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Top-50 junior intrigued by Tigers

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KEITH NIEBUHR 4 hours ago

Michael Daugherty, one of the top junior football prospects in the state of Georgia, is eager to check out his first Auburn game with Bryan Harsin as coach. The touted recruit from the metro-Atlanta area will be in town Saturday to watch the Tigers play host to Georgia State at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I want to see the atmosphere of the Plains and the community that comes to support (Auburn),” Daugherty said. “Most importantly, I’m looking to that ‘family‘ feeling.”

Daugherty, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound safety at Grayson High, is the No. 4 recruit in the state of Georgia and ranks No. 42 nationally for 247Sports in the 2023 class. His offer lists includes several Power 5 programs, one of which is Auburn.

“No top schools but Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, Southern Cal, Oregon, LSU, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Penn State are showing interest, among others,” Daugherty said.

Auburn, which recently had a coach at a Grayson game to check on Daugherty and other prospects, is a program that has Daugherty’s attention.

“I am very intrigued by Auburn,” Daugherty said.

Thus far, Daugherty has communicated with two Tigers coaches. One of them is defensive coordinator and safeties coach Derek Mason. The other is Harsin.

“They’ve been talking about their interest in me and getting me up to a game,” Daugherty said. “This will be my first time back since 2019, when they played Georgia.”

Through fives games this season, Daugherty has recorded 26 total tackles, 13 solos stops, 2 tackles for loss, 3 pass breakups and half a sack. The Rams are 4-1 with four straight wins.

Friday night, Grayson faces unbeaten Mill Creek (Ga.). Then, the following day Daugherty will head over to Auburn to learn more about the Tigers, on and off the field.

“I’m interested to see how Coach Harsin responds to a game they could’ve won, in my opinion,” Daugherty said.


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i see where the reported #1 recruit out of AL in 2023 released a "top 7" and nowhere is AU to be found.  we have got to make in-roads with some of these guys.  he is a DB on Freeman's juco team, masquarading as Thompson HS.

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50 minutes ago, TigerPAC said:

i see where the reported #1 recruit out of AL in 2023 released a "top 7" and nowhere is AU to be found.  we have got to make in-roads with some of these guys.  he is a DB on Freeman's juco team, masquarading as Thompson HS.

AU hardly ever recruits well at the HS football factories

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18 hours ago, TigerPAC said:

i see where the reported #1 recruit out of AL in 2023 released a "top 7" and nowhere is AU to be found.  we have got to make in-roads with some of these guys.  he is a DB on Freeman's juco team, masquarading as Thompson HS.

This is very disturbing - I feel like Harsin is Tuberville 2.0.

1. Brings hard nose, physical approach

2. Has his “boys” that he trusts as coaches

3. Does not recruit at high level 

He’s going to have to live in the transfer portal for a couple of years until our program starts winning at a consistently high level to the point where we are able to start recruiting with the big boys.

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1 minute ago, CameronCrazy said:

This is very disturbing - I feel like Harsin is Tuberville 2.0.

1. Brings hard nose, physical approach

2. Has his “boys” that he trusts as coaches

3. Does not recruit at high level 

He’s going to have to live in the transfer portal for a couple of years until our program starts winning at a consistently high level to the point where we are able to start recruiting with the big boys.

The kid is like many in Alabama....whole family is bama thru and thru.  Has nothing to do with Harsin or his staff.  

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3 minutes ago, tinman said:

The kid is like many in Alabama....whole family is bama thru and thru.  Has nothing to do with Harsin or his staff.  

Perhaps not, and perhaps @CameronCrazy is being a bit hyperbolic, and Harsin almost certainly has far more fire left in him than late stage Tubs did, but the comparisons aren't crazy at this point. 

He just fired a young, up and coming, local recruiter for another Boise guy. We've been told by our most connected insider that he's not going to play the recruiting game. If he doesn't, then we will not recruit the same caliber of athlete as our main rivals. There will be very important differences between him and Tubs, but the emerging similarities shouldn't be dismissed. 

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36 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Perhaps not, and perhaps @CameronCrazy is being a bit hyperbolic, and Harsin almost certainly has far more fire left in him than late stage Tubs did, but the comparisons aren't crazy at this point. 

He just fired a young, up and coming, local recruiter for another Boise guy. We've been told by our most connected insider that he's not going to play the recruiting game. If he doesn't, then we will not recruit the same caliber of athlete as our main rivals. There will be very important differences between him and Tubs, but the emerging similarities shouldn't be dismissed. 

I'm not too concerned about an up and coming WR recruiter.

