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Bigger Push in Texas


Paladin

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AU's Texas recruiting push continues with Davis commitment

By KEITH NIEBUHR 

11 hours ago

Landing a recruit from Texas used to be an anomaly for Auburn . Not anymore.

The commitment to the Tigers on Sunday by 4-star quarterback Dematrius Davis of Houston (Texas) North Shore is the result of a major push by Auburn to become more active in the  Lone Star State.

The Tigers' recruiting footprint traditionally has included the states of Alabama, Georgia and Florida. And, why not? After all, those states have been very good to Auburn.

But during the winter, Auburn Undercover reported -- after talking with several sources -- the Tigers planned to go heavy in Texas. Not only in the 2021 recruiting cycle but beyond. Thus far, that's exactly what has transpired.

For the 2021 class, 37 prospects in Texas now claim Auburn offers. That already is by far the highest total during Auburn coach Gus Malzahn’s tenure and it’s only May 8. Digging deeper, that number represents 16.2 percent of all 2021 known Auburn offers. Only the state of Florida, with 52, has more offered 2021 recruits.

It makes sense for the Tigers to prioritize Texas and here are a few reasons why …

-Look at the 2020 NFL Draft: Texas led all states with 33 draft picks. That's 10 more than the next state (California, 23).

-Deep talent pool: In the 2020 class, there were 55 247Sports Composite 4-stars or greater from Texas expected to sign with Power 5 schools. The number of players ranked within the 247Sports Composite Top 150: 25. In sum, there is quality — and quantity — in Texas.

-Need at key positions: Two spots Texas produces a lot of talent are quarterback and offensive line. For 2021, the Tigers have huge needs at quarterback and offensive tackle — two of the most important positions on the field. College programs are more likely to leave their usual recruiting footprint for the positions with the most importance. With those spots, you go where you need to. A few years ago, we saw Auburn go into Texas to land transfer quarterback Jarrett Stidham. In the 2020 class, the Tigers took two junior college tackles in California. Auburn offered five 2021 quarterbacks in Texas before getting Davis on board.

-Texas ties: New offensive coordinator Chad Morris has deep ties to this sate. Not only was he head coach at Arkansas, which recruits Texas heavily, but before that he was at SMU. And don’t forget, before Morris got to the college game, he cut his teeth as a legendary high school coach in Texas. Having connections to the high school coaches in that state is significant. Malzahn, being an Arkansas native and one-time high school coaching great, also is well-respected there.

-No fence around Texas: From the 2020 class, at last check 12 of the top 25 recruits in Texas had signed with out-of-state programs. That shows us this: 1. If you give those prospects a good reason to leave, many will consider it; 2. There’s so much talent in Texas, it can’t and never will all end up at Texas or Texas A&M.

During Malzahn’s time at Auburn, the Tigers signed more Texas products in the 2020 class (three) than they did in all of his other classes combined (two).

The first two Texans to land at Auburn under Malzahn— running back Kam Martin and Stidham — both signed with Baylor. Stidham played for the Bears in 2015 but left the program after coach Art Briles was fired. Martin signed with Baylor in 2017, but was released from his Letter of Intent after the Briles was dismissed.

For 2020, secondary coach Wesley McGriff was the lead recruiter for 4-star safety signee Chris Thompson Jr.. Meanwhile, former cornerbacks coach Marcus Woodson helped Auburn land 4-star corner Marco Domio.

Late in the cycle, we started to see Morris’ influence in Texas. While assistant Larry Porter already had a strong relationship with 4-star tight end Brandon Frazier, a former Arkansas commit, it was Morris’ close ties to him and his track record of throwing to the tight end that helped bring that one home.

Another new addition to the Auburn staff also has ties to Texas. That’s senior offensive analyst Will Bryant. The Dallas native, who played at Texas Tech, joined SMU as a volunteer assistant in 2015 when Morris was Mustangs coach and was promoted to graduate assistant. He was hired as an analyst at Arkansas in 2018.

Davis is the first Texan on the 2021 Auburn commit list. He might not be the last.

With Davis, a popular player in the metro-Houston area, now on board, our intel suggests the Tigers are optimistic they'll land even more players in Texas this cycle. Worth noting, they are recruiting two of his North Shore teammates hard -- 4-star receiver Shadrach Banks, a Texas A&M commit, and 4-star offensive tackle/guard Jaeden Roberts.

Here’s a closer look at the numbers …

AUBURN OFFERS IN TEXAS

2021: 37 (second most among all states); 16.2% of Auburn’s total offers

2020: 27 (third most); 10.2% of Auburn offers

2019: 16 (fifth most); 6.8% of Auburn offers

2018: 20 (fourth most); 9.3% of Auburn offers

2017: 25 (fourth most); 10.5% of Auburn offers

2016: 16 (third most); 7.9% of Auburn offers

2015: 13 (third most); 6.9% of Auburn offers

2014: 7 (sixth most); 4% of Auburn offers

2014: 7 (sixth most); 4% of Auburn offers

SIGNEES FROM TEXAS

2020: 3

2019: 0

2018: 0

2017: 1

2016: 1

2015: 0

2014: 0

 

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11 hours ago, Paladin said:

 

People can say with they want about Texas collegiate sports. Texas has arguably the best athletes in the nation. We would be fools to not jump on that gun with Texas being so inconsistent and Gus seemingly ahead of Jimbo. Of course Georgia will be our main pipeline but we need to strike gold while it is there .

