It’s been a while since we’ve seen or heard from coach Gene Chizik. As you can see from the picture above, he looks about the same. No glasses today.
The head tackle football coach spoke for roughly 28 minutes about the 2009 recruiting class, which currently stands at 28 if you count the three junior college transfers that, technically, will be counted on last year’s group.
Here are some of the highlights from a largely monotonous media gathering.
On general thoughts about life on the ‘crutin’ trail Boy we’ve had a blast. All the football coaches that have joined me have been here probably that or a little bit less. And we’ve had a great time. It has been SO FUN to go out in this state, and other states as well, but so fun to go out in this state right now and recruit the state of Alabama with all the great high school coaches and rekindle so many great relationships and start up new relationships with the Alabama high school coaches.
The thing every coach in college football is required to say We don’t look at the number of stars and we don’t look at all the rankings and things of that nature.
But…
I appreciate the rankings and everybody’s thought on how good a class is or how not good a class is or how many stars they have.
Interesting.
How on earth did you land DeAngelo Benton? We feel like any time you get them on campus here right now and they see the pride and tradition and all the things Auburn has to offer, we feel like we have a shot. That’s what happened. We got him on campus. We threw our hat in the ring and we battled for him. Again, to go back to our assistant coaches who just kept fighting on that thing. That was never an easy get all the way up to the time where we received the fax. It was a big deal for us.
He hasn’t played in a year, though. Scared? Coming out of high school he was one of the top receivers in the country. He was a great player. Again, when you talk about your staff going out and really just trying to find guys, wherever they’re at, there’s always different circumstances with all these guys out here. That’s why that’s one of the things I keep bragging about with our guys – they keep going out and finding guys.
He was one that we found. It looks like he could step in there today and play, physically. He hasn’t taken a step back. He’s a couple years older – probably a couple years wiser. But I think mentally and physically he’s ready to play football again.
All you’ve got to do is put on his senior year highlights and you say yes.
How about Eltoro Freeman? He sounds feisty. And you get him here for spring ball, too. Really huge. You talk about an excitable guy, now, he’s exciting to have around. He’s what you’re looking for at that position. He’s physical. He runs well. He’s excited about being at Auburn. I think it’s huge that you get him here mid-year. That gives him a chance to get into the defense.
Any surprises? Nothing surprises me with this day, shoot. We got the ones we hoped to get and the ones that we didn’t get, best of luck to them. We’re going to focus on the ones we did get because we’re really proud of those guys.
What was the philosophy, Gene? Obviously, there’s always some means to the madness. We can’t sign eight tailbacks and one wide receiver, but again, we had to use a fine balance in there between the best players available and what we, numbers-wise, needed to balance out our roster.
But are you happy about the class? I can say that I’m happy with the class. Our goal is to continually, every year, upgrade. Next year’s recruiting class should be better than this one. The year after that, our goal is to make sure our class is better than the next one. We want competition. I’m happy with what we’ve got. The rankings, I’m not even sure of. I know that I feel like, as a staff, we got the right guys.
How was this morning? Nervous? There was adrenaline flowing.
Three guys from Texas. Gonna do it again? I think the first thing that’s evident is how important the state of Alabama is to us. And then as you sit there and you look past the state of Alabama, when you’re getting done recruiting so many great players in this state, you’ve got to figure out where else you are going. Are you going to Georgia? Are you going to Florida? Are you going to Mississippi? For us, it was a little bit different this year because this had a lot to do with pre-existing relationships. And mainly because of the timing of the whole thing, so we had some coaches right now that have recruited in the state of Texas that have done a phenomenal job with relationships.
Other potential signees on the way? David Oku? Stay tuned, Phillip. Stay tuned. Same bat channel.
Arguably the most maligned member of the 2008 Auburn Tigers’ coaching staff has found a new employer.
Spread guru Tony Franklin will take over as offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State, according to Rivals.com.
Franklin, as we all remember, lasted just six games into his first season at Auburn before Tommy Tuberville abruptly fired him. The Tigers went 1-5 with a corral of play-callers post-Franklin.
Franklin, 51, was brought in to install his “Tony Franklin System” pass-happy, spread offense with the hopes of not only making Auburn’s offense more potent, but also making the school more attractive to high school recruits. The latter definitely worked, as a number of the players signing today were wooed by the potential of Franklin’s offense.
