toddc

Behind the Crystal Ball: 5-star guard Jalen Green VIP ByKEITH NIEBUHR 43 minutes ago Share5 Comments Friday morning, I logged a Crystal Ball pick to Auburn for 5-star combo guard Jalen Green of Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep. At this...

Keyes kid already has the “Meerkat “ down, so he’s ready for the HUNH—um, “HUSLL”, hurry up, stop, look, and listen, GO.” Do the hustle—sorry.

Y’all are weird! 😝

Yes, and he’s starting to be listed as a OLB at #2 on 24/7

Source: Auburn goes with familiar face at recruiting coordinator ByBRANDON MARCELLO 14 minutes ago Share0 Comments AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn linebackers coach Travis Williams is adding yet another title to his duties on the football staff. Williams has added duties as recruiting coordinator to his responsibilities as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, a person familiar with the situation tells Auburn Undercover. Williams, who earned $450,500 last season, is expected to receive a salary bump as well. Williams replaces Marcus Woodson as the recruiting coordinator. The defensive backs coach left Auburn for the same position as DBs coach at Florida State earlier this month. Williams added the title of co-defensive coordinator alongside coordinator Kevin Steele in February 2019. Steele still handles play-calling duties.

So he’s a 5* running back, but is he a 5* linebacker? Inquiring minds want to know.

You’re still making my point with the hype aspect. verb (used with object), hyped,hyp·ing. —————————to stimulate, excite, or agitate (usually followed by up I agree he’s right more than not, but it’s still hype/ hyperbolic. That’s my whole point! Of course we are gonna hype our recruits/players or you aren’t a fan/fanatic. I don’t know why the player didn’t have a big time visit list as, @Mikey was holding up as his reason for having a wait and see attitude. Show the reason for this discrepancy and maybe, just maybe, you’ll change his mind! 😂 Good luck 🍀

I’ll probably get ripped here but I’ve got to go with @Mikey on this one. I can’t even count how many times this board has overhyped a hs kid’s ability and they never panned out. There’s nothing wrong with getting excited about the future of our players, but it does get a bit hyperbolic sometimes. A recent player that comes to mind is Marquis McClain. We can argue about why a player doesn’t pan out——-never mind that last bit. I hope the kid is the next Gronk but none of us know.

Chad Morris' history shows TE will be more involved at Auburn ByBRANDON MARCELLO 8 minutes ago Share2 Comments AUBURN, Alabama — Draft the papers because Gus Malzahn has made a declaration about a little-used position in his offense. The Auburn head coach is handing the play-calling reins to Chad Morris, and in doing so promises tight ends will be much more involved in the passing offense starting next season. "I know a lot of people and a lot of our fan base say, ‘When are we going to throw to the tight end?’ Well, it’s here," Malzahn said. "The frustration of not throwing to the tight end enough, I think we’ve got two guys that can really help change it." Auburn signed two tight ends in the 2020 recruiting class. Both are 4-star bluechips and can contribute immediately next season. The Tigers added former Arkansas commitment Brandon Frazier to the class Wednesday after previously signing J.J. Pegues in December. Frazier was long recruited by Morris, the former Arkansas head coach. The addition of the two tight ends continued a trend for the Tigers, who have brought four tight ends on board in the last two recruiting classes. Still, is Auburn ready to change after seven years of drought at the position? To say Malzahn has been reluctant to throw to the tight end in recent years is an understatement. Still, coaches play to their players' strengths, and for Auburn the tight end position has been more of a blocker than a threat in the passing game in the seven years of the Malzahn era. Tight ends accounted for only 3 percent of Auburn's receiving yards in the last seven seasons, combining for a total of 567 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Tigers failed to complete a pass to a tight end in 2015, the worst season of the Malzahn era (7-6). Enter Morris, who had the benefit of coaching one of the better tight ends in the country during his less-than-two-season tenure as Arkansas' head coach. Cheyenne O'Grady combined for 63 yards and 772 yards in less than two seasons, but left the team after only seven games in 2018 (45 catches for 476 yards and five touchdowns). The idea is Morris will bulk up Auburn's passing schemes, which means more opportunities for tight ends, which is a loaded group: returning starter John Samuel Shenker and the four most recent additions in Luke Deal, Tyler Fromm, Pegues and Frazier. "I think more than anything is just a fresh start, fresh eyes, we’re from the same family, the foundation, but he’s different and I know him and (quarterback) Bo (Nix) have already spent a lot of time together — and (quarterback) Cord (Sandberg) — just talking about the new things we’re going to do," Malzahn said. How often might Auburn include the tight end? It depends on the reliability of the players. Morris can draw up as many plays as he wants to involve the tight end, but if targets turn into incomplete passes, the Tigers will have to adjust in 2020. Still, the promise has been made: the tight ends will be more involved. Auburn's tight ends haven't eclipsed a combined 16 catches in Malzahn's seven years as head coach. Morris' lowest total as a head coach or coordinator since 2011 is 19 catches (SMU in 2015). Four of his nine seasons calling plays included one tight end catching at least 33 passes, an unheard-of mark at Auburn. *** Subscribe: Receive the latest Auburn intel and scoops*** *** Get FREE Auburn breaking news in your inbox *** Brandon Ford and Dewayne Allen each earned first-team All-ACC honors, with Allen also garnering an All-American nod, at Clemson. The duo combined for 103 catches, 1,238 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2011 and 2012. The most successful tight end in Malzahn's career was Philip Lutzenkirchen, who caught 39 passes for 423 yards and 12 touchdowns combined in 2010 and 2011. Most recently, Morris relied on the tight end more than ever to power his offense at Arkansas. O'Grady co-led the team in receptions in each season despite playing in only seven games in 2019. Malzahn believes the addition of Pegues and Frazier will change the dynamic of Auburn's passing scheme. Frazier's film is especially outstanding, particularly with the tight end's abilities after the catch. "That’s really a big priority for Coach Morris. And Brandon knows that too," Malzahn said. "I think the closest thing physically (we've had is) C.J. Uzomah was close to that size. He may be a little bigger at this point and all that. He’s got great range. Of course, JJ is coming. He provides a different aspect, too. Both of them are big-time basketball players and both of them are big, strong guys and have those NFL-type bodies. You’ll definitely see more targets to the tight ends than what we’ve seen in recent history with Chad running the offense."

