2020 4* LB Trenton Simpson (Clemson)

[keesler 5,924]

On 10/21/2019 at 9:25 AM, AU64 said:

True …but where is all that argument about putting players in the NFL or competing for national championships or having a glamorous stadium and sexy dressing room....and  LED lights to bring in the team?    From a facility standpoint, UNC is light years behind AU. ...and Mack is an old guy and who is their defensive coach this year? 

So we want to spend millions on a FO facility to recruits and it turns out that the coach is what is important and maybe the school itself.....who knew? 

 

I think we can all agree that as college football fans, we've witnessed over an extended period of time, programs that recruit the best athletes available have top shelf facilities.  Consistently funneling players into the NFL, having a high # of early round draftees, consistently competing for championships attracts top HS talent from all over the country.  Having an elite coach on staff that understands it all starts with pulling top talent, and then developing and utilizing that talent to win championships is the end goal for every program. 

Recruiting is a war and facilities have turned into an arms race, I want AU to be equal to the opponent with first class facilities.  Our HC told his superiors that he didn't need an FOF when they hired him 7 yrs ago, he's obviously come to realize he needs it now or he wouldn't have ponied up $2MM of his own cash to build it.

Mack Brown may have landed a big fish, but Auburn has to land a dozen to be able to compete in the SEC.

[CameronCrazy 1,058]

It’s hard enough recruiting against UAT, UGA, LSU, and Clemson. There’s no way we should be losing a kid to 70 year old Mack Brown. We should have negative recruited the H*LL out of that old man. 

I still don’t bye the Cam’Ron Kelley story. There should have been some way for us to work that out. You put the kid on a plane and get him home when he needs to go home. 

Thirdly, what is T-Will doing?! That’s great that you have received commitments from 4 top 100 LB’s. But now after all that work, how do you lose 3 of them?

Everyone can say that we’re still getting 3 solid LB’s if we land Tisdol, but it’s unbelievable to think about the LB class we could have had. 

[augolf1716 21,096]

There is a lot and I mean a lot of negative recruiting going on against Gus being there next year. It is having a great deal affect this is not an excuse just the way it is. 

[Gowebb11 9,310]

AU consistently puts together top 10-12 classes and has a great roster. Unfortunately our biggest rivals are consistently getting top 5 classes. That works out to about 1-2 elite players per class. Example: we have 3 Five stars on our roster, LSU has 7. Our recent head to head records vs UAT, UGA, and LSU reflect that. We have to stop losing talents like Simpson, regardless of the reason. 

[ellitor 33,062]

45 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

AU consistently puts together top 10-12 classes and has a great roster. Unfortunately our biggest rivals are consistently getting top 5 classes. That works out to about 1-2 elite players per class. Example: we have 3 Five stars on our roster, LSU has 7.

Those players aren't making the talent difference that is reflected on scoreboards in LSU's case. If there is a talent difference reflected on scoreboard then it's reflected more by the better depth of their classes. In UGA's & Bama's case where they have 14 & 11 5* on roster now respectively, you are spot on.

[Gowebb11 9,310]

8 hours ago, ellitor said:

Those players aren't making the talent difference that is reflected on scoreboards in LSU's case. If there is a talent difference reflected on scoreboard then it's reflected more by the better depth of their classes. In UGA's & Bama's case where they have 14 & 11 5* on roster now respectively, you are spot on.

Better depth of talent then. But in LSUs case, they have about a third more players in the NFL than we do. That’s a talent divide. My point is we cannot afford to lose a Trenton Simpson/George Pickens level talent if we are going to keep pace with those rosters. 

[ellitor 33,062]

2 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

My point is we cannot afford to lose a Trenton Simpson/George Pickens level talent if we are going to keep pace with those rosters

Respectfully disagree. We obviously don’t have the margin for error those teams do but we can still compete with and beat those teams if we do a better job of talent retention and player development. Unless we catch lightning in a bottle someday with a Dabo Swinney type coach we aren’t going to recruit at  a Super elite level. That is something we are going to have to accept. The way we have to beat that is be better than those teams in talent retention and player development. The level we are recruiting is close enough to where we can beat those teams if we do better in retention and development.

