AU National Recruiting

[TigerWar 82]

As Auburn's exposure and brand continue to increase throughout the country, I would imagine that you'll be seeing the Tigers capable of taking a more national approach when it comes to recruiting.

Will they?

Who knows.

But think about it, Auburn is the only team in the SEC with 3 Southeastern Conference Championships in the last 10 years and the Tigers are on the cusp of arguably winning its 2nd BCS National Championship in 3 years, so that would lend you to believe that more and more big time blue-chips from every nook and cranny in this country will have learned and know about Gus' exciting brand of football and would possibly be willing to come spend 4-5 years of their lives at the loveliest village on the plains.

Now don't get me wrong, I realize that Auburn is in the middle of a hotbed when it comes to its location to states (Georgia, Florida, Alabama) producing top tier Division 1 college football players, but I believe the Tiger staff is open minded, innovative, intelligent and willing to make the most of Auburn's unbelievable ride on a huge wave of positive publicity and use it to reach any recruit they want, no matter the location.

Chizik's staff and the 2010 BCS National Championship gave us a small taste of national recruiting by bringing in guys like one of the top rated offensive lineman in the nation in Westerman out of Arizona, Rivals' #2 rated outside linebacker Kris Frost from North Carolina, Roszell Gayden and Joel Bonolomo out of the California JUCO ranks and Steven Clark from Missouri. Like I said, it was a 'small taste' and I also realize that not every recruit worked out.

But Gus is not Chizik.

And this staff is not all smoke and mirrors. These coaches can not only recruit, they can coach.

I believe a dead period is slowly inching its way closer to us in mid December, but the question begs to be asked - will Auburn's staff do any recruiting on the west coast during its trip to Pasadena? Are FSU and AU allowed to allocate tickets to recruits from the region?

And more than anything else, will Auburn take advantage of possibly the most improbable and amazing season in college football history by letting every state in this fine country know that "All your recruits are belong to Auburn"?

Or...

Will Gus just continue stealing all of Nick Saban's commitments?

[Mikey 16,781]

I'm not a fan of the "national recruiting" idea. Of course, if there's some 5* guy in California that is sold on Auburn, fine. However, there are more than enough players withing 300 miles of Auburn to fill several rosters with top-notch recruits. Lets let somebody else burn time and gas going from coast to coast.

[benjazz 0]

I'm not a fan of the "national recruiting" idea. Of course, if there's some 5* guy in California that is sold on Auburn, fine. However, there are more than enough players withing 300 miles of Auburn to fill several rosters with top-notch recruits. Lets let somebody else burn time and gas going from coast to coast.

We have several now. Diamond is from Chicago, Callaghan & Korzan Colorado, Blackmun Delaware etc. If we take care of business in Alabama and the surrounding area it should open up doors for a particular need and I have no problem going after anyone. It will be next year before that becomes a huge option probably though.

[TheBlueVue 177]

We currently have players from North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Delaware, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Colorado,Texas and Arkansas but it only makes sense to focus on Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi

[TexasTiger 14,363]

I'd focus on the region-- guys who can more easily make games and build ties, but also reach out to top players around the country.

[yy4u 0]

Good Post TW.......and the answer is YES...to both

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

Good Post TW.......and the answer is YES...to both

AU is not going to take their recruiting "national". If a prospect has interest in AU they will talk but look for AU to recruit more in the SE with Alabama, Georgia and Florida being AU's main focus.

Now JUCU recruiting is different.

[AUnMS 120]

Good Post TW.......and the answer is YES...to both

AU is not going to take their recruiting "national". If a prospect has interest in AU they will talk but look for AU to recruit more in the SE with Alabama, Georgia and Florida being AU's main focus.

Now JUCU recruiting is different.

Why would AU not take recruiting nationally? Isn't that limiting our opportunities? If I'm fishing on a lake and I want to pull in the biggest fish, I'm going to try all of the holes.

[Tiger 8,855]

Recruit the TOP GUYS who are interested in Auburn regardless of where they are from. This is partly why we have such a good roster of guys right now.

[gravejd 3,304]

Good Post TW.......and the answer is YES...to both

AU is not going to take their recruiting "national". If a prospect has interest in AU they will talk but look for AU to recruit more in the SE with Alabama, Georgia and Florida being AU's main focus.

Now JUCU recruiting is different.

Why would AU not take recruiting nationally? Isn't that limiting our opportunities? If I'm fishing on a lake and I want to pull in the biggest fish, I'm going to try all of the holes.

I think the idea is you focus on the local kids but if a couple of big time targets from elsewhere show a lot of interest then you take a look. But AUs bread and butter is going to be getting 80% of our players from AL, GA, and FL. There are several problems that arise with recruiting nationally. 1 is that if you are recruiting nationally then you are likely recruiting big time players and those players tend to wait longer to commit. So you have to spend more resources recruiting them and common sense tells you that you are at a disadvantage to the more local schools. Another big issue with recruiting nationally is that you are greatly increasing the number of kids that you have to evaluate. This makes it harder to give players thorough evaluations and also makes it easier to miss things like character issues. The next big problem is that when you are chasing after the big time national prospects, it makes it easier for someone to come in and get quality players from your backyard. Bama has run into that this year with Roc. Very likely he would have wound up at bama had they recruited him hard from the get go. But bama thought they could offer at the last second at get whoever they want locally. However AUs reemergence has changed that!

[auburn4ever 1,266]

I've always been a fan of us opening our recruiting and go national, but I also want us to continue signing the 4 and 5* blue chippers from Alabama, Georgia and Florida as well as other southern states.

