AU NOTEBOOK: Luper: 'We got to protect our border'

When he sat down to lay out how he wanted to target and lure the state of Alabama’s top prospects, Curtis Luper thought back to his days in the Army.

“One of the basic elements of the military is that you protect your border,” said Luper, a former air traffic controller. “So we got to protect our border. We’re going to start right here in this state.”

Luper, Auburn’s running backs coach/recruiting coordinator, said he has divided the state into seven quadrants, each of which will be assigned its own coach. Factor in Gene Chizik, and the Tigers will have eight different coaches in living rooms across the state.

Luper said he will assign two coaches to the South, two to the North, one each in greater Birmingham, Huntsville and Montgomery and one in the
Lee County region, which includes Columbus and LaGrange, Ga.

Under Tommy Tuberville, Auburn typically had about four coaches assigned to the home state.

“This state has great football — we don’t want to miss one of them,” Chizik said. “We want to be in the game with every one of them that we need to be in the game with. And we don’t want guys to be spread too thin.”

Since Nick Saban took over at Alabama in 2007, the majority of in-state talent has sided with the Crimson Tide.

Of Auburn’s 14 in-state recruits in the class of 2009, only one, Brewton defensive tackle Jamar Travis, was rated a four-star or better, according to Rivals.com. Of the Rivals’ top 10 Alabama recruits of ’09, Auburn signed none and Alabama locked up eight.

“You got to have a starting point and a home base and this state will be it,” Chizik said. “And then after that, we’ll move outside the state. We got to make sure we capture what we need to capture in this state.”

Fountain, Thomas hired to Chizik’s administrative staff
Iowa State tackles and tight ends coach Scott Fountain has been hired for an administrative position at Auburn, Gene Chizik confirmed Monday.

“Just really happy to have him as an addition to our staff,” Chizik said. “Again, we’ll work out later all the details of what everybody’s jobs are. He was a position coach on the field at Iowa State and this is a big step for him as far as coming off the field, and understanding the importance of this
position here and what it will mean to Auburn. Just really excited about him.“

New Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads — Auburn’s former defensive coordinator — retained Fountain in January. Fountain, a Samford graduate, worked under Chizik for two seasons with the Cyclones.

“I cherish the chance to work with Coach Chizik again, while returning to the great state of Alabama and having a tremendous opportunity to work at Auburn,” Fountain said in a university release.

Former Auburn player Ben Thomas, who currently serves as an event management administrator, will also take on an administrative position with the team, Chizik said.

Like Fountain, his role has yet to be defined.

“We just know that he was a great player here and spent a lot of time here and we just want him to be back to be a part of our football program,” Chizik said. “That’s the direction we’re headed with that.“

Chizik, Thigpen go way back
Chizik and new secondary coach Tommy Thigpen have yet to coach together, but Chizik said he’s been following the 38-year-old since his days as a college player.

When he was a graduate assistant at Clemson, Chizik said the team made a push for Thigpen to play there. Thigpen ended up at North Carolina, where he became a three-time All-ACC linebacker.

“I’ve got great knowledge of Tommy when he was coming out of high school,” Chizik said. “He’s done a great job. So I’ve always kind of kept track of him.”

Chizik said he has yet to decide what specific positions Thigpen and other secondary coach Phillip Lolley will supervise.

“We’re really just trying to figure out the best fit right now,” Chizik said. “It’s probably the most difficult place to coach defensively, so you’ve got to make sure you have two sets of eyes and a lot of attention to detail.”

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