AUBURN NOTEBOOK: Coleman not thinking about NFL draft

Junior defensive end Antonio Coleman said Tuesday that he has yet to think about skipping his senior season to enter the 2009 NFL Draft.

“I’m just focused on finishing the season strong,” Coleman said. “I haven’t paid too much thought to that. I’ll just see how it pans out.”

Before he became bogged down with injuries, Coleman was the SEC leader in sacks and tackles for loss for a good portion of the season. He currently has six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.

A number of scouting services project Coleman being a late first-round to second-round selection if he declared for the 2009 draft.

The deadline for eligible players to declare is Jan. 15, 2009.

Auburn lands top kicker for 2010
Cody Parkey, a high school place-kicker from Jupiter, Fla., verbally committed to the Tigers for the 2010 season, according to AuburnSports.com.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Parkey was recruited by special teams/running backs coach Eddie Gran. Parkey was 5-of-7 on field goal attempts (both misses coming on blocked kicks) and 11-for-11 on PATs this season.

His stats may be a little deceiving, Jupiter coach Charlie Persson told AuburnSports.com, because he split time with his brother, Doug, who handled most field goals from 25 yards or shorter. Parkey is considered the top kicking prospect in the Class of 2010 by kicking guru Chris Sailer.

Parkey is the second commitment in Auburn’s class of 2010, joining Dothan Northview athlete B.J. Chitty.

More recruiting chit-chat
Auburn is officially 0-2 this season when hosting top recruits on official visits, but Tuberville said the end result of the game doesn’t usually have an effect on the recruits’ commitments.

“Recruiting is going fine. It’s not affected by losing a few games,” Tuberville said. “As coaches, you’d think it would help mentally a little bit. It really doesn’t. A lot of the guys see they may have an opportunity to play a little bit sooner.”

Auburn hosted “four or five” players for its game against LSU, which resulted in a tightly contested 26-21 loss. Three official visitors — tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, quarterback Raymond Cotton and running back Onterrio McCalebb — were in attendance for Saturday’s loss to Georgia. All three players reaffirmed their commitments afterward to AuburnSports.com.

Back to the kicker
Tuberville said Wednesday he was confident in backup kicker Morgan Hull if he is thrust into the starter’s role for the Nov. 29 Iron Bowl.

Kicker Wes Byrum has an inflamed right knee and will not practice this week, Tuberville said. His status will be re-evaluated early next week,
leaving his status for the Iron Bowl questionable.

“(Hull) does a good job,” Tuberville said. “The only thing he doesn’t have, obviously, is in-game experience in front of a crowd.”

Hull has handled kickoff duties for part of the year this season and was successful on his only extra-point attempt of the season, which came in the second half Saturday against Georgia.

Auburn takes practice to Jordan-Hare
The Tigers conducted practice at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Tuberville’s teams at Auburn have always made the move across the street for at least one practice near the end of the season. The coach said he likes the change of atmosphere and the ability to use the 40-second play clock.

“It’s less room,” Tuberville said, “but it gives you more of a game sensation.”

Auburn will have practice this morning and will hold walk-throughs Friday. Most of the coaches will miss Friday’s practice because of recruiting trips, Tuberville said.

Tuberville was unsure if he would be one of those coaches.

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