[AUnMS 120]

Good Post TW.......and the answer is YES...to both

AU is not going to take their recruiting "national". If a prospect has interest in AU they will talk but look for AU to recruit more in the SE with Alabama, Georgia and Florida being AU's main focus.

Now JUCU recruiting is different.

Why would AU not take recruiting nationally? Isn't that limiting our opportunities? If I'm fishing on a lake and I want to pull in the biggest fish, I'm going to try all of the holes.

I think the idea is you focus on the local kids but if a couple of big time targets from elsewhere show a lot of interest then you take a look. But AUs bread and butter is going to be getting 80% of our players from AL, GA, and FL. There are several problems that arise with recruiting nationally. 1 is that if you are recruiting nationally then you are likely recruiting big time players and those players tend to wait longer to commit. So you have to spend more resources recruiting them and common sense tells you that you are at a disadvantage to the more local schools. Another big issue with recruiting nationally is that you are greatly increasing the number of kids that you have to evaluate. This makes it harder to give players thorough evaluations and also makes it easier to miss things like character issues. The next big problem is that when you are chasing after the big time national prospects, it makes it easier for someone to come in and get quality players from your backyard. Bama has run into that this year with Roc. Very likely he would have wound up at bama had they recruited him hard from the get go. But bama thought they could offer at the last second at get whoever they want locally. However AUs reemergence has changed that!

Interesting perspective.

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

I've always been a fan of us opening our recruiting and national, but I also want us to continue signing the 4 and 5* blue chippers from Alabama, Georgia and Florida and other southern states.

"Feelers" will be sent out nationally to the top players but recruiting nationally is not the smart move. There is a reason all of the top schools, including schools in the Pac-10, recruit here in the south. This is where the talent is. More than enough players in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the southern states to win NC's year in and year out.

[bikeriderga 135]

Region should come first, but you have to look across the country and see who is the best to fill holes or gaps you have.

Auburn has been doing this, so the formula they are currently using works well.

[CameronCrazy 1,111]

WDE - I completely agree that we should focus our attention in the southeast. But a recruit that comes to mind is Dante Booker. He was reported to be an Auburn legacy, but we never heard anything about Auburn recruiting him. Did we not pursue him or did he not contact the coaches to express interest?

[VAtiger12 112]

Also think about a player like Christian Westerman who was a great pickup and a huge addition but then later was basically too homesick to stay at Auburn. (Among other factors)

The southeast and Texas are basically the most talent rich region. I hope with the addition of A&M to the SEC we can do even better mining Texas for prospects but other than that no need to go too far and wide.

[WeagleTheBeagle 60]

As exciting as our Offense is, we may be able recruit some kids nationally, similar to Oregon. But I doubt you'll see too much of that on the Defensive side. Just my opinion.

[WaynesAUworld 179]

Also think about a player like Christian Westerman who was a great pickup and a huge addition but then later was basically too homesick to stay at Auburn. (Among other factors)

I wonder if he is regretting leaving now?

[mcgufcm 4,109]

I'm not a national recruiting guy. Given the wealth of talent in the area it's silly to let the eye wander and risk alienating your base. I'm good with cherry-picking a guy here or there (Lee Ziemba, Kodi Burns, Jordan Diamond, etc.), but the big-time national recruit is no lock to succeed (without commenting on current players compare: Lee Tilley (4* Ohio), Christian Westerman (4* Arizona), and Tyrik Rollison (4* Texas) with Ben Tate (4* Maryland), Lee Ziemba (4* Arkansas), and Emory Blake (4* Texas)). Despite the consistently high star ranking, the success rate looks no different than the kids from this area. So why do more work than you have to do and run the risk of losing out on home-grown talent?

Alabama, Georgia, and Florida should make up 20 out of every 25 recruits. The rest consistent of guys here or there from outside those states.

[Tiger 8,855]

I think we can start making an impact in Texas, and it would only help our team.

[jacksrc 4]

There is a reason that the SEC has won so many Nat'l Championships, and the rest of the country recruits the southeast so hard. All the talent is here. When Oregeron was at Ole Miss, his motto was planes don't fly north. He wanted nothing to do with players from PN, OH, NY, NE, etc.

[Tiger 8,855]

In all fairness, using Orgeron as a reference was in poor judgement. All those players he got landed him a nice place on the hot seat, and eventually out of a job for a bit.

[AURex 2,262]

Alabama and FSU do a pretty good job of recruiting nationally. So do Notre Dame, Ohio State and USCw. Tennessee used to, back in their better days. If you look at recruiting services like Rivals, you see that Bama has offered lots of players around the country.

I don't mind taking some kids with great potential from outside the region. However, a big consideration for most of those players is the distance from family, and also the very significant culture shift when they come to the south. It's not an easy move for most kids.

So I expect Auburn to concentrate on recruiting in the south, with an occasional pickup from afar.

[AUnMS 120]

It would be nice to occasionally have some Somoans (not the Girl Scout cookies either) on the line of scrimmage for us.

[mcgufcm 4,109]

AURex, I think Bama's newfound national attention could come back to bite them in the butt this year. Example: they ignored Roc Thomas. I think Bama's broad view actually helped Auburn land the majority of the best players in Alabama. Maybe it works out for them, I'm happy with the guys we've landed.

Also, Orgeron's Ole Miss teams didn't lack talent. They lacked a coach. When O was replaced with Nutt (not exactly Knute Rockne), they went from 3-win teams to back-to-back Cotton Bowl wins. Those teams had talent.