2015 4* LB Darrell Williams commits to AU!

[mcgufcm 4,107]

I expect this guy to sign with Auburn, and I think our coaching staff expects the same. We evaluate players differently than Bama. Sometimes we both love the same guy. Sometimes not. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes we're right. That's how it goes. We prioritized Williams early; they clearly have other guys rated ahead of him. I don't expect them to have a spot for him, and clearly up to this point, they don't think they will either. If they did, he'd have a Bama offer. He doesn't. He's got an Auburn offer, and I don't think it's a case of us taking their table scraps. We just evaluated him differently and liked him more.

There are tons of examples of guys that BOTH schools missed. Jordan Matthews. Roddy White. Demarcus Ware. Those are just ones off the top of my head. It's possible Williams turns out to be the best LB signed by either school. Only time will tell, but based on their numbers and needs, I expect him to sign with Auburn.

[Mikey 16,631]

UAT added another LB commit yesterday, 4* Adonis Thomas. He's their third. Unless they decide to pre-process one of those (pre-processing being a thing they do frequently) they may not be interested in D. Williams at all.

[tsande07 271]

Another way to interpret that would be to say they figured they could not flip Williams...

[AU64 10,122]

Another way to interpret that would be to say they figured they could not flip Williams...

Whatever...seems like a good prospect and I'm happy to have him at AU....and the fact that bama decides not to sign him means nothing to me.

[Tivo48 31]

Another way to interpret that would be to say they figured they could not flip Williams...

Whatever...seems like a good prospect and I'm happy to have him at AU....and the fact that bama decides not to sign him means nothing to me.

This. We need the LB depth so regardless of the reason I'm happy to get him. Plus it can't hurt pulling some recruits from Hoover/Birmingham anyways

[IronMan70 3,277]

It begins again is in reference to you analytical skills and not the defense. You display a clear bias in your assessments and analyses. You clearly have set a moving target for success hidden by your vague claim of what other LB's around the SEC do without taking into account the other proficiencies and deficiencies of the entire defensive system. Now you are headed down the path of calling another group of Lb's overrated because they don't fit your moving target. Tre Williams and Deshaun Davis were your saviors last year but now Tre is overrated by the other services because he didn't crack the line up by your set date. I hate to see what you will say if they don't start over Frost and Cass next year.

Mikey what do you do for a living? On day one of that job were you the best at your job? I would bet you were not. You may have had a knowledge to get you "recruited" but you had to learn the way that business works and develop within the ranks of that business. Our defense as a whole as been sub par and I agree with that. Our linebackers this year have been a brighter spot. Two teams ran the ball well on our defense which was UGA and UA. Everyone else had some success against us passing.

Net Rushing Yds per game:

Ark 153 yds

K-State 40 yds

LSU 138 yds

MSU 223 yds

SC 119 yds

Miss 146 yds

A&M 176 yds

UGA 289 yds

UA 227 yds

That ranked 46th out of 125 D1 teams. Up from 97th the year before. That probably would have been better if we could pressure the QB without blitzing said linebackers but that's one of those convenient things you don't mention.

Since our LB's are so bad what are their gap assignments, keys and responsibilities on the Inside zone, the counter, the wham, the power, the toss sweep etc. How did they fail in their assignments on each? Why were the Lbs consistently graded out higher by professional scouts and not by "MISS" (Mikey's Imaginary Scouting Service). The point is, your evaluation effort is horrid and lazy at best. The defense needs to improve but the linebackers have shown significant improvement year over year and you fail to even give them the slightest credit and it is really pathetic.

I hear what you are saying but to be fair, I think Mikey has been consistent with the standard he thinks is important at the linebacker position. His standard has been that we should be consistently recruiting All-SEC type linebackers to compete with the other SEC West powers that are already doing that. That is a high standard and it happens to be true, we should be doing just that. By using that standard we fell short this year and that is something that has become a common theme for us at LB for awhile.