It never came together, though, as the Tigers ranked 104th in total offense (309.2 yards per game), 105th in pass efficiency (104.98), tied for 111th in red zone offense (65 percent) and 112th in third-down conversions (29.7 percent) under Franklin’s watch. To his defense, it didn’t get much better after he left.
We’re here live from the Auburn Athletic Complex anxiously awaiting the faxed National Letters of Intent from your new Auburn tackle football players. We’ll be updating all morning and early afternoon before Gene Chizik meets with the media at 2 p.m.
Auburn’s class of 2009 currently stands at: 28
(11:55 a.m.) - Two of Auburn’s prior commitments are not expected to sign today because of academic matters, according to AuburnSports.com. Two-star offensive lineman Tyler Knight (Leesburg, Ga.) is expected to sign on with a junior college somewhere and four-star Jamontay Pilson (Greenville) has signed on to play at Senatobia N.W. Mississippi C.C.
(11:42 a.m.) - Bastrop, La. defensive tackle DeQuinta Jones is an Arkansas Razorback. The four-star visited Auburn a couple weekends ago and included the Tigers among his finalists. He was originally a Michigan commitment, but that word—in the world of recruiting—has lost all relevance. Unless four-star running back David Oku comes out with a surprise announcement today, we’re done for the day.
(11:27 a.m.) - Maybe there’s only one fax machine in Mobile. Three just rolled in from Williamson High all at once. Three-star wide receiver LaVoyd James, three-star defensive tackle Terrance Coleman and three-star defensive tackle Nick Fairley (Wesson (Miss.) Copiah-Lincoln, but also originally from Williamson) should be the last signees of the day. James (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) has been committed since June, but had planned to visit Mississippi State this past weekend. He did not. Perhaps a threat to revoke his offer muted that thought? Coleman (6-foot-1, 244 pounds), the nephew of senior defensive end Antonio Coleman, has been a longtime Auburn commitment, but has been somewhat volatile, particularly over the past few months. Coleman was up in the air after Tommy Tuberville’s resignation, but re-committed when Antonio announced he was returning for his senior season. He then somewhat reopened his availability when linebackers coach James Willis left for Alabama. He visited Tennessee this past weekend. Fairley, meanwhile, is on his third go-around in trying to become an Auburn Tiger. He did not qualify the first two times. Fairley (6-foot-4, 295 pounds) was unable to enroll this winter, so he will not be available for spring football. He will have three years to play three.
(11:13 a.m.) - Four-star Brewton defensive tackle Jamar Travis waited a bit, but he’s in. Travis committed to Auburn shortly after his visit last week, de-committing with Southern Miss in the process. The 6-foot-1, 312-pounder, also had offers from UAB, Memphis, Oregon and others, according to Rivals. At W.S. Neal High School, Travis collected 70 tackles, 14 tackles-for-loss, seven sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks in his senior season.
(11:10 a.m.) - It’s slowed down a bit here, but we’ve got another non-commit to report. Three-star Memphis linebacker Greg King announced he will sign with Tennessee.
(10:39 a.m.) - Bessemer linebacker Harris Gaston is No. 24. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound, three-star committed in April, but visited Tennessee this past weekend. According to Rivals, he has a 3.8 GPA. That’s about all we can find on him at the moment.
(10:27 a.m.) - Call it a commitment if you like, but the impact of Robert Cooper’s signing won’t be felt for at least a year. The Daphne athlete will be a quarterback at Auburn, but is going to grayshirt the upcoming season. He will not enroll until January, which means he won’t be allowed to participate in any football-related activities until then. The 6-foot-4, 204-pounder picked the grayshirt opportunity at Auburn over an immediate opening at UAB.
(10:22 a.m.) - How about another non-commitment, eh? Longtime Auburn commit Brandon Heavens (Bessemer) has signed with Mississippi State. The three-star wide receiver would have fit in well with Tony Franklin’s system because of his size (5-foot-10, 165 pounds), but that isn’t the case anymore. Heavens’ academics were also thought to be a concern, as Auburn was reportedly steering him toward junior college. It’s also tough to see where Heavens would have fit in now that the Tigers landed big wideouts Emory Blake and DeAngelo Benton.
