Beaker

So did Barfield.

Bowden was always an enigma to me. I loved his respect for Auburn and 'Auburn's place' in college football. I think, and I may be wrong, he just wanted to follow his daddy's blueprint and apply that scheme to his time at Auburn. I know he is infamously known for his comment about Stephen Davis. 47-17...speaks volumes

regarding the Montgomery duo, I suspect this is more about the 'final offer' from the NIL angle. I would not hold my breath on these two. Saban is like 95% effective at landing the 5* kids he wants from in state. HOWEVER, maybe we can break that trend. Our DC is a guy with a rep for attacking and creative defensive schemes and the DL coach did wonders with much less talent at Liberty. With NIL and PLAYING TIME, maybe we have small chance.

I hate this; the man truly loved coaching and competing. I never got the sense he was chasing the dollar. And he was so transparent. He will be sorely missed as God broke the mold after he made Mike Leach.

Someone has to replace Sawyer Pate when he graduates. Not being funny, full time scout QB is a role. Maybe this is the guy. Did Milton HS change their colors? They used to be black and gold... I think Reggie Slack )1980's ) came out of Milton HS.

Elite....this cat is elite.

I have been gone....and just catching up, sorta. Bo H - isn't this likely just part of the NIL negotiating process now? T Love - was he here for Big Cat weekend? If he was, when did he have time to visit or tell USCe that he is moving on? I am not a fan of J Tate and company. The Nolan kid would help us in a big way with that high school. But he could have stood up and committed first. Welcome to the real world.

The equestrian team just got a 5* horse from Kentucky to commit I think I read also. They are jumping over hurdles to keep that program in the top 3.

Remember...these are 17 year olds. Not the most predictable species on planet Earth.

Long term outlook is not good. We are in the bucket of have nots for the most part.

I get your point....I was talking (actually repeating) what a recruiting analyst said about only the QB position. Having Calzada, Ashford and Gariner is enough for us to be fine for a season or two if we don't get a QB in this 2023 that we like. But we have to get a good one in 2024, not just 'get one'. I didn't mention Finley because not sure how he figures into our future unless he can find some consistency. Hope that helps.

And when Gus recruited, we criticized his methodology and some of the results....I think we will always pick apart the coach on the recruiting front now that we have more information and pay sites. I would have probably questioned John Heisman if I could have seen the players he missed on. As for Harsin's staff - some are and some are not. I think if we landed a desired OT and even one that we "just liked" folks like you and me wouldn't be so nervous about recruiting, figuring it would sort itself out. I just don't think we can look at the entire staff and say, they can't recruit well. Caddy, the LB coach from FL, Brumbaugh, Etheridge have all proven they can coach and recruit. We know the WR coach can flat out coach and I've read he seems to making in roads in recruiting. I list each to say this - something is amiss when it seems like every one of them is struggling to gain a commitment. Could it be NIL and effective negative recruiting? I fear it might be. If it is NIL and effective negative recruiting from the 'colostomy we had in Feb' - I doubt any staff can overcome that before we tack up an impressive win or two. I have to go pack for vaca....hold the fort down and go fill a McDonald's bag will ya!

I get your assumptions, but we have no idea how much cash our NIL coffers have compared to our competition. You make a good point, but you are assuming our NIL is halfway competitive and right now, reading the tea leaves, it does not appear to be so. And just because we raked in top 10 money, that money does not go to our NIL bucket. TAMU reportedly paid $30 mil for their class. Did they? I doubt it, but you think Auburn is gonna pay $10 mil for a class? Heck, we argued for yrs over Gus's buyout and it was $7 per year. Until I see something to prove me wrong, it feels like we are miles behind our competition in the NIL game.

Yeah we need a domino to fall our way. And losing the QB is not the end of the world. But we must hit on the kid for the 2024 class that we want so badly.

I said this when NIL was announced: the rich will get richer. I am very concerned for Auburn long term. And for all the mid sized major univ / football programs. I feel it is an arms race we can't compete in long term. When the all the big programs who are decent start hiring the intellectual capital from programs like bama, Texas A&M, thuga, - NIL will help them become elite on the field. It will take only a few years. Who am I talking about? A major univ with lots of money/alumni and who just can't compete for a Natty right now: Michigan, Penn State, USC, Oregon, TAMU (you see how they are turning the tables), Texas, Oklahoma, Tenn, Wisc - basically big, big alumi bases with football pedigrees. Maybe Mich State... - Let me show you what I mean: Texas hires an SEC OC who appears to be quite successful. Pays SEC money... Now Texas hasn't done anything since the 70's or early 80's if you remove the anomaly that was Vince Young. Texas has like one skin on the wall for last 40 yrs... Now they have Quinn Ewers and just landed Arch Manning. Arguably the two best QBs of their respective classes. If they can hire those two kids, they will be successful buying the needed kids to play in the trenches. You think TAMU has money? Texas is saying, "step aside Jethro and hold my beer". Texas has been the butt of a lot of jokes for over a decade, but they are assembling a scary program using NIL mostly. Basically, big money programs will be poaching key people from elite SEC programs who know how to make NIL work above and below the table. And I don't believe Auburn can compete in an arms race once everyone figures out NIL. This is why I am concerned long term. Facilities used to 'wow kids,' now they are just a requisite.