A look at the 2014 All-SEC teams thus far bears that out. The LBs making the All SEC teams came from Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, and Tennessee, but none from Auburn.

2014 Coaches All SEC Linebackers

1st team linebackers: McKinney- Mississippi State, Spaight- Arkansas, DePriest- Alabama

2nd team linebackers: Herrera- Georgia, Wilson- Georgia, Morrison- Florida

2014 AP All SEC Linebackers

1st team: Spaight-Arkansas, Ragland-Alabama, Herrera-Georgia

2nd team: Alexander-LSU, Brothers-Missouri, Morrison-Florida, Wilson-Georgia

honorable mention: DePriest-Alabama, Floyd-Georgia, Johnson-Tennessee

Some of this has to do with the development of AU LBs over the last 5 years. We do have talent on the team that is capable of achieving that goal next year. Looking to 2015 I think Frost, Cass and hopefully Tre Williams will make a solid run at becoming All SEC type linebackers. We need to keep bringing in LBs that have very high talent levels every year to reach that goal, then put the coaching at the position that can develop high caliber LBs. The position of LB is too important to having a solid defense in the SEC to afford not to do that.

[1TexasTiger 55]

It begins again is in reference to you analytical skills and not the defense. You display a clear bias in your assessments and analyses. You clearly have set a moving target for success hidden by your vague claim of what other LB's around the SEC do without taking into account the other proficiencies and deficiencies of the entire defensive system. Now you are headed down the path of calling another group of Lb's overrated because they don't fit your moving target. Tre Williams and Deshaun Davis were your saviors last year but now Tre is overrated by the other services because he didn't crack the line up by your set date. I hate to see what you will say if they don't start over Frost and Cass next year.

Mikey what do you do for a living? On day one of that job were you the best at your job? I would bet you were not. You may have had a knowledge to get you "recruited" but you had to learn the way that business works and develop within the ranks of that business. Our defense as a whole as been sub par and I agree with that. Our linebackers this year have been a brighter spot. Two teams ran the ball well on our defense which was UGA and UA. Everyone else had some success against us passing.

Net Rushing Yds per game:

Ark 153 yds

K-State 40 yds

LSU 138 yds

MSU 223 yds

SC 119 yds

Miss 146 yds

A&M 176 yds

UGA 289 yds

UA 227 yds

That ranked 46th out of 125 D1 teams. Up from 97th the year before. That probably would have been better if we could pressure the QB without blitzing said linebackers but that's one of those convenient things you don't mention.

Since our LB's are so bad what are their gap assignments, keys and responsibilities on the Inside zone, the counter, the wham, the power, the toss sweep etc. How did they fail in their assignments on each? Why were the Lbs consistently graded out higher by professional scouts and not by "MISS" (Mikey's Imaginary Scouting Service). The point is, your evaluation effort is horrid and lazy at best. The defense needs to improve but the linebackers have shown significant improvement year over year and you fail to even give them the slightest credit and it is really pathetic.

I hear what you are saying but, to be fair, I think Mikey has been consistent with the standard he thinks is important for the linebacker position. His standard has been that we should be consistently recruiting All-SEC type linebackers to compete with the other SEC West powers that are doing just that. That happens to be true. It also happens to be a high standard but we should be doing just that. By using that standard we fell short this year and that is something that has become a common theme for us at LB for awhile.

A look at the 2014 All-SEC teams thus far bears that out. The LBs making the All SEC teams came from Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, and Tennessee, but none from Auburn.

