Jump to content

2016 Grad Transfer LB T.J. Neal (AU commit 2/16/16)


meh130

Recommended Posts

FTR every AU site is reporting Neal only counts to the 85 limit & not a 25 limit as a Grad Transfer.

I don't have any good info about that. Had those sites not been wrong about this sort of thing so often in the past I'd believe them. Is it going to be me or you that actually looks it up at the NCAA?

Ok, I'll flip ya' for it. Coin rolls, rolls, rolls. Sad to inform you that it came up tails and you lost. Let us know when you've found the real scoop from the NCAA website, please. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites





  • Replies 155
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Very nice pick up. Just checked out his twitter page. Seems like a very mature young man and a great father. You can tell he loves his daughter to pieces.

Great Father?

Yep...a pretty little daughter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice pick up. Just checked out his twitter page. Seems like a very mature young man and a great father. You can tell he loves his daughter to pieces.

Great Father?

He has a child?

Yep..1 daughter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've definitely had insiders that have said both (1) Gus MUST win this season and (2) this team/program is completely lost and the season is going down the tubes. Put those together and you have insiders saying we're going to lose in a must-win season. I'd say you don't have to stretch far to draw that conclusion from what some of our folks have posted lately.

Have not seen an insider post #2.

Regardless ...insiders don't know everything. Knowing if a recruit will commit vs the outcome of a season are two different things...but there has been enough insinuation form one in particular that I can understand why mg said what he did....

FWIW it's not just 1 but nearly every person w/ a real AU connection is hearing the same thing. That Gus has to show improvement in 2016 to stay. Since we went 7-6 in 2015 my opinion & interpretation of that is it means he needs at least 8-5 but more likely 9-4 & may need to be competitive in all games. I very well may be wrong in that interpretation but there is almost no doubt the team has to improve for him to stay.

I could see that, and I don't get twisted with the politics of what he has to do to stay. There was a disconnect last season, was it youth, inexperience, coaching chemistry or just one of those ugh years? Who knows - it seems to me Gus is finally getting the keys to the car to do things his way without any input from anyone. Just my opinion. Maybe that's a good thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like a good fit at Auburn. Hope he can do for our defense what the UAB guy did for the Pups this past year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well now, the Illini have fired their coach and hired Lovie Smith to be the new HC. Neal isn't locked into coming to Auburn until he attends a class, which can't be before early May. I wonder if he's thinking of sticking with his old school for this last year? He has over a month to make up his mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well now, the Illini have fired their coach and hired Lovie Smith to be the new HC. Neal isn't locked into coming to Auburn until he attends a class, which can't be before early May. I wonder if he's thinking of sticking with his old school for this last year? He has over a month to make up his mind.

According to this, he's still committed to Auburn.

http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2016/03/is_linebacker_tj_neal_reconsidering_auburn.html

"Illinois linebacker T.J. Neal requested a release from Illinois because he didn't see eye to eye with Bill Cubit's staff.

What a difference a day can make.

Cubit was fired Saturday, a mere six days before the start of spring practices at Illinois, and former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is expected to be hired soon as the Illini's next head coach.

Will the staff change affect Neal's commitment to Auburn? The linebacker told AL.com in a succinct text message Sunday he has no plans to rescind his commitment to enroll May 18 at Auburn as a graduate transfer.

"War damn eagle," Neal said in a text message to AL.com.

Neal is coming off a 109-tackle season with the Illini, but left the program when he didn't agree with the new coaching staff's plan to move him from Mike linebacker to Sam.

"It was a smack in the face when the position changed," he told AL.com in February. "I just didn't agree with it."

Neal said at the time playing at Auburn would be a "dream come true." He committed to the Tigers on Feb. 15."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well now, the Illini have fired their coach and hired Lovie Smith to be the new HC. Neal isn't locked into coming to Auburn until he attends a class, which can't be before early May. I wonder if he's thinking of sticking with his old school for this last year? He has over a month to make up his mind.

According to this, he's still committed to Auburn.

http://www.al.com/au...ing_auburn.html

"Illinois linebacker T.J. Neal requested a release from Illinois because he didn't see eye to eye with Bill Cubit's staff.

What a difference a day can make.

Cubit was fired Saturday, a mere six days before the start of spring practices at Illinois, and former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is expected to be hired soon as the Illini's next head coach.

Will the staff change affect Neal's commitment to Auburn? The linebacker told AL.com in a succinct text message Sunday he has no plans to rescind his commitment to enroll May 18 at Auburn as a graduate transfer.

"War damn eagle," Neal said in a text message to AL.com.

Neal is coming off a 109-tackle season with the Illini, but left the program when he didn't agree with the new coaching staff's plan to move him from Mike linebacker to Sam.

"It was a smack in the face when the position changed," he told AL.com in February. "I just didn't agree with it."

Neal said at the time playing at Auburn would be a "dream come true." He committed to the Tigers on Feb. 15."

That sounds good!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well now, the Illini have fired their coach and hired Lovie Smith to be the new HC. Neal isn't locked into coming to Auburn until he attends a class, which can't be before early May. I wonder if he's thinking of sticking with his old school for this last year? He has over a month to make up his mind.

According to this, he's still committed to Auburn.

http://www.al.com/au...ing_auburn.html

"Illinois linebacker T.J. Neal requested a release from Illinois because he didn't see eye to eye with Bill Cubit's staff.

What a difference a day can make.

Cubit was fired Saturday, a mere six days before the start of spring practices at Illinois, and former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is expected to be hired soon as the Illini's next head coach.