(10:09 a.m.) - Two more four-stars just streamed through the official Auburn fax machine. Cornerback Taikwon Paige (Milledgeville Georgia Military College) and running back Dontae Aycock (Tampa, Fla.) made if official simultaneously. Paige (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) just received an offer from Auburn yesterday. He originally signed with North Carolina in 2007 out of Aiken, S.C. but did not qualify. Paige has three years to play two. Aycock, meanwhile, was long expected to sign with Georgia Tech, but reportedly lost his offer when he visited Auburn this past weekend. The Yellow Jackets wanted Aycock (5-foot-10, 216 pounds) as a quarterback, but he will be a runner at Auburn. Rivals rates him the No. 16 running back in the country and No. 32 overall prospect from Florida.
(9:54 a.m.) - The final Texas product—we think—has signed with Auburn. Three-star defensive end Nosa Eguae of Mansfield Summitt is in. Eguae, aside from having an extremely tough name to spell, stands at 6-foot-3 and weighs 234 pounds. He also falls into the “late arriver” category, as he was pursued by Curtis Luper back in his Oklahoma State days. Eguae originally committed to Colorado, but seemed immediately smitten following his visit to Auburn a few weeks back. He was also considering Minnesota and Texas Tech.
(9:20 a.m.) - In what will likely go down as the biggest shocker of the day, one of the top wide receivers in the country, DeAngelo Benton, has signed with the Tigers. Benton played at Chatman (Va.) Hargrave in 2007 and trained in his hometown of Bastrop, La. in 2008. He signed with LSU twice, but failed to qualify both times. Just yesterday, Benton told a Louisiana radio station he was going to sign with LSU for a third time.
“I’m signing with LSU. I told coach Miles that when I was down there over the weekend. I’ll be signing Wednesday at Bastrop.“
Benton (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) was a five-star out of high school, but it’s tough to say where he stacks up now. He was a surprise visitor to Auburn two weeks ago, but was still considered a longshot. He has five years to play four.
(9:14 a.m.) - Emory Blake is your first on-the-fence guy to side with Auburn. The four-star Austin, Texas wide receiver announced he signed with the Tigers today at his high school. The son of former NFL quarterback Jeff Blake, the 6-foot-1, 194-pounder chose the Tigers over Texas Tech and Colorado. On a lighter note, Brantley athlete Anthony Gulley has also signed. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound athlete chose Auburn over Troy. He will likely line up as a slot receiver.
(9:07 a.m.) - Former Tallassee Tiger Demond Washington is now an Auburn Tiger. The three-star athlete who is making the switch from Perkinston (Miss.) Gulf Coast junior college to Division I ball committed Saturday after going back and forth between Ole Miss and Auburn. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound speedster will likely play cornerback with Auburn. He has three years to play two. He roomed with freshly signed Eltoro Freeman at Perkinston.
We like Washington because he provided the best quote of the entire recruiting process, when he talked to the liberal media about his hometown, which sits about 30 miles outside Auburn.
Being close to home, that’s not always good. You can go home and get in trouble. If I decided to come here, that won’t be a factor. I’ll be here on the weekends.
It’s a small city, but there’s all kinds of trouble to get into. It’s easy to get into; hard to get out of.
(8:53 a.m.) - Here’s the first non-commitment of the day. Four-star offensive lineman Aubrey Phillips has signed with Florida State. It appeared Auburn might have had a shot at Phillips, who visited this past weekend and said he was going to “shock some people” on Signing Day. He did, as Phillips (6-foot-6, 310 pounds) was committed to Tennessee, but he just didn’t appease the Auburn fanbase.
(8:43 a.m.) - Auburn High’s own John Sullen is the newest Auburn Tiger. The mammoth 6-foot-5, 338 offensive lineman didn’t get much attention from Tuberville’s staff, but immediately jumped at the opportunity when Chizik gave him an offer mid-January. The three-star de-committed from Southern Miss to do so.
(8:30 a.m.) - Let the family fun begin. Three-star outside linebacker Jonathan Evans, the brother of former Auburn linebacker Chris Evans, is in. The Prichard native committed in June, but visited Tennessee this past weekend. It appears Lane Kiffin didn’t do much for him. Evans stands six feet tall and weighs in at 205 pounds.