Evidently the level that Harsin expects his coaches to teach, manage their position players, etc, was not being accomplished in the WR room.

We all talk about how it will take time for such an outsider to get his recruiting going, then that is what we have to do. As you said, many of these state guys have had 12 years of Saban recruiting in our state, and with the way his position players are making it to the NFL, that is a hard sell for Harsin and his new recruiters.

And I'm surely not going to compare CTT to Harsin yet. For one thing CTT always had a problem recruiting QUality QBs to Auburn outside of Campbell( and I have a feeling CTT already had a connection to the MIss QB from his days at Ole Miss). I don't expect Harsin to lack for bringing in quality QBs.

We will see how the other position coaches recruit, and if the results will be top level, especially starting with the 23 guys.

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7 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Evidently the level that Harsin expects his coaches to teach, manage their position players, etc, was not being accomplished in the WR room.

We all talk about how it will take time for such an outsider to get his recruiting going, then that is what we have to do. As you said, many of these state guys have had 12 years of Saban recruiting in our state, and with the way his position players are making it to the NFL, that is a hard sell for Harsin and his new recruiters.

Too funny. A light bulb went off in my head as I was posting in another thread probably right as you were typing this. Basically I posted that we might have to start getting results in the draft before we have any chance at elite recruiting anyway. Which points to getting quality positional coaching *now*. 

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8 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

And I'm surely not going to compare CTT to Harsin yet. For one thing CTT always had a problem recruiting QUality QBs to Auburn outside of Campbell( and I have a feeling CTT already had a connection to the MIss QB from his days at Ole Miss). I don't expect Harsin to lack for bringing in quality QBs.

As for comparing vs contrasting, like I said, there are differences for sure. And maybe no meaningful similarities. But it's easy for me to see the concerns at this point. 

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1 hour ago, tinman said:

The kid is like many in Alabama....whole family is bama thru and thru.  Has nothing to do with Harsin or his staff.  

agree of the bammer issue.....my point was his final 7 are bammer, lsu, uga, uf, aTm, clemson, and oregon.  regardless if we had a chance anyway or not, we still should be in the mix.  it seems we aren't more than we are.  freeman's DC at thompson is a bammer fan, i believe (and also his son-in-law).  we put DBs in NFL too, so i don't like that excuse but i am just an AU dad that loves AU. 🙂

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The last couple of coaches came in and had great seasons because the larder was loaded especially the O-Line. Those great seasons gave a boost to recruiting for a couple of years. Like many I was hoping we would win some games this year we were not expected to win to help with recruiting. As I posted earlier based on player ranking we are middle of the pack not bottom of the pack in the coming class. If Harsin feels getting rid of a young and upcoming coach who seems to be a good recruiter gives us a better chance to win some games this year then he made the right choice.

I think to many are jumping to conclusions on an extremely poorly played game against Ga. State. The next few games will determine if we should be in panic mode for this season and the 2023 recruiting class next year should let us an indication if the new recruiting system will pay dividends. I think the recruiting backend he has put in place to scout players before the coaches get involved will help us down the road.  

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1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I think to many are jumping to conclusions on an extremely poorly played game against Ga. State. The next few games will determine if we should be in panic mode for this season and the 2023 recruiting class next year should let us an indication if the new recruiting system will pay dividends. I think the recruiting backend he has put in place to scout players before the coaches get involved will help us down the road.  

Personally I like Josh Pate's take that you don't necessarily have to win big in year one in order to win the recruiting trail. After all, Saban pulled the #2 recruiting class in 2008. Now yes much of that had to do with 💸💸💸 but when you have a product (ie a game film, vision) you can pitch to your recruits how they fit and how they elevate the program.

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2 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

Personally I like Josh Pate's take that you don't necessarily have to win big in year one in order to win the recruiting trail. After all, Saban pulled the #2 recruiting class in 2008. Now yes much of that had to do with 💸💸💸 but when you have a product (ie a game film, vision) you can pitch to your recruits how they fit and how they elevate the program.

Saban made it PERFECTLY clear the first night he landed that he need the "HELP" of the big money boosters to recruit and we saw the results. It had nothing to do with product to sale, bammer was a complete dumpster fire the night he landed.

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‘The real deal:’ Briarwood junior QB Christopher Vizzina talks Florida, Auburn offers

Updated: 10:21 a.m. | Published: 10:21 a.m.

By Ben Thomas | bthomas@al.com

Ben Neill calls junior quarterback Christopher Vizzina “the real deal.”

