Beaker

2 hours ago, Randman5000 said:

Gus sucked too. 

So did Barfield.

5 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Bowden's 1997 team finished 10-3 and lost the SEC game by one point. Dye's players were long gone by then.

Willie Anderson, Takeo Spikes, on and on were Bowden's recruits. It's also worthy of note that the players Bowden won 20 straight games with were players who were 10-11-1 in their final two years under Dye.

Bowden's time at AU may have run out, but 47-17-1 is not a record to be sneezed at.

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

2 hours ago, AEAugirl said:

 

They have been to Auburn….A LOT.  They know what they need to know, I imagine this is to get to talk to the new staff etc a bit more and I am sure they are going to roll the red carpet out for them.  I also would suspect there will be some final NIL discussions with them.  

This is going to be a HUGE recruiting weekend with the Ole Miss OT, Rara Thornton, McCall,  Russaw and Smith all on campus.  

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 to watch. I've coached against him and wasn't super impressed. Has talent but will need to be developed by much better coaching than he is currently getting. 

The staff believes Geriner is the future and with Posse on board we can take a project kid like this. Overall win.

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.  

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

I think PTB may have been the first one.  I remember because it was a huge shocker to the forum.

 

Well, gymnastics just landed another 5* recruit so you could always switch to reporting on that sport.  I know that may sound sarcastic but that program is giving me the vibes that basketball did as Pearl was landing more and more top players.  For gymnastics, this is now the fourth year in a row they have landed a 5* recruiting, including a gold medalist who we convinced to return for her sophomore season.

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. 

20 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

Well I guess that's true. But all the talking heads said he was all but a lock. So , looks like folks guess both ways and say they were right when it all shakes out. First Glenn, now this guy. Either Harsin don't know how to close or we are being negative recruited against like crazy. 

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

On 6/27/2022 at 2:48 PM, AuburnNTexas said:

Before NIL A&M was getting pretty good classe but not quite up there with the top tier. Texas by Texas standards was getting so so classes. Last year A&M had the best class by far and now we are seeing what is happening at Texas with O-line and QB. While some of the NIL A&M players they just signed will get some PT this year  it will take at least 1 more year for them to have a major impact. If A&M continue this recruiting trend you will see them competing and over time beating out even bama because they just have a lot more super rich boosters and alumni then bama or Auburn.  Over the next few years you might start seeing bama having good classes but not elite because long term they don't have enough rich people supporting them.  Auburn even less as bama has more rich supporters than we do.

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

13 hours ago, steeleagle said:

Didn’t we say the same thing about this sinking 2023 class for us to survive recruiting?

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. 

1 hour ago, cbo said:

 

Ever since Harsin was hired, we've heard endless excuses for the recruiting woes. And for a long time, I've felt the most obvious explanation is probably the most accurate. Harsin's staff are not the recruiters we need for the southeast. 

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!

47 minutes ago, cbo said:

How many schools do we honestly believe can put more money behind their football program than Auburn? Everyone is acting like we are UAB or something. Just because we don't have Texas money doesn't mean we can't compete. Money will make it very difficult for some schools to compete in the NIL era, but this is nothing new. The only difference is some of the money is finally going to the people who deserve it. 

Look at it this way. Auburn is 15th all time in win percentage. Auburn is around 10th in annual revenue. We have very wealthy boosters. NIL should not take us down one bit. 

It would have been nice if even a little bit of thought went into how NIL would operate, but it shouldn't be hurting Auburn. If it is, it is likely because of leadership and HC. 

 

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. 

8 minutes ago, Zeek said:

4* RB Jeremiah Cobb will announce his commitment Friday. It is my expectation that he will pick Auburn. Hoping maybe this gets the ball rolling a little bit. 

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.  

15 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

 

 

As for AU if we aren't willing to play the NIL game then I guess we'd be better be prepared to be  content competing with Vandy, MIS ST, Mizz, and Kentucky to see who's the "worst of the worse" in the SEC every year. 

 

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.  

3 hours ago, NWALA Tiger said:

Until there is regulation from Congress, the NCAA is powerless, it will be the HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS. I agree with the 2nd point, When Mr 5 * takes a NIL deal and bolts after 1 year that will cause the big money folks to take a pause. I'm shocked it didn't happen when Quinn Ewers left Ohio St.

How do you know it didn't?   Couldn't a Texas booster have just paid off an OSU booster / NIL dealmaker?   That seems more likely to have happened. Also, there can escalator clauses and such in these NIL agreements.  There is protection for the NIL booster.