(8:26 a.m.) - The No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the nation is officially in the fold. Four-star, Sulphur Springs, Texas quarterback Tyrik Rollison is considered the No. 1 most accurate passer, the No. 9 recruit from Texas and the No. 60 overall recruit, according to Rivals. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder threw for 4,729 yards and 51 touchdowns during his senior season. He added 1,094 yards on the ground with 14 more touchdowns, as he led the team to a Class 4A Division II state title. Rollison did not emerge on the scene until late in the recruiting process, as running backs coach Curtis Luper led the charge.
I’d say he’s YouTube worthy.
(8:17 a.m.) - Two more just rolled in. Three-star athlete Izauea Lanier (Gordo) and two-star defensive tackle Josh Jackson (Gainesville, Ga.) are Auburn Tigers. Lanier (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) arrived relatively late on the scene and can be counted as Chizik’s first original commitment. We say relative, though, because Jackson’s name didn’t pop up until late last night. Jackson (6-foot-2, 260 pounds) was recruited by defensive line coach Tracy Rocker when he was still at Ole Miss. He also had an early offer from North Carolina State. Jackson has never been on campus.
(8:07 a.m.) - Here’s a name from the past. Three-star running back Brandon Jacobs (Lilburn, Ga.) brings Auburn into double digits. The 6-foot-1, 230-pounder committed in July and was recruited by former wide receivers coach Greg Knox. Former Auburn tailback Brad Lester also hails from the Atlanta suburb.
(8:00 a.m.) - Three-star wideout Travante Stallworth (Leesville, La.) and Leroy quarterback Clint Moseley have made it official. Both of these guys were quarterbacks in high school, but only Moseley will remain at the position at Auburn. Stallworth (5-foot-10, 180 pounds) committed in June and seemed to be a perfect fit for Tony Franklin’s system. Moseley was a late arriver on the ‘cruitin scene and wasn’t exactly a highly touted recruit because of the level of competition he faced. He finished his career with the fifth-most yards in Alabama history and won three consecutive 2A state titles.
(7:35 a.m.) - Three more just rolled in. Four-star cornerback Reggie Taylor (Fort Valley, Ga.), three-star offensive tackle Andre Harris (Hampton, Ga.) and two-star safety Daren Bates (Olive Branch, Miss.) made it official. None of these are surprises. Taylor (5-foot-10, 167 pounds) and Harris (6-foot-4, 327 pounds) committed in June, while Bates (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) was a late add last Thursday. The real drama will be whether Bates’ teammate, four-star offensive lineman Aubrey Phillips, chooses Auburn, Tennessee or Florida State.
(7:30 a.m.) - Dee Ford, a three-star defensive end from Odenville, is No. 2 for the day. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder had 38 tackles-for-loss and 18 sacks as a senior.
(7:02 a.m.) - Four-star tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen (Marietta, Ga.) is your official quick-trigger faxer. Or something like that. He’s the first of the day. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder has been committed since May, but his status was briefly in doubt after Tommy Tuberville resigned. He re-committed in early January.
You might remember him from this YouTube classic.
(Early January) - Four-star running back Onterio McCalebb made the switch from Chatham (Va.) Hargrave to Auburn for the winter semester. He originally signed with Auburn in 2008 but failed to qualify. He will have five years to play four at Auburn.
(Mid- to late December) - Former four-star, now three-star, linebacker Eltoro Freeman was the second official signee under Chizik’s watch, but we’re marking him down as first because defensive tackle Nick Fairley’s status is in doubt. The former Alex City Benjamin Russell star spent the last year-and-a-half at Gulf Coast Community College (Perkinston, Miss.). Freeman has three years to play three.
Less than 24 hours separates us from National Signing Day.
And with that, the relevance of John Bull to this here blog is slowly dissipating.
So let’s milk him while we got him, eh?
Tomorrow promises to be an exciting Signing Day for your Auburn Tigers. Expectations were pretty low for Gene Chizik to add much value to Tommy Tuberville’s recruiting class, which had plenty of quantity but an arguable amount of quality. But it appears that Auburn is legitimately in the hunt for a number of highly touted recruits. Our friends at AuburnSports.com are leading us to believe Auburn will land some of these big fish.