His Briarwood coach, Matthew Forester, said Vizzina reminds him of former Clemson star and current Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence.

Power 5 colleges are starting to take notice.

Vizzina visited Alabama last weekend for the Ole Miss game. Florida and Auburn both offered him this week.

“He’s kind of the whole package,” said Neill, who works with Vizzina at QB Country in Birmingham. “He not only meets but exceeds all the criteria as far as frame, arm talent and speed. He’s everything you want in a quarterback tangibly. Intangibly, he blows those boxes out of the water, too.”

Neill said Vizzina reminds him of another QB Country pupil, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. That is high praise indeed for someone who didn’t even start playing quarterback until midway through his eighth-grade season.

“He was really raw early, but he had a great fluid motion and he’s a hard worker,” Forester said. “This year, with all the COVID stuff, was really the first year that he could train from December to December as a quarterback with summer camps and all that. He’s really blossomed this year.”

Vizzina has helped Briarwood to a 7-0 record this year and a No. 2 ranking in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 6A poll. The Lions face a tough test at No. 6 Mountain Brook on Thursday.

“We are the two best teams in the region (6A, Region 5) so it should be a fun one for sure,” Vizzina said. “I think it should be one of the biggest games in the state this week.”

The Lions are averaging 39 points a game behind Vizzina, who has been nearly flawless. He has completed 77.5 percent of his pass attempts for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has not been intercepted. He also has rushed for 443 yards and 11 TDs on 72 carries. That’s a part of his game Forester said has improved tremendously this season.

Chelsea's Evan Durham tackles Briarwood's Christopher Vizzina at the goal line at Lions Pride Stadium in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. (Marvin Gentry | preps@al.com)

“Chris is tall, athletic, poised in the pocket and can run when he needs to,” Forester said. “He has done an outstanding job of running this year. He looks to throw first even when he’s scrambling, but he can also stick his foot in the ground and get vertical when he needs to, and that’s a real benefit.”

Both Neill and Forester believe the sky is the limit for Vizzina at the next level. A little more than halfway through his junior year, he already has started more than 30 games.

“He’s physically developed, and he’s worked hard enough to get his body ready to handle college football in two years,” Neill said. “Intellectually, he can handle the processing of the college program. I could see him going somewhere and starting at a young age. His IQ will be there. He’s already mature enough and, frankly, talented enough.”

Vizzina has grown from 6-foot-3, 170 pounds as a freshman to 6-4, 200 currently. He is listed as the No. 16 Class of 2023 prospect in the state, according to the 247 composite rankings and the top quarterback.

His first college offer came from UAB in the eighth grade. Now, as the offers pile up, he’s in no hurry to make a quick college choice.

“It is just such a blessing,” Vizzina said. “I’m enjoying every second (of recruiting). I would like to have a decision before my senior year starts. Right now, with offers coming in, it wouldn’t make any sense for me to cut the list down.”

Vizzina plans on visiting Kentucky this Saturday for the Wildcats’ game against LSU. Kentucky was his first Power 5 offer. He also said he wants to visit Auburn, Clemson and Penn State at some point this season.

Here is what he had to say about Florida, Auburn and Alabama:

Florida: “I visited for the Alabama game a few weeks ago. The Gators have been talking to me since my freshman year. I’ve been building a relationship with them. They know I’m interested, and they think I’m one of top QBs in country.”

Auburn: “To have an in-state offer is huge. People always ask me if Alabama or Auburn are showing interest. For a while, I wasn’t sure how interested Auburn was, but after taking to coach (Mike) Bobo and coach (Bryan) Harsin, I believe they are interested, and I am very interested in them. I’m excited to continue to build relationships there.”

 

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The Rewind: Big nights for a pair of big Auburn targets

by Jason Caldwell

3 hours ago

One of the top football prospects in the country for the 2023 class, 4-star defensive end Tomarrion Parker, showed why he is a wanted man last Friday night. All over the field in a 21-7 Central-Phenix City win over Auburn High, Parker finished the night with nine tackles, three sacks and four tackles for a loss to continue his strong play as a junior for the Red Devils.

Not to be outdone, fellow 2023 teammate Karmello English did damage on the offensive side of the ball for Central in the win with nine receptions for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Both have been offered by the Tigers and both say they plan to be at Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday for Auburn’s showdown with No. 2 Georgia. That’s big news for Bryan Harsin and the Tigers with both very high on the board for Auburn in next year’s class.