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

We all know Auburn has one of the toughest compliance staff's in the NCAA this has been both a blessing and a curse. It has kept us out of trouble but over the years has probably cost us some recruits. After what happened with Harsin we all know he is on a short lease if he does anything crooked and is caught he is gone. So his options are not to interfere in NIL or do like Mikey says and let the boosters know what players we need and how much it will take. If he does the first and gets canned he probably can't find a new position but if he does the second what happens if the boosters don't come up with the moola. 

Gus had some really highly rated classes but some of the issues many had with Gus was class balance (not getting enough O-Line) and he went after top dog O-line and fought for them till the end of the cycle but had no backup plan if he didn't get them.

Lets compare this versus what we are seeing with Harsin He went hard after Vizzina but when we lost on him  early on in the cycle he found his backup Brock Glenn who while some others had recruited him at the time he was not highly rated and yet he still went after him hard as he and hour coaches saw his potential.  I remember some of the Posters who are getting on Harsin because it looks like we won't get Brock being upset that we were settling for him when our staff went after him because he was not highly rated at that time.

When Brock came back from his official visit he was gushing about how well it went but did not commit. The OSU came along but he didn't gush about that visit now we hear FSU. While we were not the first to get on Brock we got there a lot earlier then the ones like OSU and FSU. We rolled out the red carpet and he gushed about Kiessau and Gus. 

It is looking more and more to me that we are either intentionally not matching other schools on NIL or that we are for some reason not able to match other schools on NIL.  I can understand not matching the big money boys like Texas, Texas A&M, etc. as they have more big money supporters then most schools but if we can't match FSU there is an issue.

We have seen the effort this year by the staff to reach out to players we have brought in a ton of O-Linemen so even if we don't get the ones we want the most we do seem to have some solid backups that we would have to develop.

I am not sure why we can't get commitments at this time. Is it the Albatross of the February investigation? Is it an ill designed and implemented NIL package? Is it because our Compliance team is handicapping our coaches? Is it our coaches are just not good enough recruiters?  If it is because of the Albatross and negative recruiting around it the only chance we have is a good season to overcome the negative recruiting. If it is NIL then we are screwed but sadly won't be able to prove that was the issue. If it because of our Compliance again we are screwed but at least we are running a very clean program.  If it is because our coaches are not very good recruiters then we are screwed but in a year or two will replace them. 

Super insightful and thanks!.

I also recall hearing that we don't have an comparable degree program that aligns with a lot of universities where players are getting  some kind sports management degree.   I am not saying that is the name, just similar.  Then when they try to transfer in - they don't have enough credits or similar hurdles.  This is what happened with the guard from U of Ark that was going to transfer, but couldn't.    This is a major stinking hurdle that Auburn has to fix!

So.....we need to establish a similar degree program to receive transfers because the  portal is critical, but if they can't transfer most of their credits, they are not coming. 

On 6/25/2022 at 10:19 PM, Mikey said:

Not unless we had more millions for the next guys.

Some things have been going on at some places for a long time. However: I remember hearing of Ronnie Brown driving a junker with plastic duct taped over a rear window, Caddy having another junker with vice grips locked on the heater button and Carlos Rogers having to wash and wear the same jeans every day. Also, the colostomy AU under went in the Cam Newton fiasco proved beyond a doubt that Newton wasn't paid anything. That's four AU first round NFL draft picks that were just as broke as the rest of the students at AU. If we were giving $ out, apparently we were giving the money to the wrong players.

I hear you and I wasn't trying to make the point Auburn has been paying players for years and years.  I am not sure how or to what degree Auburn kids were paid, but you're right - Cam Newton rode a moped around campus.   I was referring to Emmit Smith when his mom got a new, well paying job and new car while working for a law office owned by a UF alum.   No his mom wasn't a lawyer and I don't think she was a para either.   Emmit didn't want to play at UF because they still had artificial turf and  Auburn was definitely trending up by beating bama and winning the SEC .....and yeah the Cam thing has always been a head scratcher: if he got paid, where did the money go?  He didn't have it and his dad or dad's church did have it.   

4 hours ago, Mikey said:

Would one million buy 4 top OT prospects? That might be true if the rich boys already had all the OT's they wanted. Otherwise I don't think one million would begin to touch 3 to 4 solid OT prospects. A million each might do it. How long can this go on?

It's been going on a long, long time - it's just on the table now.   It's not transparent, but it's on the table. 

I am at the point, take a million and buy two.  Heck - would a million land one OT we want and then start a small wave of momentum?

4 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

Rumor has it that our #1 qb target is about to commit to FSU and they were 5-7 last year. We’re just losing more battles than we’re winning unfortunately. 