2014 Coaches All SEC Linebackers

1st team linebackers: McKinney- Mississippi State, Spaight- Arkansas, DePriest- Alabama

2nd team linebackers: Herrera- Georgia, Wilson- Georgia, Morrison- Florida

2014 AP All SEC Linebackers

1st team: Spaight-Arkansas, Ragland-Alabama, Herrera-Georgia

2nd team: Alexander-LSU, Brothers-Missouri, Morrison-Florida, Wilson-Georgia

honorable mention: DePriest-Alabama, Floyd-Georgia, Johnson-Tennessee

A lot of this has to do imo with the development received by AU LBs the last 5 years. We do have talent on the team that is capable of achieving that goal next year. Looking to 2015 I think Frost, Cass and hopefully Tre Williams will make a solid run at becoming All SEC type linebackers. We need to keep them coming at a high level too.

How does a school recruit "All-SEC type" linebackers whom have never played in the SEC? What is an All SEC type linebacker??? Do you not see a problem with this theory? You recruit the players for your system and develop them to succeed in your system and when they succeed they become All-SEC.

This is what has not happened consistently at Auburn for linebackers but lets look at something:

Ted Roof DC- area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Brian Van Gorder DC - area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Ellis Johnson DC - area of focus LB (doesn't really recruit)

Maybe our linebackers needs a dedicated coach who is not multitasking with the whole defense and can devote his time to the linebackers and enjoys recruiting linebackers.

[Mikey 16,631]

....Maybe our linebackers needs a dedicated coach who is not multitasking with the whole defense and can devote his time to the linebackers and enjoys recruiting linebackers.

Wait a minute! It's just been a couple of weeks when you and/or a few of like mind were firmly stating that our LB's were "above average", "doing fine" or in one case, "all-SEC quality". Are you now saying there's been a problem for the past three years? Because that's what it appears to me that you are now saying. If so, welcome aboard! You could have climbed on this boat three years ago when I first started commenting about the LB recruiting being sub-par in terms of both numbers and quality. Think of all the keystrokes that move would have saved you.

[McLoofus 35,182]

For the record, I still think Kris Frost is "all-SEC quality", and Cass isn't far behind. Had the defense around them been performing to their abilities, I think they could have been recognized as such on the actual list (the same list, btw, that completely excluded Duke Williams and Nick Marshall).

That said, there's no question that we need guys to replace the rising seniors, and I agree with Mikey that we don't have enough.

[1TexasTiger 55]

CONTEXT:(n) the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

In context, the statement in which I spoke and you highlighted above has nothing to do with the assertion of your subsequent statement. Holistically I have always maintained that our defense as a whole needs to be better. Case in point: All SEC linebackers will not help our corners cover receivers better, nor make them fight off blocks better, All SEC linebackers will not prevent our safeties from getting beat and allowing WR to get behind them. All-SEC linebackers will not help our Defensive ends pass rush and when they do that's called a blitz and you are exposed other areas.

I have always asserted that better development of the players on the roster is what we need, first. We have seen regression under the Chizik regime and progression under Johnson. I supported Johnson and the progression we saw in the defense and believe his dismissal has more to do with other circumstances rather than linebacker play. We witnessed a defense that lacked confidence or played with a vote of no confidence in their play after a certain point. At that point you are left with very few choices.

We agree that a better defense needs to be fielded for AU to be at the level we want. We agree that the play of many on the defense has not produced what we hoped for. We disagree in how we go about fixing it. We disagree in how we vocalize our disdain for what we view. I personally do not agree with calling KIDS, directly or indirectly, failures, overrated, etc. I do not make it a practice to undervalue people. That is my major complaint with your tactics, not your premise.

Whether Darrell Williams is here next year or not the only thing that can change that is development. (I tried to bring it back to DW )

[Mikey 16,631]

All SEC quality linebackers will make our linebacking corps better. I do believe that's an undeniable fact. As of today, both the AP writers and the coaches don't think we have any all SEC linebackers, though other teams with leaky defenses got some guys listed.

Maybe Darrell Williams can become one. Richard McBryde too, if both those guys sign with us. The jury is still out on Tre Williams and D. Davis. They, also, might reach those heights which lately seem insurmountable for AU linebackers. One can only hope.

