Caddy The Recruiter

[ellitor 33,082]

 

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What to expect from Cadillac Williams as an Auburn recruiter

 

 

Cadillac Williams is the newest member of the Auburn coaching staff.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

 Ben Wolk • AuburnSports.com

@benjaminwolk

AUBURN — Gus Malzahn's running backs coach move from veteran presence to young up-and-comer will be graded on the recruiting trail.

Tim Horton served as Auburn's running backs coach since 2013. On Wednesday, program legend Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was named his replacement. The initial reaction from running back targets about whether Williams was seen as a good hire: duh, it's Cadillac Williams.

Williams spent his most recent coaching stop at IMG Academy, where he got to work with two elite 2019 running backs Noah Cain and Trey Sanders. Both of those running backs praised Williams during their recruitment, though at the time, Cain — who was heavily courted by the Tigers — said Williams didn't do much to push him one way or the other.

Still, Williams' voice is one top-tier running back recruits want to hear.

"I listen to everything he says. Why wouldn't you when he's done the things he has?" Cain said after an Auburn visit in the spring. "He's a top-5 pick. He's been successful in college, in the pros and as a coach. Coach 'Lac has all that useful knowledge to help get where I want to go because he's done a lot of the things I want to do."

Those experiences and Williams' name recognition will help the relative coaching newcomer adapt to heated SEC recruiting battles.

If there's a knock on the hire, it's his inexperience. He got his first coaching job in 2016 as a West Georgia offensive grad assistant. He took the IMG Academy running backs job after that. Williams was named the Birmingham Iron running backs coach in the Alliance for American Football league before jumping on the Auburn running backs coach opening.

This recruiting inexperience shouldn't be cause for concern, says former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville pointed to IMG Academy's reputation as one of the most fertile recruiting programs in the country as the primary reason why. For a couple years now, Williams has seen the top programs in the nation come by his school to recruit his players

As Tuberville says, this will speed up Williams' development process as a recruiter.

"You learn a lot in a very short period of time at IMG Academy. You see people come in there and what they say and what they do," Tuberville said. "He’ll do fine because Carnell has a personality that will sell itself. These kids like to take to guys like, ‘Hey, I played at Auburn. I played running back. I went to the NFL. I was the No. 5 pick in the draft. I can tech you how to play running back in college to take you to the next level.’ Those are all kinds of personal selling points that he’ll have. Who will know better about Auburn University than Carnell Williams? It’ll be a little bit of a learning curve, but he’ll do just fine. He’s young. He knows Auburn like the back of his hand. I think it’ll work out really good."

Tuberville isn't his only Auburn-related supporter.

Williams' partner-in-crime during his playing days doesn't expect the learning curve to be too tough either. Ronnie Brown, who is also back at Auburn as part of the Auburn Sports Network's broadcast team, pointed to many of the same characteristics as Tuberville.

Williams has the name recognition. And more importantly than anything, like Cain said earlier in the spring, Williams has experienced all of the things prospective running backs want to accomplish through their college journeys.

"The thing about it for him is he has instant credibility going into homes, especially in the southeast and Alabama, him being former Mr. Alabama football, him playing running back, not only at Auburn, but also at an elite high level in the NFL," Brown said. "For him to go in and talk to a guy’s parents and talk to the kid about what it takes to be successful, I think their eyes and ears are going to be open wide, especially for a guy that’s been in the trenches and can teach from the perspective of a player. I think that gives him an advantage because he’s been in that moment and he understands why guys make certain decisions in the heat of the moment."

 

 

[Cardin Drake 1,822]

Auburn legend, check. Great NFL career, check.  High school connections, check.  Class, check.  Relates to players, check. Instantly likeable, check.

This is a great hire! 

[auskip07 930]

i like the hire.  if the only knock on him is experience then he can learn as he goes

 

[GTNupe11 2,033]

We all started somewhere... He'll do just fine. 

[milehighfan 1,240]

I really like the fact that although he's very inexperienced in recruiting, he can go into these players homes and not only tell them he wants to help him get to the next level but he can also tell them I've been there, I know what it takes to get you there. All you have to do is the required work to get there.

[TigerTennis80 345]

He can also talk about Auburn being key to him getting to the.NFL. And he can say that credibly.

[aujeff11 6,243]

52 minutes ago, milehighfan said:

I really like the fact that although he's very inexperienced in recruiting, he can go into these players homes and not only tell them he wants to help him get to the next level but he can also tell them I've been there, I know what it takes to get you there. All you have to do is the required work to get there.