Yeah, that  is a kick in the crotch.   I hear it's b/c he knew the Memphis coach real well before he went to FSU.   With them losing Dillingham to Oregon, I am incredibly surprised.    This kid seems very 'cagey'.

3 hours ago, Sizzle said:

On the OL, Auburn isn’t landing any talent at all, elite or small recruit. Last years class had had 1 OL signee. In the future theyre going to have to depend on the portal. They don’t really have a choice 

I know -  it has shades of Gus written all over this chapter of our recruiting acumen.  I know the 'chicken or the egg' conundrum is a factor, but something is amiss on the OL recruiting side of things.   As I get older, it's harder for me to relate to kids these days.  I wonder if W Friend is truly a liability.  

"And winning cures all that ails you."   If we can upset Penn State, I think we land a couple of key linemen (if they aren't committed).

I am not pumping sunshine, but when you are rebuilding, there are no easy 'wins' out there (recruiting, games, staff, etc).  Maybe NIL will help - wouldn't it be nice to have a million dollars to buy 3 or 4 OTs.  How can TAMU allegedly drop $30 mil on one class while we struggle buying 3 OTs?

On 6/20/2022 at 7:40 AM, Sizzle said:

In the SEC you need both. You gotta have top classes and development or you won’t ever keep up with Bama and UGA because they’re doing both. Having a top 20ish class and developing them will get you somewhere around 9 wins but I want us to be more than just the SEC west version of Kentucky 

True, but we all realize we had a losing record last year right?   Auburn is not 'keeping up' with bama and thuga.  Look at us since 2017.    We are in a full bore rebuild.  

We all know an OL takes 2 years to develop before they will see the field.   TWO YEARS -    Yes there is an exception here or there, but out of 30 recruits, ONE will emerge as a sophomore stud.   Those OL are  playing against future NFL   D linemen most Saturdays in the SEC. That is the reason you can't run kids out there. 

I want Auburn to contend every year also and I know recruiting is our lifeblood, but we aren't landing elite talent until we get a handful of wins.   And most elite kids commit before October -and therein lies the problem. 

On 6/20/2022 at 8:11 AM, Mikey said:

What makes you think Harsin is some sort of guru in player development? All I've seen so far is the normal improvement that should be expected as a player gets a year older and has another year's experience.

That was his track record before he got to Auburn.  Just sayin'     

And last off season was hampered by the SEC and univ regarding covid restrictions.   So, he had them, but in a  limited capacity.  I am hoping that piece of his reputation takes a step fwd this season.   But don't expect the likes of All SEC player to emerge from the bench - that is just plain dumb.  

2 hours ago, Zeek said:

Yup. Time for a new quarterback target. Going to be slim pickings this late in the process. 

Does Sawyer Pate have a kid brother?

On 5/28/2022 at 11:00 PM, milehighfan said:

Remember a little known RB from Sulligent high school by the name of Joe Cribbs?

"a "little" known RB.... "

I see how you slipped in a 'little' humor in that 'train' of thought.

Ooops.  Wrong little RB who made it big in the NFL.   My bad.  I was all excited because I recall seeing Little Train where his own jersey one summer going into Haley,  as he finished his degree.  I kinda laughed and thought," yeah, why not?. "

9 hours ago, IronMan70 said:

Just keep bama and let the dawgs go to every other year. I'll trade that in a second to be able to play Fla and Tenn regularly. It's stupid and proves nothing to play the hardest schedule. Let bama and uga play each other during the regular season every year and again in the SEC championship like we have had to do. My guess is they'll balk.

 Dag gum right they  would balk in a heartbeat.  They want none of it.  They would prevent it. 

We should not say, "ok" to the bama and thuga  pairing "if we get vandy as a consolation".   That makes it easy for the conference because that sells to the TV folks!   

Why in the world do we want to help the TV folks?!?!?!?!  So they can trash Auburn with annual chatter about our coach being on the hotseat (regardless of who it is...)  as we play the #1 schedule in America like every third year....   Auburn has been carrying the water for the conference (had the most entertaining games) for 20 yrs....considering the Ironbowls from 2002 - 2008 ( chk me on that)  and the IB  drama, the 2010 season, the last four games of the 2013 season, then beating #1 in back to back games - never been done before (2017).   Oh and Auburn has beaten Saban more than any other program, ever.   Tons of TV drama - and all for what?  So we could help the conference get richer! 

It's payback time - give us bama or thuga and two others, but not both.  Time for things to be on a level playing field for a change.