are flipping idiots. It may be impossible to get 100% buy in at Auburn. But damn, the HC of Auburn Football has to work at building relationships with people that finance his sport. Does he know these people, does he have open communication lines with them, do they know his operating plan or his vision for the success of his program?

I never said Harsin has to kiss ass. I said he should know the boosters and he should've already laid out his plan for Auburn football. Tell them what you need as the HC in terms of manpower, facilities, shadow staff, technological upgrades, etc. Maybe take a minute to show a little gratitude for what those $$ people have already done for Auburn Athletics? Having the initiative to get to know the people behind the scenes that can financially make or break your sports program is a wise plan of action. Example: You have to make a last minute recruiting visit to close on a top 5* prospect. You need be able to make a phone call and a booster's private jet is at your disposal with no questions asked no issues whatsoever.

People wonder why guys want to coach for him and why players line up to play for him and I wonder why not? You'll get coached on How To Coach and players get top development, training and coaching in that operation.

Why is Jimmy Rane front and center in this discussion anyway? He vehemently claimed he had no knowledge or involvement with the CBH investigation. ❓

He hurt some feelings though and the coaches and players aired their grievances to Auburn admin resulting in an investigation. Someone inside the AD purposefully leaked the investigation > social media started salacious rumors > Auburn beat writers ran wild and Philip Marshal in particular guaranteed Brian Harsin was g-o-n-e! I honestly think CBH was too hard-core and he likely didn't take anyone's feelings into the equation when he lit into them after losing 5 straight games in inexcusable fashion. NOW we have a situation where Harsin has been accused of not properly selling his program to the $$ folks at Auburn and it's been said he does not have a sense of urgency or place priority on recruiting, which is troubling IMO. He has to meet and greet people that pour millions into Auburn football IF he wants to succeed. He has to understand that He has to sell Auburn to recruits and he may have to babysit the 4-5*'s and he has to sell his program 365 days a year IF he wants to be successful.

Well, it's up to CBH to push something (anything) positive our way. He has a great opportunity to sell the program to some really talented kids who will be visiting for Big Cat and if he gets a few great commits the narrative will change.

I agree, and better scheme behind a veteran oline should allow him to shine this season. He'll need help from his TE's & RB's but I think he can have a much better year here than he had at aTm.

We're going to need a solid run game this year because Calzada will be a lot like Stidham (elite arm strength on certain throws) he'll need the run game to relieve the pressure of feeling like he has to shoulder the load all by himself. I think the few new starters on the oline with the rest super seniors and another year in the system under Friend will bode well for online execution. Those guys will hopefully be a bright spot - Lord knows they've all worked hard for years, have been loyal to AU and deserve some praise.

It's possible. I responded to Carnell's assertion that the GM may be looking for coaches in the Saban price range and not bargain basement type guys. The GM is accustomed to an organization with plenty of $$. If recent news is to be believed (as mentioned by Red) Auburn is bargain basement with their recruiting budget compared to our rivals, NIL is still struggling and massively unorganized. Who knows if the PTB and $$ people will be willing to pay 2 coaching staff's to not coach here + add an expensive (Saban priced) coaching staff in the near future?