His recruits in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama will have parents that want his autograph. And with his gigantic sheepish smile as parents go through the nostalgic “I remember when” stories he will be stealing mommas heart and simultaneously gaining five star commitments. Book it and take it to the bank!

[Tigger1985 806]

There goes Cadillac !! See this as a positive

[doc4aday 1,887]

I like our youth movement with Dilly & the Caddy.  We need to sign at least 1 of the 2 backs we are recruiting. Do this, we will have our RB stable replenished.  If we can keep Boobie healthy and have Kmart & Worm playing fast and lose, we could have a nice backfield for 2019.  QB is the key to it all. I hope with all of my heart that Gatewood is the man and will be a stud running & passing over SEC defenses. Bo could develop sooner than later possibly.

[toddc 13,194]

Go crazy Cadillac, go crazy! I hope this hasn’t been posted yet. One of my favorite calls except for the “Kick Six”! I love that that’s a proper noun forever in AU football lore!

[Mikey 16,576]

He can also counter the negative recruiting with "I carried the ball 41 times against UGA as a true freshman and it didn't keep me from being an NFL millionaire."

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

7 hours ago, Mikey said:

He can also counter the negative recruiting with "I carried the ball 41 times against UGA as a true freshman and it didn't keep me from being an NFL millionaire."

Don't think this is the recruiting pitch you need to use in 2019.

Caddy will do well on the trail. Going to have to learn some stuff and be hungry at his job (recruiting). He isn't as naturally gifted as T-Will, T-Will has the motor and is a born leader, where Caddy is more laid back. Nice to see Caddy visiting one of the top RB's for 2020 yesterday. Something Horton wasn't doing. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Lol. Caddy is a walking, talking cautionary tale about overuse of running backs. In fact, the way they ran him into the ground at Tampa Bay practically ushered in the era of RB by committee. His carries by season went 290, 225, 54, 63, 211, 125, 87. He played in 11 games or less in 3 of his 7 NFL seasons. 2 of his 4 seasons at Auburn were shortened by injury. Caddy is EXACTLY why you need to rotate backs.

Also, one game with 41 carries? In 2001? Hah. Good lord. 

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

10 hours ago, Mikey said:

He can also counter the negative recruiting with "I carried the ball 41 times against UGA as a true freshman and it didn't keep me from being an NFL millionaire."

This isn’t a good thing. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

25 minutes ago, ClaytonAU said:

This isn’t a good thing. 

Also, we don't want any player who is dumb enough to think that one game where a guy gets 41 carries means that it's totally okay for just any RB to get 25 carries a game for a full season. But I'm sure that any recruit with half a brain would see that Caddy only played in 9 games his freshman season and, even with that 41 carry game, averaged 13 carries per. 

The most carries Caddy ever had in a season was 241 in 13 games in 2003. KJ had 289 in 12 games in 2017. 

Mikey clownin' again. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

2013...3 NFL running backs on the roster.

 

		Rushing				Receiving				Scrimmage
Rk	Player	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Plays	Yds	Avg	TD
1	Tre Mason	317	1816	5.7	23	12	163	13.6	1	329	1979	6.0	24
2	Nick Marshall	172	1068	6.2	12	1	35	35.0	0	173	1103	6.4	12
3	Cameron Artis-Payne	91	610	6.7	6	1	4	4.0	0	92	614	6.7	6
4	Corey Grant	66	647	9.8	6	4	8	2.0	0	70	655	9.4	6

[aujeff11 6,243]

54 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

The most carries Caddy ever had in a season was 241 in 13 games in 2003. KJ had 289 in 12 games in 2017. 

KJ didn’t have Ronnie Brown. He had Kam Martin. lulz

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

2013...3 NFL running backs on the roster.

 

		Rushing				Receiving				Scrimmage
Rk	Player	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Plays	Yds	Avg	TD
1	Tre Mason	317	1816	5.7	23	12	163	13.6	1	329	1979	6.0	24
2	Nick Marshall	172	1068	6.2	12	1	35	35.0	0	173	1103	6.4	12
3	Cameron Artis-Payne	91	610	6.7	6	1	4	4.0	0	92	614	6.7	6
4	Corey Grant	66	647	9.8	6	4	8	2.0	0	70	655	9.4	6

You lost me there. If anything, I want to duplicate that offense.

