Thoughts?

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

23 hours ago, oracle79 said:

Just my take, but I think the problem with kids from Texas is that the coaching and preparation in high school is so good, that there isn't a lot of upside to those kids. What you see is pretty close to what you're going to get. Toughness is built at home, and honed on the football field.

Yeah, that's a false narrative.  Look at the NFL Draft and the amount of kids that played their high school ball in Texas.  This year, 7 of the 32 first round picks played their HS ball here.  And that's just the first round.

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Yeah, that's a false narrative.  Look at the NFL Draft and the amount of kids that played their high school ball in Texas.  This year, 7 of the 32 first round picks played their HS ball here.  And that's just the first round.

33 picks overall. 10 more than the next state, California. 

If Texas kids are soft, then evidently soft players are exactly what you want. 

[oracle79 3,569]

15 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

This year, 7 of the 32 first round picks played their HS ball here.

Didn't mean to imply that they weren't talented, just that they've had the coaching and prep, and pretty much the only improvement you'll get is due to physical maturation. And didn't mean too imply they weren't tough, in my opinion that's a more innate trait that can be honed but not instilled.

[ellitor 33,062]

1 minute ago, oracle79 said:

pretty much the only improvement you'll get is due to physical maturation

That's a false narrative too. No matter where they are from kids/people have to still develop in their craft as they age.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, ellitor said:

That's a false narrative too. No matter where they are from kids/people have to still develop in their craft as they age.

And with repetition. 10,000 hour rule and all that. 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Though I'm glad to see of recruiting in Texas, I do wish we'd go hit the Carolinas and Georgia like we use to.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

On 6/17/2020 at 1:59 PM, bigbird said:

Sent to me earlier today.

Are we sure all these Texas state kids are who we want to build around? Not knocking the individual players but outside of QB or WR I'm not impressed with Texas talent. Very soft culture of football over the past 15-20 years especially at the high school level. This is just my coming from me but regardless of where we finish this recruiting cycle we will look back and say that 2021 class wasn't very good. IMO I would much rather focus on North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland and get back to being the number 2 pick for Georgia players and the primary destination of Florida kids that want to get out of state.

I was saying I'm not that impressed with Texas players outside of QB and WR's. It is my opinion that Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina play better brand of football then Texas high schools so higher ranked players in those states are better then higher ranked players in Texas. In other words I think Texas players are generally vastly overrated in general because they are soft and football culture in the state of Texas is finesse football now. It's why all the teams that recruit solely in Texas have a difficult time being worth a damn on defense.

So, do y'all agree or disagree?  Try and explain your position either way.

I have obtained a picture of the OP of that statement:

[afblue 128]

8 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

I have obtained a picture of the OP of that statement:

I didn't realize Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana was such a big football fan. 😊

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Hopefully we'll keep recruiting in Texas. I hope coach Morris will drop in on Oklahoma. 

[Sizzle 3,909]

27 minutes ago, auburn4ever said:

Hopefully we'll keep recruiting in Texas. I hope coach Morris will drop in on Oklahoma. 

Who’s the big recruits in Oklahoma to get?

[ellitor 33,062]

8 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Who’s the big recruits in Oklahoma to get?

We've only offered Kendal Daniels from Oklahoma & he doesn't appear to be a major target. He's 1 of only 3 4*s in that state.

[McLoofus 35,182]

From KN via @ellitor's excellent recruiting chat thread:

Quote

Q: What area has been de-emphasized with the increased emphasis on Texas?

I get Chad Morris has recruiting ties in Texas, and we have some nice commitments from there to date, but it is a pretty significant change in philosophy, almost overnight.

A: Auburn is just going where the talent is. The state of Texas had far more guys drafted in 2020 than any other state. And with offensive coordinator Chad Morris and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell having so many connections there, it makes perfect sense to be there.

It's not like Auburn is diverting its resources away from anywhere important.

The Tigers still have their tradinional footprint states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia well-covered. And they'll go into Mississippi/Louisiana/Carolinas when they need to.

But they felt like given the strength of Texas and their strong ties there it made perfect sense to strike right now.

TL;DR- Duh.

[DAG 33,955]

On 6/17/2020 at 1:59 PM, bigbird said:

. It is my opinion that Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina play better brand of football then Texas high schools so higher ranked players in those states are better then higher ranked players in Texas.

