AUght2win

50 minutes ago, AURex said:

I really do not see this happening unless the athletic department is willing to PAY teams to come play a spring game in Jordan Hare. It woukd end up being kinda like a Fall game against a lower level opponent like Troy, Jax State, some directional school.

I do not think any G5 team would be interested even if it as home and home. Why? Because even though it woukd be a Spring game, it would affect media perceptions and preseason rankings.

Would Auburn want to pay a lower level team megabucks to come into Jordan Hare for a Spring Game? Personally, I'm skeptical of the entire idea.

Would I pay to attend? Nope. Would it really turn out to be a good workout for our depth players? I'm not sure of any real benefit.

 

The number 1 reason I think this has legs is it’s just free money for the TV networks and therefore conferences. Spring games currently do nothing in terms of viewership, outside everyone’s respective fanbases watching. 

But Auburn-Clemson? Bama-FSU? Tennessee-Virginia Tech? In the middle of April? That’s interesting and going to attract way more eyeballs. Preseason rankings would be on the line. New coaches would get to unofficially debut. It’s such an easy enhancement for CFB to make that would net a lot more money. 

And honestly, this may also be a good way to hold onto OOC matchups since the mega-conferences teams are all going to have 9-10 conference games. 

32 minutes ago, drɘxɘl said:

I'd love to see 1 or 2 joint practices, even intraconference.  If the NFL can go make use of joint practices practices, then CFB can do it too. 

With the SEC expanding it might honestly make sense to have SEC scrimmages between teams that aren’t going to play for the next two seasons. 

13 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

I don’t think AU traveling is what Freeze had in mind. It’s still just a glorified scrimmage at best and many years it even isn’t that good. I’d lean more towards the UT-Chattanooga, Jax State, or a HBCU route. Anything to make it a little more interesting for fans while making it pretty hassle free for AU. Would have to be win/win for all parties involved. 

I don’t think either school benefits from this scenario. The reason for an actual opponent is more fan interest and more of a competitive challenge. Playing UTC isn’t going to push Auburn players to get better. Our second and third teamers are just as good, and they’ll be sitting the bench instead of playing. And fans might even be less interested in a homecoming opponent than the traditional Orange-blue game. 

I think you at least have to go FBS or it defeats the purpose. High schools have spring jamborees and NFL teams have combined practices to get a good litmus test. 

8 minutes ago, AUGnome said:

Fail. Don't see that happening

Could always do a mid-spring Orange/Blue game in JHS for fans as a tune-up. They do several scrimmages in spring. Just open one to the public.

Freeze is a big advocate for teams playing other schools in spring games and I think it’s only a matter of time before it happens. 

How do you think this takes shape and who do you think we’ll play?

Aside from the obvious qualifiers - no teams we would face in the fall and no SEC teams, I think the first element is geography. Nobody is getting on a plane to play a spring game (at least I wouldn’t think). The second is competition level. I imagine the sweet spot is a G5 school who can hang with P5 talent. FCS would be too much of a mismatch for a no-stakes game designed for teams to get better. A G5 team would also be more willing to travel for a spring game every year because their intrasquad gates are nothing, and most SEC schools reel in decent crowds. So I could see G5’s agreeing to travel.

That formula doesn’t leave a ton of options in terms of who Auburn could play. I think the candidates would be Southern Miss, Troy, USA, Tulane, UAB, and Jacksonville State. I’d be fine with any of these. 

But as a fan, what I would like to see and what would be more lucrative for Auburn, would be to use the slot to restore old rivalries.

We could play Georgia Tech or Florida State annually. Just a few hours drive for either.

Now this would likely result in Auburn traveling every other year for A-Day. But I think playing either of these two would be a blast for the fans, and the games would be a much more revealing Litmus test. Out of the two, playing GT would particularly be beneficial to us. We likely dominate this matchup almost every year, and for recruiting, a game in the ATL area every other year would be huge. With GT being such a classic rival, that’s the route I would go.

What do you guys think?

11 hours ago, Rednilla said:

In fairness, they didn't have a lot of booster support, so I think they reverted to their small school thought process because they were fighting such an uphill battle. That hire was an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. I blame Allen Greene.

Harsin deserves no “yeah, but”s. Booster support had nothing to do with him never visiting or talking head coaches at the state’s biggest high schools. Or ghosting recruits on visits. He could not have recruited worse.

20 hours ago, Zeek said:

Just looking at depth and expected losses. Koy just left and I still think Burton will be gone.

I really really think Burton has potential. Need to keep him.

31 minutes ago, DAG said:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/40065306/some-bowl-leaders-hope-cba-help-lower-number-opt-outs
 

"If you sign a contract and receive compensation, you're obligated to perform certain duties -- in this case, play 12 regular-season games and a bowl game or a bowl game and the playoff," he said. "That's logical to expect. It's the way the rest of us working folks operate."

Wonder what will happen when a top draft pick fakes an injury to miss a bowl game. 

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

Fantastic, all the money being made needs to have eyes on it and needs to be distributed fairly and correctly. There was no reason majority of profits to be going to some old out of shape men who are already wealthy, sitting in a suite watching other people almost kill themselves to make them more money. 

Honest question - do you think college sports has investors? Or Jerry Jones type owners? Like, how do you think the money works? The money goes back into the schools and athletic departments. 

On 4/30/2024 at 7:56 AM, TexasTiger said:

It’s messy as hell. But you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.

Potentially you could if the NFL was forced to create a farm system. Idk if they could lawfully be made to do so. But right now they have a completely free, all-access farm system with college football. 

I don’t know if this would relieve the legal burdens the NCAA is currently facing, but I’ve always understood the main complaint from players/people who side with players is that college aged kids should be able to make money playing football, but they have no option outside CFB, as the NFL has an age requirement and there are no other pro leagues who bring in 18 year old players. 