It was obvious that someone would transfer with too many rbs on the team, but I never dreamed it would be Whitlow. Do you actually read posts on here or just throw something out every now and then?

Tigers hire Alabama native Al Pogue ByAUBURN UNDERCOVER 15 minutes ago Share4 Comments Al Pogue. (Photo: 247Sports) Al Pogue is headed back to his home state. Auburn Undercover can confirm the Mobile native will join the Auburn Tigers football staff to fill the vacancy that opened when secondary coach Marcus Woodson left for Florida State last month. Pogue has strong Auburn connections. In his previous stop before going with head coach Neal Brown to West Virginia, Pogue was part of a very successful run under Brown at Troy. According to his West Virginia bio, "From 2016-18, Troy’s defense allowed 20.8 points per game, ranking No. 4 nationally among non-power 5 schools. From 2015-18, the Trojans were No. 2 nationally among FBS schools in takeaways (106) and tied for No. 7 nationally with 63 interceptions. One of Pogue’s defensive backs, Blace Brown registered 12 interceptions over the last three years, tying for No. 3 nationally for active career interceptions. In 2018, Troy’s defense gave up 22.0 points per game, ranking No. 28 nationally and 347.9 yards per game, ranking No. 31 in the nation. The Trojan defense was No. 3 nationally in turnovers gained (31), No. 5 in interceptions (18) and fumbles recovered (13), No. 11 in turnover margin (0.77), No. 16 in tackles for loss (7.6), No. 21 in red zone defense and tied for No. 28 in first-down defense (240). Troy also led the Sun Belt Conference in sacks, interceptions, turnovers, red zone defense and was No. 2 in rushing defense, total defense and No. 3 in scoring defense. The Trojans led the nation in red zone defense in 2017 as the Trojans set a school record for wins, won the Sun Belt Championship and ended LSU’s 49-game non-conference home winning streak. Troy was No. 3 in tackles for loss (8.6), No. 7 in sacks (3.23) and rushing defense (105.7). The Trojans were No. 15 nationally in interceptions (17), No. 16 in turnovers gained (26) and No. 26 in turnover margin (0.54). The 2016 Trojans posted a 10-3 record and earned a victory in the Dollar General Bowl, the first top-25 ranking in school and conference history and tied for the best win-improvement in the country. Troy finished No. 2 nationally in passes intercepted, No. 4 in turnovers forced, No. 9 in passes defended per game (5.9), No. 17 in rushing defense, No. 21 in scoring defense (22.1) and No. 28 in third-down defense. The 2015 defense finished with the No. 2-best turnaround nationally in opponent third-down percentage, No. 4-best turnaround in yards per play allowed, No. 5-best improvement in tackles for loss and No. 16-best improvement in total defense. Troy scored five defensive touchdowns, third-most in the country and most by a Trojan team since 2004 and finished No. 5 in the nation with 13 fumble recoveries. Troy forced 16 turnovers over the final six games of the season after registering just three in the first six games. In 2014, the Trojans finished with 11 interceptions, most by a Troy team since 2010 and improved its pass defense by 105.7 yards per game from the previous season." 4COMMENTS Pogue graduated with a degree in special education from Alabama State in 1998. He was a three-year starter as a safety and cornerback and was All-America and All-SWAC at free safety.

Auburn RB JaTarvious Whitlow Reportedly Enters Transfer Portal TYLER CONWAYFEBRUARY 5, 202065 Butch Dill/Associated Press Despite leading Auburn in rushing the last two seasons, JaTarvious Whitlow has reportedly entered the transfer portal. Tom Green and Matt Zenitz of AL.com reported Whitlow entered the transfer portal Wednesday to explore his options. He rushed for 763 yards and 10 touchdowns while appearing in 11 games last season for the Tigers. A 3-star recruit in 2017, Whitlow emerged as Auburn's most reliable rusher in a crowded backfield the last two seasons. He would have likely entered 2020 as the favorite to earn the starting job. D.J. Williams will now likely head into the spring as the starter. Williams was the Tigers' second-leading rusher in 2019 with 400 yards and two scores. His best competition may come from true freshman Tank Bigsby, who arrives with major expectations after being ranked as the No. 39 overall recruit in the 2020 class by 247Sports. An Alabama native, Whitlow was not highly recruited coming out of high school. After two years of production at the Power Five level, though, odds are he will have his pick of top-flight schools looking to bring him in. Whitlow will have one year of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2020 season unless he is granted a waiver to play immediately.

No I don’t agree. We “needed “ OTs who were already playing and somewhat tested to help us in 2020, not high school kids. You can argue about past and future, but we’re talking about today’s needs. Every other area of need was addressed and we’re signing, I think, CGM’s second highest rated class. @#7 I give it a 9!!!

First thing I noticed too!

In the words of Steven Tyler, “Dream On, dream on”!!