Stopped reading after this statement.  Seems like he is trying to correlate individual talent to the state of Collegiate Texas football. It does not work that way, California also has pretty damn good high school football and that narrative doesn't change just because UCLA and USC are average to bad in football.  I would agree though that the BIG 12 brand of football is nowhere near as physical as the SEC. All the more reason we should leverage that in our pitch to the Texas kids.

[Beaker 2,457]

Summary:

Give us the kid from whereever, just recruit top talent (enough talent/stars) so we can compete straight up with the first string of bama, LSU and Thuga. 

Auburn's only chance to have a winning record vs our top rivals is better coaching.  We will never have superior talent (1st and 2nd string), year in and year out.   

We had it for a while when bama kept hiring anyone named "mike, " but that had to end.   Otherwise, it comes down to coaching for Auburn because I believe Auburn will outwork the opponent. 

Right now, Texas is poised to provide Auburn a pipeline of talent like Dye and Tubberville enjoyed from S Fla.

[homersapien 11,352]

Seems to me that such a generalized statement about a state as large as Texas - and then making direct comparisons to other large areas -  is pretty absurd on it's face. 

[doc4aday 1,887]

I think that this is worth some merit. However, I think that Florida and Georgia have produced some of the best players to ever wear and orange blue uniform. Time will tell about the Texas recruits we will sign.

[1auburn1 1,110]

“Auburn's only chance to have a winning record vs our top rivals is better coaching.  We will never have superior talent (1st and 2nd string), year in and year out.   ”

This.   

[Gowebb11 9,307]

1 hour ago, 1auburn1 said:

“Auburn's only chance to have a winning record vs our top rivals is better coaching.  We will never have superior talent (1st and 2nd string), year in and year out.   ”

This.   

I’m not so sure about the talent part. If Saban, Dabo, or Urban were coaching at AU there’s  no reason to believe they wouldn’t be just as elite as recruiters as they are.

[1auburn1 1,110]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

I’m not so sure about the talent part. If Saban, Dabo, or Urban were coaching at AU there’s  no reason to believe they wouldn’t be just as elite as recruiters as they are.

I agree to an extent.  Dabo definitely blew up the “you have to be a blue-blood” and even more the “you have to play against top teams” narratives of recruiting elite talent.   Assuming Auburn can’t match recruiting with the University of’s that surround us, we must have the better coaching.   Assuming we play ball this year, I’m really excited about CCM taking over the offense and truly have hopes it could push Gus over the top.  

[ellitor 33,062]

13 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

If Saban, Dabo, or Urban were coaching at AU there’s  no reason to believe they wouldn’t be just as elite as recruiters as they are.

Only because they had already established their legacies. If they had to come in, not already being considered elite, & have to create their legacies at AU it would be a good bit more difficult for them. AU doesn't have as much natural recruiting advantages Bama, UF, & Ohio St. We have to start winning big consistently to start bringing in consistent top 5 classes.

[ellitor 33,062]

12 hours ago, 1auburn1 said:

Dabo definitely blew up the “you have to be a blue-blood”

Well Deshaun Watson blew it up for him, making Clemson an elite program, subsequently allowing them to recruit better.

12 hours ago, 1auburn1 said:

Assuming Auburn can’t match recruiting with the University of’s that surround us, we must have the better coaching.

Been saying this for years & this includes talent evaluation & retention, particularly on offense the past few years.

[Mikey 16,545]

16 hours ago, 1auburn1 said:

“Auburn's only chance to have a winning record vs our top rivals is better coaching.  We will never have superior talent (1st and 2nd string), year in and year out.   ”

This.   

This has been the case throughout history. Yet, we have reasonable records against many of them, winning records against Tennessee and Florida. Maybe Auburn tries harder.

[DAG 33,955]

Auburn has had multiple opportunities to get over the hump . The 2015 team was probably one of the most talented teams top to bottom. The 2014 team had so much offensive power. There was no reason why the 2017 team didn’t make the playoffs. Say what you want to say about Clemson , but for the most part, when it is a big game, they show up.

[AUApostle 7,648]

On 7/5/2020 at 11:07 AM, DAG said:

Auburn has had multiple opportunities to get over the hump . The 2015 team was probably one of the most talented teams top to bottom. The 2014 team had so much offensive power. There was no reason why the 2017 team didn’t make the playoffs. Say what you want to say about Clemson , but for the most part, when it is a big game, they show up.

2-3 big games a year vs. 5-6.  It makes a difference.

[DAG 33,955]

1 hour ago, AUDevil said:

2-3 big games a year vs. 5-6.  It makes a difference.

Yeah losing to a trash LSU team in 2017 was definitely the difference maker.