[AUApostle 7,651]

1 minute ago, aujeff11 said:

You lost me there. If anything, I want to duplicate that offense.

So does Gus.  We can talk about utilizing multiple backs and splitting carries, but this is his tendency - even when he has multiple players capable of producing.  I think he's aware of the situation...but when there's a meaningful series he's going to rely heavily on what he thinks is his best guy.  We're never going to see a 50/50 split; may be lucky to get a 65/35 split.

Maybe this is in the wrong thread, there's a half dozen currently talking about the same issue.

[fredst 9,064]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Lol. Caddy is a walking, talking cautionary tale about overuse of running backs. In fact, the way they ran him into the ground at Tampa Bay practically ushered in the era of RB by committee. His carries by season went 290, 225, 54, 63, 211, 125, 87. He played in 11 games or less in 3 of his 7 NFL seasons. 2 of his 4 seasons at Auburn were shortened by injury. Caddy is EXACTLY why you need to rotate backs.

Also, one game with 41 carries? In 2001? Hah. Good lord. 

So, he can't go with "I had a ton of carries in college and early NFL and ended up tearing both of my patellar tendons"? Damn, that seemed like a winning sales pitch to me

[McLoofus 35,182]

18 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

So does Gus.  We can talk about utilizing multiple backs and splitting carries, but this is his tendency - even when he has multiple players capable of producing.  I think he's aware of the situation...but when there's a meaningful series he's going to rely heavily on what he thinks is his best guy.  We're never going to see a 50/50 split; may be lucky to get a 65/35 split.

Maybe this is in the wrong thread, there's a half dozen currently talking about the same issue.

Yeah. We all know the deal. And as long as it's the deal, we're going to keep pointing out that it's stupid. 

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

The one metric I like to see when looking at RB's is the yards per carry.  This greatly plays a part in number of carries as well.  It is great to have the SEC's leading rusher but when other guys are very close to total yard numbers with much fewer carries then they are not taking the same beating.  A RB clipping 5.7 or higher per carry is having his way and is being tackled by a bunch of secondary guys.  A guy like KJ with 4.9 YPC is being abused.  Look at it this way.  KJ had 62 more attempts than Chubb and only had 46 more yards.  If you take Chubbs 6 YPC with the same amount of carries he would have outrushed KJ by 326 yards.  Sony had 129 fewer carries than KJ and only ended up being 164 yards short of KJ.  His 7.9 YPC with KJ's attempts would have put him at 2251 total yards beating KJ by 860 yards.

The difference to me is what some people categorize as a game changer or elite back.  I love KJ.  Love how hard he played and he laid it on the line every week but in my opinion he was not a game changer or elite.  He was a game changer to Auburn fans because the alternative was nowhere close to his production.  An elite back at Auburn with the rushing attempts that we have would put up crazy numbers.  When looking at a RB I don't look at total yards but instead look at YPC.

[fredst 9,064]

I would just love to have a guy back there that I really felt like could potentially take it to the house at anytime. In my years at AU I got to see that with Bo and Fullwood; I also saw Danley and Joseph that we’re tough mofos and good in their own right but we’re not a threat to go the distance. To me, Caddy and Ronnie were last last guys that I thought were consistent homerun threats (maybe Irons). That’s the kind of elite guy I’d like to see us land. Maybe DJ is that guy....

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 minutes ago, fredst said:

I would just love to have a guy back there that I really felt like could potentially take it to the house at anytime. In my years at AU I got to see that with Bo and Fullwood; I also saw Danley and Joseph that we’re tough mofos and good in their own right but we’re not a threat to go the distance. To me, Caddy and Ronnie were last last guys that I thought were consistent homerun threats (maybe Irons). That’s the kind of elite guy I’d like to see us land. Maybe DJ is that guy....

I would add Kenny to the list of home run guys. And Shivers is definitely one if he can get to the second level. 

None of Dyer, Tre or KJ were home gun guys, but I would take every one of them back in a heartbeat.

Jovon Robinson was that guy. Didn't work out.

All that said, exactly. All 3 of our main rivals are getting these guys with regularity. Ohio State and a couple others, too. Seems we should get one at least every few years. 

[bigbird 60,493]

38 minutes ago, fredst said:

I would just love to have a guy back there that I really felt like could potentially take it to the house at anytime. 

We have 2 in Shivers and Kmart