We have no reason to doubt them. They’ve been good to us dinosaurs in the newspaper business throughout the past month or so—the lone time of the year we pretend to care about this stuff.
Auburn’s list of commits currently stands at 25—26 if you count Daphne quarterback/athlete Robert Cooper, who said today he will accept Auburn’s offer to grayshirt next year. That means he won’t enroll until January and won’t be on scholarship until the following season. He will have five years to play four starting next year.
Now, no offense to those kids who seem to understand the definition of “commitment,“ but we really don’t care about ya’ll at the moment. Most appear to be locked in as future Auburn Tigers. Boring.
(Though we are just a bit intrigued by Mobile defensive tackle Terrance Coleman and Prichard linebacker Jonathan Evans. Both of the three-star Auburn commits, who both happen to be related to current and former Auburn Tigers, visited Tennessee this weekend. That could add a little spice to tomorrow if they de-commit.)
So, in the spirit of hoping for drama that may ensue by the official fax machine tomorrow at the Auburn Athletic Complex, let’s take one last look at the really good high school tackle football players who may or may not choose the Tigers. Again, AuburnSports.com, Mr. Bull appreciates all that you do.
And, speaking of the fax machine, we’ll be here tomorrow bright and early live-blogging the signees as they come in.
On to the list!
- Bryce Brown – RB – 5-star - Wichita East (Kansas): The No. 1 recruit in the country, per Rivals, is a soft commit to Miami, but has said he will not make an official announcement. Auburn is said to be in the mix, and could even receive an official visit from Brown in the coming weeks. Let’s call him the biggest longshot of the group.
- Deangelo Benton – WR – 5-star – Bastrop (La.): Looks to be leaning heavilly toward Les Miles and LSU, but Auburn is still in the picture.
- David Oku – RB – 4-star – Midwest City (Okla.): Also one of the top prospects in the nation, Oku seemed to enjoy his visit to Auburn to past weekend. Shortly after, he de-committed from Tennessee and has made it clear he won’t be making a decision tomorrow. His choices are narrowed down to Auburn, Tennessee and Syracuse.
- Aubrey Phillips – OL – 4-star – Olive Branch (Miss.): The big lineman had the quote of the weekend when he said he was still committed to Tennessee, “but on Signing Day there will be a change.” The only feasible change appears to be Auburn. His high school teammate, Daren Bates, committed to Auburn last week.
- Dontae Aycock – RB – 4-star – Tampa (Fla.): According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he reportedly had his scholarship offer from Georgia Tech yanked after visiting Auburn this weekend. During that visit, he said his choices were down to Auburn and Georgia Tech. Do the math.
- Taikwon Paige – DB – 4-star – Milledgeville (Ga.) Military College: He would love to be an Auburn Tiger. He just doesn’t have an offer—yet. If things start to go awry early tomorrow, he just might get one.
- DeQuinta Jones – DT – 4-star – Bastrop (La.): Jones seemed to really enjoy his visit to Auburn a few weeks ago, and has certainly kept it in the mix. He’s a soft verbal to Michigan, but will make his announcement tomorrow. He’s about as up in the air as it gets.
- Emory Blake – WR – 4-star – Austin (Texas): The son of former NFL quarterback Jeff Blake, he is divided among Auburn, Texas Tech and Colorado. Will also make an up in the air decision tomorrow.
- Tana Patrick – LB – 4-star – Stevenson (Ala.): Almost certainly a lock for Alabama, but stranger things have happened and Patrick has yet to take Auburn completely out of the picture.
- Greg King – LB – 3-star – Memphis (Tenn.): People in the know say he’s leaning Tennessee, but will make an official announcement between the Vols and Auburn tomorrow.
- Mike Eargle – ATH – 0-star - Scranton (Pa.) Lackawanna C.C.: Like Paige, he’s awaiting an offer from Auburn.
Reserve bigman Johnnie Lett injured his ankle in practice yesterday and is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game at Ole Miss, an Auburn spokesman confirmed.
This could be of the long-term variety from what we’ve gathered. It’s unclear whether or not Lett will travel with the team to Oxford.
Lett averages just 2.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, but his presence off the bench has been key for the height-challenged Tigers. This leaves coach Jeff Lebo with just Brendon Knox to go to when Korvotney Barber needs a blow.
Knox had zero points and four fouls in five minutes against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