Will the staff change affect Neal's commitment to Auburn? The linebacker told AL.com in a succinct text message Sunday he has no plans to rescind his commitment to enroll May 18 at Auburn as a graduate transfer.

"War damn eagle," Neal said in a text message to AL.com.

Neal is coming off a 109-tackle season with the Illini, but left the program when he didn't agree with the new coaching staff's plan to move him from Mike linebacker to Sam.

"It was a smack in the face when the position changed," he told AL.com in February. "I just didn't agree with it."

Neal said at the time playing at Auburn would be a "dream come true." He committed to the Tigers on Feb. 15."

That sounds good!

Also apparently the DC whom TJ did not like will stay on Lovie's staff.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

By adding TJ to our 2016 class, our recruiting ranking should have gone from 9th to 7th. And if Stephen Davis Jr signs with AU, our rankings should go even higher. Am I right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By adding TJ to our 2016 class, our recruiting ranking should have gone from 9th to 7th. And if Stephen Davis Jr signs with AU, our rankings should go even higher. Am I right?

No on TJ. There are no evals or rating for transfers from other 4 year colleges. TJ adds nothing to our rankings.

Getting SDj though would push us past USC for 8th though on the composite & Rivals. On Scout we would move from 12th to 9th.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By adding TJ to our 2016 class, our recruiting ranking should have gone from 9th to 7th. And if Stephen Davis Jr signs with AU, our rankings should go even higher. Am I right?

No on TJ. There are no evals or rating for transfers from other 4 year colleges. TJ adds nothing to our rankings.

Getting SDj though would push us past USC for 8th though on the composite & Rivals. On Scout we would move from 12th to 9th.

That's fine...why are we worried about ratings? ....better to have guys who can get it done on the field. This guy brings a successful history to AU....glad to have TJ still committed to AU and look forward to seeing him on the field....and not worried what the ratings impact is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when seeing that discussion had come back up concerning TJ, my first thought was that he had decided to stay at Ill. gotta say, my heart sunk a little. glad to see that isn't the case! WDE. he needs to hurry up and finish this term and get his arse to auburn. then I will feel a lot more comfortable. you have to imagine the new staff up there is in his ear daily trying to keep him around.............

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when seeing that discussion had come back up concerning TJ, my first thought was that he had decided to stay at Ill. gotta say, my heart sunk a little. glad to see that isn't the case! WDE. he needs to hurry up and finish this term and get his arse to auburn. then I will feel a lot more comfortable. you have to imagine the new staff up there is in his ear daily trying to keep him around.............

I expect so....he would be Lovie's first 5* recruit...if you define 5* as a guy who can make an immediate impact.

Glad to see his note....and hope he is outta there pretty soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By adding TJ to our 2016 class, our recruiting ranking should have gone from 9th to 7th. And if Stephen Davis Jr signs with AU, our rankings should go even higher. Am I right?

No on TJ. There are no evals or rating for transfers from other 4 year colleges. TJ adds nothing to our rankings.

Getting SDj though would push us past USC for 8th though on the composite & Rivals. On Scout we would move from 12th to 9th.

That's fine...why are we worried about ratings? ....better to have guys who can get it done on the field. This guy brings a successful history to AU....glad to have TJ still committed to AU and look forward to seeing him on the field....and not worried what the ratings impact is.

Not worried about ratings. Just answered a4e's query.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...


He's listed as a LB because the majority of his snaps last year came at OLB. He rushed the passer more at the start of the season, but he was playing LB, regular LB, making pass drops and the like, at the end of the season.


I watched Holland play mostly at the DE position to rush the passer.


Holland practicing with the DL...



Jeff%20Holland.jpg

http://www.aufamily....nd#entry2448881

After my observation on Gus' last two pictures on twitter, Holland was with the DL group

CdEvQ3XXEAUm0We.jpg:large
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those who may not know Garner is coaching the DTs & Strong side DEs only like last year while Coach Steele is coaching the Buck/Bandit DEs & SAM LBs or Nickels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

He's listed as a LB because the majority of his snaps last year came at OLB. He rushed the passer more at the start of the season, but he was playing LB, regular LB, making pass drops and the like, at the end of the season.

I watched Holland play mostly at the DE position to rush the passer.

Holland practicing with the DL...

http://www.oanow.com...475fe06032.html

Jeff Holland coming on strong as pass rusher behind Carl Lawson

Holland, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound sophomore edge rusher, has garnered some praise this spring for his development from a year ago. Specifically, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele lauded Holland for his pass-rushing prowess this spring, saying he has come on strong behind Lawson at defensive end.

Both Steele and Lawson described Holland as a “natural” when it comes to rushing the passer.

“A good pass rusher is a good pass rusher,” Steele said. “You got to have speed, explosion, good use of hands, understand leverage. It does come natural to him. He’s got speed and quickness. He enjoys it. He’s creative with his stuff and really has done a nice job of it.”

The most creative part of Holland’s technique, apparently, is the way he maneuvers his body to evade blockers. As Lawson put it, Holland has “a lot of natural bend” when it comes to coming off the edge, allowing him to stay close to the offensive linemen as he works his way into the backfield.

Essentially, Holland is making a name for himself as a finesse rusher instead of a power rusher. After totaling 13 tackles, including 2 ½ for a loss and a sack, as well as a forced fumble as a freshman last year, Holland has been spending more time with Lawson and defensive tackle Montravius Adams, both of whom have helped him develop into a better player this spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is actually very encouraging in that picture is how fit Byron Cowart (#9) is looking. I know he was carrying some bad weight last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Members Online

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...