Well, gosh, why would anyone want him to play for their offensive line?
So: as of this morning, WBE is officially back in the saddle. Apologies for the absence last week, but I’m going to make it up to you: Hoops Report later today, and over the next couple of weeks the conclusion of the Auburn AUghts series, more coaches’ report cards, a heap of krootin’ (including the resumption of the “Google surveys …” series), all the usual good stuff. Thanks for bearing with me. It’ll be worth it.
As a quick catch-up, here’s some of the non-hoops stories that I missed since my last post:
Mack commits. That last missive got posted just as the Mack-decommits-from-SC news broke, and in it I gave Florida a fighting chance for Mack’s signature since, you know, they’re Florida. But as soon as word came from Mack that he’d be announcing at noon the next day–before ever having set foot on the Gator campus–the handwriting was on the wall in orange-and-blue.
And so sure enough, Auburn adds their seventh offensive line commitment, and their fifth to be ranked four stars or better by at least one of the three major services. Mack does a little bit better by the rankings than most of his counterparts in the class, though, nabbing four stars from all three and becoming the highest consensus-ranked recruit of the bunch. More importantly, Mack had serious offers from the likes of the Gators and virtually the entire Southeast. This appears to be a major win for Chizik and Co.
And in the bigger picture, this OL class is an even bigger win; in one fell recruiting swoop, Auburn’s 2011 depth problems are virtually erased. It doesn’t mean potentially replacing an entire offensive line will be easy, but at least Jeff Grimes–who deserves a heaping helping of credit for selling himself as the kind of coach players like Mack would want to play for–will have options and quality options to work with. As recently as last summer, it looked like Auburn would have to go with the spit-and-bailing-wire approach; that worry has long, long since passed.
Elsewhere … uh … maybe I picked the right week to go on vacation? There wasn’t much happening on the football front, was there? What is worth revisiting:
– Jay G. Tate’s working on what ought to be a terrific story on Cam Newton and has drool-inducing quotes from one opposing JUCO coach and some interesting commentary from Newton’s father on the recruiting process. Apparently Auburn has Papa Newton to thank for his son’s arrival on the Plains:
Cam was apprehensive. He was leaning toward Starkville. He had that relationship with Dan Mullen and there was a comfort level there. I didn’t think that was the right place for Cam. They just don’t have all the moving parts. Cam was going to have to be the star. He’d have to do everything himself. I didn’t want him to be a rented mule. Auburn has far more varsity players returning, they have more skill players, they’re attracting more highly recruited players and it’s right down the street.
Makes plenty of sense to me, especially given the terrorbeast that Auburn’s offense could become this fall with Newton (or whoever) at the helm, but if I was a State fan, yeah, I’d probably be a bit steamed.
– As for krootin’, the big news from this weekend was that Auburn survived one round of commitments and targets visiting elsewhere without too much fallout. At this point I’d guess D.J. Howard–who went to Clemson last weekend–is the biggest flight risk amongst Auburn’s commits, but you’ll recall that last year a whole gaggle of Tiger commitments took late visits to Miss. St., Tennessee, and elsewhere, and the only departure (Brandon Heavens) was one the coaching staff had essentially already approved themselves. I’m not worried. The much bigger question is if Chizik and Co. can seal the deal on Lattimore and if the school Jeffrey Whitaker and Corey Lemonier have each allegedly already decided on is Auburn.
– Tim Hawthorne will play receiver this fall for Terry Bowden at North Alabama. Something of a surprise since we figured Hawthorne, degree in hand, was done with the sport … but I guess we couldn’t expect Chizik and Co. to get along with everyone. Still wishing Hawthorne nothing but the best of luck, of course.
– Not a story, obviously, but boy did P-Marsh get his optimism on yesterday:
I look for Demond Washington to be an All-America caliber defensive back for Auburn next season.
All-America? And here I was thinking All-SEC would be awfully nice. Hope he’s right.
– Back with the Hoops Report later.
Photo via.
Welcome back.
I get the feeling Howard is ours, and will get his shot at some RB. I hope he makes me look like a fool for dissin’ him a couple of weeks ago.
If those other three (Lattimore, Whitaker, and Lemonier) show up, or any combination of the two, it will be an unbelievable job. Will put AU near the top spot in recruiting rankings – for what that’s worth. And that’s with the CoachBot across the state. And they told us it couldn’t be done.
Or if it is done, like that jackass over at “Capstone Report” claims, it is done because of illegal activity during the recruiting process. Don’t go over there. Just trust me. That will be the new claim for the crimson nutjobs on how we are hanging with the Tide in recruiting.
Terry Bowden had like 20 D1 transfers on the UNA roster in 2009. Like Mico McSwain, started at RB for Ole Miss
Harrison Beck, started at QB as a Freshman at Nebraska before transferring to NC State.
T.J. Porter, lead the Big East in receiving his Soph season at Pitt.
and 6 from FSU.
http://www.roarlions.com/Lion_Sports/Football/Current_Season/roster.htm
I guess Tim would rather have brother Jeff as a position coach then Trooper.
JM, dude, what the hell were you reading those guys for in the first place? I took them out of my reader months ago. They’re like Schmineschmaum–nothing good comes from reading them. Ever. It’s bad for the Auburn soul.
I will say I can’t begrudge them this particular tinfoil gripe, though–we all know that plenty of Auburn fans have accused ‘Bama of illegal recruiting methods over the past couple of years. From a macro fanbase-as-a-whole perspective, it would be a little disingenuous to dish it out without being able to take it. Price of success, I’d say.
Re: recruiting success even with the coachbot around, Chizik and Co. have been much, much better in-state, but the big push has still come out-of-state. Auburn’s likely to bring in the top player from Louisiana, the top two from Carolina, the top player (and possibly top two) from Arkansas, several other four-stars from Georgia, Mississippi, etc. It’s the best of both worlds–the players Auburn COULD get in state they’ve gotten, the ones outside the state we wanted Auburn’s also gotten. And that’s how you end up with a top-5 class.
I only come across them when I do a “news” search on Google News for “Auburn Tigers” in looking for tidbits for the The Daily Believer. I don’t want to read the ramblings of mad men … but when I see “to suspect that the Tigers could be pulling shenanigans again … Currently rumors abound surrounding Auburn’s resurgence on the recruiting front” in my search list I’ve got to know what those “rumors” are all about. (As you well know, no documentation or sources mentioned at all in that piece of hate.)
Nice read. It’s good to have you back Jerry. Last week seemed to last way too long without all of your updates. Thanks again.
In the wise words of Caligula, “oderint dum metuant.” Let them hate as long as they fear…
Jerry, have you heard anything about a supposed “secret visitor” that was in Auburn this past weekend? There are alot of rumors swirling around the AU message boards today.
Jonathan, heard that such a visitor exists, can’t help you with his identity. I’m not much of an insider, truth be told.
F-bomb has invaded the mid south. After the first of the year he is on the fox affiliate in memphis from 6pm-10pm. I can’t imagine this will last very long. Thankfully there is more going on around here than just AU and UA.
At least I hope I’m right. The guy whose airspace he jacked wasn’t very good but at least he didn’t piss me off!
Speaking of the mid south, where is the love for Darren Bates. You gotta think he is getting all sec or all america before demond. Well at least that is my opinion. You have to remember that Bates didn’t even get a full fall practice in. You heard it here first. That dude will be rockin’ next year.