If an under-22 minor league were created, it could be done the same way MLB does it. NFL teams could draft high school kids and the kids could choose to accept the pro contract or go to college for 3. Their choice. 

This way, the kids who are elite and legitimately could go straight to the pros, can. And the kids who aren’t good enough have to go to college and accept they aren’t going to be paid a share outside NIL. 

I stated in another thread, idk where this stuff ends. If you believe in a hardline stance that any sports league that generates profits must pay the players - high school football generates billions every year. You have to believe in paying every high school kid too, right?

I don’t think this is ENTIRELY true. You have a point that we do have a lot of talent that isn’t SEC caliber. More than we should. But honestly, if you look at any SEC program, most of their transfers are downgrading too. That’s just the portal era.

Everyone wants to be a starter. I get it. Very few are satisfied with being role players. But I’d say the talent level of the average SEC rotational player is that of a lower P5/good G5 team. That’s why these guys are going where they’re going. 

Even when we rebuild the roster, we’ll still have plenty of guys that are at this talent level. And we’ll need them to contribute. Very few teams have a roster full of guys who could start absolutely anywhere.

Copyrighting it as we speak. Hall, Pritchett, and James all in Seattle!

I think this vindicates a lot of us who said he always had the talent. Harsin was terrible. Malzahn was complacent. Came through Auburn at the worst time. Put him at Auburn 2015-2016 or right after Cam left and it’s a different story.

Did I see where Javarious Johnson still hasn’t found a home? How’s that possible? Could he come back?

BOOM. I’m still worried about Peyton but honestly having better receivers is going to make him so much better. His numbers were much better at MSU when he had a stud like Keon Coleman.

2 hours ago, Sizzle said:

He just said in his post why he’s down on him. He said he doesn’t like his accuracy and could be a problem for him, that’s a fair criticism. But he’s only a freshman and has plenty of time to improve 

Unless Zeek is going to practice every single day (and hey, maybe he is idk) I just don’t think there’s enough tape to judge his accuracy this early.

More prospects:

https://247sports.com/Player/Elijhah-Badger-46052883/

Over 1600 career receiving yards.

https://247sports.com/Player/Christian-Brathwaite-46096684/

4 star LB and we have a connection through his former director of player personnel.

https://247sports.com/Player/Antonio-Gates-Jr-46080049/

If we’re believers in taking Thorne’s previous teammates (ala Jackson) then this kid is worth a look. Father was one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history.

18 hours ago, Zeek said:

I hope I’m wrong but I was concerned with his film and numbers coming out of high school too. It’s one thing to not know the full offense but his ball placement was brutal. We shall see.

White is the prospect I’m most excited about. More than Coleman. Just appears to be totally bought in and know his role as a potential face of the program. Physically I’m so impressed with his build. Reminds me of Andrew Luck - sturdy, muscular, ahead of schedule for a freshman for sure. I don’t know why you’d already be down on him. 

On 4/17/2024 at 3:26 PM, Zeek said:

If I had to guess the staff’s evaluation of the backs right now from articles and some things that have been shared with me:

1. Jarquez

2. Cobb

3. Alston

4. Battie

I think years of eligibility left, ability as a receiver, and just preferences in build play a part in Cobb being viewed more favorably than Alston currently. This is coming from a running backs coach who actually was really high on Alston out of high school.

Cobb could be better in the long term but Alston is so underrated. He actually has vision and one-cut ability. Right now we’ve only seen Cobb as a gadget guy running East-West in a McCalebb role. He could definitely develop though.

JH is the best home run threat of the bunch because of pure speed. But he doesn’t really have great feet or vision. He’s a faster version of what Peyton Barber was for us - no patience, just straight downhill into the line, whether or not a hole is there. If it is - 70 yard TD. If it isn’t - no gain. Alston is a back that can actually make people miss and make something out of nothing. 

19 hours ago, AUBwins said:

He's the most complete back we have IMO

Alston by a lot. Damari is the best back on the roster.

Of all the positions to recruit in HS I am LEAST worried about recruiting QBs. That is THE transfer portal position now. Dart, Jayden Daniels, Rattler, Thorne, Milton, Leary, Mertz, Max Johnson, KJ Jefferson, Swann, Rogers.

Those are 11/14 starting QBs in the SEC last year - every single one either transferred IN prior to or OUT after the 2023 season. That position can and will be filled by the portal for the foreseeable future. But it’d be awesome if we could have a guy like WW stick around and build us up.

5 hours ago, AuCivilEng1 said:

He’s definitely allowed to tell his story. But I don’t understand the value in telling the world, you didn’t even want to go to Auburn. Seems like the kind of thing that could be omitted in the story. 

He never said anything remotely like he didn’t want to go to Auburn. He didn’t draw the school out of a Bingo bowl. Being a finalist and him actually going show that OF COURSE he wanted to go to Auburn. This detail also isn’t new. He’s said before that it was neck and neck and he asked his Dad to pick - but I think it’s clear Cecil just reinforced what Cam really wanted and would be the right decision.

17 minutes ago, Tiger720 said:

What makes you so confident? Kentucky will provide more NIL money, a bigger salary and Rupp Arena which are great assets. What is BP's buyout? I hope he stays, but I wouldn't be shock if he leaves. 

Dude CBP was upset at our fans for mildly chiding CBM after the tourney. You think he wants to go to Lexington where the heat is 10000 degrees hotter?

So have the aspirations of this class being historic just evaporated? A lot of people on the board have been saying to expect a Top 5 class in 2025. Is that still possible? Seems like we aren’t winning or leading battles for the big dogs.