[Gowebb11 9,310]

2 hours ago, ellitor said:

Respectfully disagree. We obviously don’t have the margin for error those teams do but we can still compete with and beat those teams if we do a better job of talent retention and player development. Unless we catch lightning in a bottle someday with a Dabo Swinney type coach we aren’t going to recruit at  a Super elite level. That is something we are going to have to accept. The way we have to beat that is be better than those teams in talent retention and player development. The level we are recruiting is close enough to where we can beat those teams if we do better in retention and development.

I fully agree that we can compete with them. We’re fully capable of beating LSU, UGA, and Bama this year. And no one wants to more than me. But we are 9-22 vs those teams the last 10 years. There is a talent divide, but not a substantial one in my opinion. To your point, we have a small margin of error. I believe that margin of error comes down to about 1-2 more elite players per year. And we also agree that better player retention and development would help. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

3 hours ago, ellitor said:

Respectfully disagree. We obviously don’t have the margin for error those teams do but we can still compete with and beat those teams if we do a better job of talent retention and player development. Unless we catch lightning in a bottle someday with a Dabo Swinney type coach we aren’t going to recruit at  a Super elite level. That is something we are going to have to accept. The way we have to beat that is be better than those teams in talent retention and player development. The level we are recruiting is close enough to where we can beat those teams if we do better in retention and development.

E I have a question. So I think most of us who follow recruiting would say that 247 is the most reliable source and accurate recruiting ranking site of the 3. However, there is always a lot of fluctuation between all 3. Also, the top 30 players are all really less than 1% difference in their score. The top 247 or top 300 or Rivals top 250 there is less than a 10% difference from top to bottom. Add to that there is the element of human error. I would think that could have a 5%-10% impact on evaluation. I am not naive to say that recruiting rankings are a farce and do not matter, because the history proves that it does based on the average recruiting for 4 years for each National Champion since the BCS era. I am curious though when we talk about rosters like Bama, UGA, OH  ST, and Clemson...with these monster classes...I mean who is to say there roster is better than ours, or any other team that has recruited at a top 10-ish level for an extended period of time ( I am not saying our roster is as good as Bama/UGA/Clemson or OH ST) just making a point. 

I really think it probably does come down to there being a small difference of maybe 1 or 2 more "Elite" prospects..on an entire roster sometimes. I agree the bigger issue is Roster retention, player development, and talent utilization. I think all 3 of these are the difference between Alabama, UGA, Clemson etc....and Auburn. (exception being OFF Line). 

How would the little man in T-town do with our roster?

[ellitor 33,062]

1 hour ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I think most of us who follow recruiting would say that 247 is the most reliable source and accurate recruiting ranking site of the 3.

I use the composite which is a combo of all 3.

1 hour ago, Tigerpro2a said:

when we talk about rosters like Bama, UGA, OH  ST, and Clemson...with these monster classes...I mean who is to say there roster is better than ours, or any other team that has recruited at a top 10-ish level for an extended period of time

The point @Gowebb11 was making is there is a real raw talent divide from those teams plus LSU & Texas this year & the rest of the teams that finish in the top 10 consistently. For example, we have a real good class. Even if we had kept Simpson & landed all our realistic highest rated targets our ceiling team ranking wise was the #7 class. We were #8 before Simpson decommitted so we were already at our ceiling based on what other teams have already done. The talent gap from 1 to 10 is bigger than it used to be, especially when teams are consistently piling top 3-5 classes so the margin for error in the areas we all mentioned has gotten smaller over time.

 

[bigbird 60,369]

Typically, championship team's have 1-3 elite, difference makers with the rest being really good position, role players. We are missing out on the 1-3 studs each year. Simply, that's the difference.

[boisnumber1 2,818]

Sucks we lost this guy, but to UNC...he can go be a star on a suck-ass team for 3 years and go pro. I'm sorry, but if this kid is the big AU fan he claims to be,  ain't no damn way he goes and plays for UNC with a little negative recruiting. I guess some get up in arms over stuff like this, but I just say screw you and the horse your rode in here on, cruit. Bye Felicia. Enjoy your wussy, irrelevant new team 😆

Edited October 25, 2019 by boisnumber1

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

5 hours ago, ellitor said:

I use the composite which is a combo of all 3.

 

That what I was referring to. I agree it is the best. Sorry I should have clarified composite instead of 247's own rankings.