Another player who is planning to visit Auburn later in the season after the Tigers came through with an offer this week, Briarwood junior quarterback Christopher Vizzina came through with another big performance for the Lions in a win over Shades Valley. He was 17-19 passing for 232 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 15 times for 96 yards and two more scores in the win. 

Blazing hot to start the 2021 season for the Lions, Vizzina has been very sharp to help Briarwood to a 7-0 record. Completing 79-102 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns with no interceptions, Vizzina has also added 443 rushing yards and 11 more scores. In seven games the big junior has 26 total touchdowns and 23 incompletions with no turnovers.

Other standout performances from around the state of Alabama include:

JAMARIAN LEWIS, EUFAULA: Totaled 364 yards and four touchdowns in the Tigers’ 33-0 win over Valley in Class 6A, Region 2. He rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns (81, 58 and 2 yards) and passed for 152 yards and one TD (24 yards).

EVAN SMITH, OAK MOUNTAIN: The Northwestern commitment ran 12 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns and completed 7-14 passes for 78 yards and a score in the Eagles’ 35-7 Class 7A, Region 3 win over Spain Park.

MALEEK POPE, SYLACAUGA: Had 21 carries for 236 yards and four touchdowns as the Aggies downed Elmore County 42-21 in Class 5A, Region 4. It was his second-straight 200-yard game.

K.J. JACKSON, SAINT JAMES: Paced the Trojans’ offense with 10-15 passes completed for 179 yards and three touchdowns as Saint James beat Booker T. Washington 52-24. The sophomore quarterback is a player to watch in the 2024 class.

RYAN PEPPINS, THOMPSON: Caught 11 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns in to lead Thompson (7-0) to a 49-7 win over Vestavia Hills. The Class 7A, Region 3 win upped the Warriors’ current winning streak to a row.

ANTHONY ROGERS, PIKE ROAD: Returned a kickoff 85 yards for one touchdown and hauled in a pass from Iverson Hooks for a 75-yard TD as the Patriots (6-0) downed Charles Henderson 60-6. The talented freshman already has offers from Auburn, Georgia and others

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Going to try and make an official 2023 thread soon. This weekend's visit finally gives us some clarity. Within the next two-three months we should get our first 2023 commitment.

Could be tomorrow or anytime in-between then and December. 

Some big names buying in early.

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2023 in-state 5-star has 'important' visit to Auburn

by Jason Caldwell

27 minutes ago

A five-star football prospect in the 2023 class and a standout for powerhouse Thompson High School since his freshman year, defensive lineman Peter Woods has continued to communicate more and more with Coach Bryan Harsin’s staff and the Auburn Tigers over the last few months. Last Saturday he was on campus for the first time to check out a game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Even though Auburn came up short against now No. 1 Georgia, Woods said he saw plenty to be excited about from the team, fans and program as a whole.

“It was very important,” Woods said of making the trip. “It answered a lot of questions for me. This was actually my first game atmosphere at Jordan-Hare. I thought it was really electric. I got a chance to see the student section go crazy and the stadium was rocking. I thought that was really cool.”

One of the biggest things for Woods was getting the chance to watch the Auburn defensive line play under first-year coach Nick Eason. While there is still work to be done, starting with this year’s recruiting class, the big junior said there were some positives from the game in his opinion.

“I think they actually played a pretty wholesome game with the exception of a few strike plays that cost them,” Woods said. “Overall, especially considering how they played Georgia last year, I think they played a pretty good game. I really enjoyed talking to Coach Eason before the game and having a heart-to-heart discussion about the job they had to get done.”

With an NFL background, Eason has spent a great deal of time since arriving at Auburn working on building relationships in recruiting. Woods said that was one of the main goals of his visit, to continue to learn more about Eason and what he’s looking for in a player.

“He is just trying to check up on me and my family,” Woods said. “He is asking questions about football and just trying to catch up. It was right before the game so he was focused on that. We talked about the game they were about to play.”

With close to three dozen offers from just about every major program in the country, Woods will have his choice of where to play college football when the time comes. Continuing to get more and more into the mix, Auburn will have another opportunity to impress Woods when he makes another visit later this season.

“One hundred percent,” Woods answered when asked if he would be back for another game. “I will probably be back for the Iron Bowl.”

Woods and the Thompson Warriors are looking for a third straight 7A state title. Currently they are 8-0 and have outscored opponents 400-26 this season

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1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Going to try and make an official 2023 thread soon. This weekend's visit finally gives us some clarity. Within the next two-three months we should get our first 2023 commitment.

Could be tomorrow or anytime in-between then and December. 

Some big names buying in early.

So what you're saying is that 2023 is already shaping up to be a lot better than '22? 