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I love this strategy of including Texas as a State we put a lot of effort in. Last year we proved we could have success and look where our latest commit is from! I’m excited with this new approach. We will always recruit heavily in Alabama, Georgia and Florida but expanding to Texas makes too much since to ignore. It’s already paying big dividends!

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Over the last 10 years are the best athletes in Texas not going to UT and TAMU?...because those two teams tend to consistently underachieve and seem kind of soft, compared to bama, uga, and AU who get more athletes from AL, GA, and FL.

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Love this tweet from Chad & looks like AU will make a concerted effort in East Texas...

 

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43 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Over the last 10 years are the best athletes in Texas not going to UT and TAMU?...because those two teams tend to consistently underachieve and seem kind of soft, compared to bama, uga, and AU who get more athletes from AL, GA, and FL.

They’re not going to those places because they haven’t been winning and also Texas hasn’t been developing their talent well so they go elsewhere 

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36 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

Over the last 10 years are the best athletes in Texas not going to UT and TAMU?...because those two teams tend to consistently underachieve and seem kind of soft, compared to bama, uga, and AU who get more athletes from AL, GA, and FL.

Great point!

I would ask Big Bird to jump in , but until he does, I will take a stab at this.   U of Texas underachieves because of culture.   Those kids come in and are basically given the keys to the city before they accomplish ANYTHING.   They overcame that a little during the Vince Young era, but let's give V Young most of that credit.  That culture has just been perpetuated and I think they fired Charlie Strong one season too soon as he was still at work on that cultural overhaul. 

As for TAMU - geez they worry me.   I think they are a sleeping giant and I kinda worry that Jimbo can build a juggernaut there.   The last coach was never going to get it done with his inability to coach QBs and control the circus of transfers.   Actually I think they are still running into issues with transfers and RBs with egos. 

 

In summary - it's an ego thing and culture thing mostly.

Big Bird can probably break down how most athletes in the deep south have more upside athletically because the Texas kids maximize their potential more in   sophisticated HS programs.

I think if we are selective, we will be just fine.   A kid from TX will not likely drive onto to Auburn's campus and expect results without work.   Auburn used to have that culture anyhow

 

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4 minutes ago, Beaker said:

Auburn used to have that culture anyhow

If anything, Gus adheres to this a little too strongly sometimes IMO. I imagine everyone already either agrees or disagrees so I'll leave it at that, lol. 

I think you're spot on about the Texas schools. I thought Jimbo was the guy at TAMU and he might be yet but whether it's him or someone else, somebody is going to win big down there. 

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It's good to see Auburn open their recruiting into Texas and Colorado. Hopefully that will continue in the future.

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Here's the thing with the state of Texas.  We have a ton of quality D1 recruits. They really only have two premiere places to go in-state-Texas and Texas A&M.  Other than that, it is somewhat 2nd tierish football schools-TCU, Texas Tech, SMU.  So not enough quality places to go in-state for the amount of quality recruits. The population of Texas is nearing 30 million.

And Texas and Texas A&M both have their own issues.  Texas is still selling smoke and mirrors and "next year".  Tom Herman is a good recruiter and has done well in spite of that, but that song and dance is getting old. Herman's coaching seat is getting a little warm.  And playing in the Big 12 is getting less attractive.

Jimbo has Texas A&M on an up cycle and he has done a good job of selling the SEC.  But there are just lots of kids that don't want to hear aggie jokes for the rest of their lives, but are buying the SEC part.  A&M is a good school and has a certain appeal, but it's not for everybody. Some kids just don't want to go there.

We can go head to head with Texas and A&M and win, at least some of the time.  Other than that, it's the same guys we always recruit against anyway. Texas is ripe.  Auburn has good name recognition and can pull kids out of here to play in the SEC. We have done it, and we are going to do more of it in the future. There are good reasons to increase the focus here.

 

Edited by Cardin Drake
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On 5/17/2020 at 2:41 PM, bigbird said:

You and I both! 

Now we just need to hit up Katy, Westlake, and South Lake -Carroll.

And Big Ned!😁

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29 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

And Big Ned!😁

Well of course...

Any of the triangle! WOS, PAM, PNG, Ned, Jasper, Newton, Beaumont united (Central and Ozen merged). Tons of talent in the triangle!

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34 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Well of course...

Any of the triangle! WOS, PAM, PNG, Ned, Jasper, Newton, Beaumont united (Central and Ozen merged). Tons of talent in the triangle!

The guy I call games with went to PNG.  He's dying to get me to a PNG/Nederland game.

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8 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

The guy I call games with went to PNG.  He's dying to get me to a PNG/Nederland game.

You absolutely need to! Great programs, atmosphere, and football...although Neuman retired

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44 minutes ago, Grumps said:

My wife's nephew's son was a sophomore starter OL at Aledo near Dallas. Do y'all know anything about their program?