[ellitor 33,062]

1 hour ago, boisnumber1 said:

Sucks we lost this guy, but to UNC...he can go be a star on a suck-ass team for 3 years and go pro. I'm sorry, but if this kid is the big AU fan he claims to be,  ain't no damn way he goes and plays for UNC with a little negative recruiting. I guess some get up in arms over stuff like this, but I just say screw you and the horse your rode in here on, cruit. Bye Felicia. Enjoy your wussy, irrelevant new team 😆

Hold your horses there buddy. He's from Carolina & Mack Brown is a damn good recruiter so it's very possible a kid in that sitch chooses his home state school. Also AU ain't done yet recruiting him so don't wave him off just yet.

[Gowebb11 9,310]

9 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Hold your horses there buddy. He's from Carolina & Mack Brown is a damn good recruiter so it's very possible a kid in that sitch chooses his home state school. Also AU ain't done yet recruiting him so don't wave him off just yet.

Just my opinion, but I believe if we get him to the UGA and UAT games and he sees Jordan-Hare at its peak he might come back to us. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

5 hours ago, boisnumber1 said:

Sucks we lost this guy, but to UNC...he can go be a star on a suck-ass team for 3 years and go pro. I'm sorry, but if this kid is the big AU fan he claims to be,  ain't no damn way he goes and plays for UNC with a little negative recruiting. I guess some get up in arms over stuff like this, but I just say screw you and the horse your rode in here on, cruit. Bye Felicia. Enjoy your wussy, irrelevant new team 😆

This isn't George Pickens, buddy. Don't get all worked up and no need to be screw you'n to nobody just yet man. He hasn't signed anywhere yet. If he chooses to sign with UNC well at least he didn't lead us on until NSD like others before. It will be ok, bud....and did you just say "wussy"? 

[1auburn1 1,110]

17 hours ago, bigbird said:

Typically, championship team's have 1-3 elite, difference makers with the rest being really good position, role players. We are missing out on the 1-3 studs each year. Simply, that's the difference.

Exactly correct.   When the chips are down and a team’s not playing good, where do they turn?   To that 5* WR, RB, QB, etc. to make a play and win the game.   No coaches are perfect tacticians, some less perfect than others, and they make up for it with elite players.   Development counts, a lot, but it’s a lot more desirable to be developing a 5* into a better 5* than trying to develop 3*’s into 5* players. 

[DonDraper 54]

19 hours ago, bigbird said:

Typically, championship team's have 1-3 elite, difference makers with the rest being really good position, role players. We are missing out on the 1-3 studs each year. Simply, that's the difference.

This is exactly our problem! Think we have elite with Owen P now on defense the next few years! Hope the dL stays dominant under RG. 

[bigbird 60,369]

41 minutes ago, DonDraper said:

This is exactly our problem! Think we have elite with Owen P now on defense the next few years! Hope the dL stays dominant under RG. 

Without question, We've got a championship defense!  On O...

 

[lala 327]

20 hours ago, bigbird said:

Typically, championship team's have 1-3 elite, difference makers with the rest being really good position, role players. We are missing out on the 1-3 studs each year. Simply, that's the difference.

Not disagreeing per se.... but they have very good to dominate lines ( o & d)  and 1-3 difference makers in the skill positions.   

[fredst 9,064]

Interesting the change from dominant offense/mediocre defense to very good defense/average offense in Gus’ tenure. The difference and what I believe will continue to prevent us from consistently beating UA/UGA/LSU and winning 10+ is all due to OL recruiting and coaching. I really believe we have the guys at every other position (staff and players)

[GwillMac6 20,607]

This dude is not committing to anyone anytime soon. He is really enjoying being re recruited. (not like these schools ever stopped to begin with though)

[GwillMac6 20,607]

Did Auburn win? Yes (in embarrassing fashion. But yes lol) Did UNC win? NOPE. 4-5 now. Lost another home game to MIIIIIIIIIGHTY VIRGINIA!!!! Am I salty?! YA GOT DANG RIGHT I AM!!! haha.

[toddc 13,194]

I can’t see the kid de committing from us and then going to NC. I’m thinking he’s looking at the teams like Al, Clem, Ga .

[Mikey 16,550]

8 hours ago, toddc said:

I can’t see the kid de committing from us and then going to NC. I’m thinking he’s looking at the teams like Al, Clem, Ga .

I think Mack Brown is selling him on the idea of staying home and "building up your home team". Also, Simpson mentioned his mentor in his decommit announcement. Mentor being another term for handler, I always figure something fishy is going on when these outside influences come into play. It's not usually the kid's fault, but an adult with ulterior motives and a foot in the door can scramble things up in a hurry.