This is why I have year 5 as when I will start expecting 10+ wins. Nothing unreasonable since Kiffin and Pittman might reach that mark in year 2.

Edited by AUwent
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Auburn offers 2023 CB Ryan Robinson Jr.

Jeffrey Lee

about 5 hours

Class of 2023 cornerback Ryan Robinson Jr. earned an offer from Auburn on Sunday.

It’s an offer Robinson had been hoping to get.

“Auburn, that is my childhood dream school,” Robinson said. “Auburn is a great school. It’s a great opportunity for me.”

Robinson, from Edna Karr in New Orleans, La., learned of the offer during a conversation with Auburn cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge and coordinator of player relations Trovon Reed.

“We spoke for about 10 minutes and then Coach Etheridge told me that I had an offer from Auburn,” Robinson said. “It felt great. Great.”

Robinson has ties with current, former Tigers

Robinson has been building a bond with Reed, who signed with Auburn in 2010 out of Thibodaux, La.

“I talk to Coach Reed a lot,” Robinson said. “He’s a great guy. He’s Louisiana made and keeps it real with me at all times. I can put my trust in him because we come from the same place. He’s from where I’m from and Louisiana boys are just different.”

Robinson also is familiar with Auburn defensive back Donovan Kaufman, who is from Metairie, La., as well as Auburn running back commitment Damari Alston.

“I know Donovan Kaufman real well,” Robinson said. “And I know ‘Mari (Alston). We played 7-on-7 together.”

Robinson has not visited Auburn, but plans to as soon as possible.

“I would love to visit Auburn and I will,” Robinson said. “I just don’t know when, yet.”

Robinson, who is six-feet tall and 170 pounds, is being recruited by several other SEC schools, including LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

 

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On 9/28/2021 at 10:22 AM, CameronCrazy said:

This is very disturbing - I feel like Harsin is Tuberville 2.0.

1. Brings hard nose, physical approach

2. Has his “boys” that he trusts as coaches

3. Does not recruit at high level 

He’s going to have to live in the transfer portal for a couple of years until our program starts winning at a consistently high level to the point where we are able to start recruiting with the big boys.

I think it is far too early to say CBH doesn't recruit or won't recruit at a high level.

On 9/28/2021 at 10:31 AM, McLoofus said:

Perhaps not, and perhaps @CameronCrazy is being a bit hyperbolic, and Harsin almost certainly has far more fire left in him than late stage Tubs did, but the comparisons aren't crazy at this point. 

He just fired a young, up and coming, local recruiter for another Boise guy. We've been told by our most connected insider that he's not going to play the recruiting game. If he doesn't, then we will not recruit the same caliber of athlete as our main rivals. There will be very important differences between him and Tubs, but the emerging similarities shouldn't be dismissed. 

Could you elaborate on this?  Do you mean the Lil Nicky/Kirby type of game? $?$?

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17 hours ago, Paladin said:

 

 

 

Auburn offers 2023 CB Ryan Robinson Jr.

Jeffrey Lee

about 5 hours

Class of 2023 cornerback Ryan Robinson Jr. earned an offer from Auburn on Sunday.

It’s an offer Robinson had been hoping to get.

“Auburn, that is my childhood dream school,” Robinson said. “Auburn is a great school. It’s a great opportunity for me.”

Robinson, from Edna Karr in New Orleans, La., learned of the offer during a conversation with Auburn cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge and coordinator of player relations Trovon Reed.

“We spoke for about 10 minutes and then Coach Etheridge told me that I had an offer from Auburn,” Robinson said. “It felt great. Great.”

Robinson has ties with current, former Tigers

Robinson has been building a bond with Reed, who signed with Auburn in 2010 out of Thibodaux, La.

“I talk to Coach Reed a lot,” Robinson said. “He’s a great guy. He’s Louisiana made and keeps it real with me at all times. I can put my trust in him because we come from the same place. He’s from where I’m from and Louisiana boys are just different.”

Robinson also is familiar with Auburn defensive back Donovan Kaufman, who is from Metairie, La., as well as Auburn running back commitment Damari Alston.

“I know Donovan Kaufman real well,” Robinson said. “And I know ‘Mari (Alston). We played 7-on-7 together.”

Robinson has not visited Auburn, but plans to as soon as possible.

“I would love to visit Auburn and I will,” Robinson said. “I just don’t know when, yet.”

Robinson, who is six-feet tall and 170 pounds, is being recruited by several other SEC schools, including LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

 

Any relationship to Brian?

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