Oh Aledo is one of the premier programs here in the state.  It's on the short list.

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Talking Powerhouse Texas teams don't forget Duncanville, Allen, and South Lake Carrol.

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12 hours ago, Grumps said:

My wife's nephew's son was a sophomore starter OL at Aledo near Dallas. Do y'all know anything about their program?

Aledo ended my son's HS team playoff run two times, in consecutive years.   Aledo is a machine.  They literally compete for the 5A championship every year.

My son was was a 3 yr starter and all district player, my son's team had the 5A, 1st team all state RB (2,100 yds), and the best team his school had produced in 20 yrs.....all to go down in defeat to Aledo.   If no Aledo, who knows, right? 

Nothing but respect for Aledo and Southlake, Allen, Denton-Ryan, Austin-Westlake, Duncanville and  Rockwall.

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19 hours ago, Cardin Drake said:

Here's the thing with the state of Texas.  We have a ton of quality D1 recruits. They really only have two premiere places to go in-state-Texas and Texas A&M.  Other than that, it is somewhat 2nd tierish football schools-TCU, Texas Tech, SMU.  So not enough quality places to go in-state for the amount of quality recruits. The population of Texas is nearing 30 million.

And Texas and Texas A&M both have their own issues.  Texas is still selling smoke and mirrors and "next year".  Tom Herman is a good recruiter and has done well in spite of that, but that song and dance is getting old. Herman's coaching seat is getting a little warm.  And playing in the Big 12 is getting less attractive.

Jimbo has Texas A&M on an up cycle and he has done a good job of selling the SEC.  But there are just lots of kids that don't want to hear aggie jokes for the rest of their lives, but are buying the SEC part.  A&M is a good school and has a certain appeal, but it's not for everybody. Some kids just don't want to go there.

We can go head to head with Texas and A&M and win, at least some of the time.  Other than that, it's the same guys we always recruit against anyway. Texas is ripe.  Auburn has good name recognition and can pull kids out of here to play in the SEC. We have done it, and we are going to do more of it in the future. There are good reasons to increase the focus here.

 

This is the best, most reasoned post I've seen with regard to AU recruiting in Texas. I'm still in a wait and see mode with regard to that. The "OMG it's TEXAS" stuff doesn't impress me and I'm half Texican. Getting a few more players like Stidham that make significant contributions to our program will be more impressive. So far, he's the only Texas guy that's done something here that any ordinary player from Al, Ga, or Fl couldn't have done.

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2 hours ago, Beaker said:

Aledo ended my son's HS team playoff run two times, in consecutive years.   Aledo is a machine.  They literally compete for the 5A championship every year.

My son was was a 3 yr starter and all district player, my son's team had the 5A, 1st team all state RB (2,100 yds), and the best team his school had produced in 20 yrs.....all to go down in defeat to Aledo.   If no Aledo, who knows, right? 

Nothing but respect for Aledo and Southlake, Allen, Denton-Ryan, Austin-Westlake, Duncanville and  Rockwall.

Drew Brees and Westlake ended our run our JR and Sr years. 

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1 hour ago, Beaker said:

Aledo ended my son's HS team playoff run two times, in consecutive years.   Aledo is a machine.  They literally compete for the 5A championship every year.

My son was was a 3 yr starter and all district player, my son's team had the 5A, 1st team all state RB (2,100 yds), and the best team his school had produced in 20 yrs.....all to go down in defeat to Aledo.   If no Aledo, who knows, right? 

Nothing but respect for Aledo and Southlake, Allen, Denton-Ryan, Austin-Westlake, Duncanville and  Rockwall.

He has played several games in the Dallas Cowboys stadium. It is crazy that HS football is so big that they get to do that. I don't know if the Falcons are as generous with their stadium. Does anyone else know?

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3 hours ago, Mikey said:

This is the best, most reasoned post I've seen with regard to AU recruiting in Texas. I'm still in a wait and see mode with regard to that. The "OMG it's TEXAS" stuff doesn't impress me and I'm half Texican. Getting a few more players like Stidham that make significant contributions to our program will be more impressive. So far, he's the only Texas guy that's done something here that any ordinary player from Al, Ga, or Fl couldn't have done.

It is not a question of whether a Texas player can do more than what an AL, Ga, or FL player can do. It is sometimes we have to settle for a lower player from those states because of competition from Ga, Fla, FSU, Miami, Al, Clemson, etc. where rather than settle we could pick up a better player in Texas.

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1 hour ago, Grumps said:

He has played several games in the Dallas Cowboys stadium. It is crazy that HS football is so big that they get to do that. I don't know if the Falcons are as generous with their stadium. Does anyone else know?

The Falcons hosted it a few years ago but it was moved to Georgia states stadium because of scheduling conflicts with soccer

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20 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

The Falcons hosted it a few years ago but it was moved to Georgia states stadium because of scheduling conflicts with soccer

 

Not scheduling conflicts with soccer.  A pissing match between the GHSAA football folks and Arthur Blank. Guess who won? Hint, the person that owns the stadium.

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