[IronMan70 3,277]

It begins again is in reference to you analytical skills and not the defense. You display a clear bias in your assessments and analyses. You clearly have set a moving target for success hidden by your vague claim of what other LB's around the SEC do without taking into account the other proficiencies and deficiencies of the entire defensive system. Now you are headed down the path of calling another group of Lb's overrated because they don't fit your moving target. Tre Williams and Deshaun Davis were your saviors last year but now Tre is overrated by the other services because he didn't crack the line up by your set date. I hate to see what you will say if they don't start over Frost and Cass next year.

Mikey what do you do for a living? On day one of that job were you the best at your job? I would bet you were not. You may have had a knowledge to get you "recruited" but you had to learn the way that business works and develop within the ranks of that business. Our defense as a whole as been sub par and I agree with that. Our linebackers this year have been a brighter spot. Two teams ran the ball well on our defense which was UGA and UA. Everyone else had some success against us passing.

Net Rushing Yds per game:

Ark 153 yds

K-State 40 yds

LSU 138 yds

MSU 223 yds

SC 119 yds

Miss 146 yds

A&M 176 yds

UGA 289 yds

UA 227 yds

That ranked 46th out of 125 D1 teams. Up from 97th the year before. That probably would have been better if we could pressure the QB without blitzing said linebackers but that's one of those convenient things you don't mention.

Since our LB's are so bad what are their gap assignments, keys and responsibilities on the Inside zone, the counter, the wham, the power, the toss sweep etc. How did they fail in their assignments on each? Why were the Lbs consistently graded out higher by professional scouts and not by "MISS" (Mikey's Imaginary Scouting Service). The point is, your evaluation effort is horrid and lazy at best. The defense needs to improve but the linebackers have shown significant improvement year over year and you fail to even give them the slightest credit and it is really pathetic.

I hear what you are saying but, to be fair, I think Mikey has been consistent with the standard he thinks is important for the linebacker position. His standard has been that we should be consistently recruiting All-SEC type linebackers to compete with the other SEC West powers that are doing just that. That happens to be true. It also happens to be a high standard but we should be doing just that. By using that standard we fell short this year and that is something that has become a common theme for us at LB for awhile.

A look at the 2014 All-SEC teams thus far bears that out. The LBs making the All SEC teams came from Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, and Tennessee, but none from Auburn.

2014 Coaches All SEC Linebackers

1st team linebackers: McKinney- Mississippi State, Spaight- Arkansas, DePriest- Alabama

2nd team linebackers: Herrera- Georgia, Wilson- Georgia, Morrison- Florida

2014 AP All SEC Linebackers

1st team: Spaight-Arkansas, Ragland-Alabama, Herrera-Georgia

2nd team: Alexander-LSU, Brothers-Missouri, Morrison-Florida, Wilson-Georgia

honorable mention: DePriest-Alabama, Floyd-Georgia, Johnson-Tennessee

A lot of this has to do imo with the development received by AU LBs the last 5 years. We do have talent on the team that is capable of achieving that goal next year. Looking to 2015 I think Frost, Cass and hopefully Tre Williams will make a solid run at becoming All SEC type linebackers. We need to keep them coming at a high level too.

How does a school recruit "All-SEC type" linebackers whom have never played in the SEC? What is an All SEC type linebacker??? Do you not see a problem with this theory? You recruit the players for your system and develop them to succeed in your system and when they succeed they become All-SEC.

This is what has not happened consistently at Auburn for linebackers but lets look at something:

Ted Roof DC- area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Brian Van Gorder DC - area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Ellis Johnson DC - area of focus LB (doesn't really recruit)

Maybe our linebackers needs a dedicated coach who is not multitasking with the whole defense and can devote his time to the linebackers and enjoys recruiting linebackers.

I agree with the point on coaching which is why I mentioned development in my post. I even went back and expanded on that point (see previous post) a few minutes before your post but for whatever reason your quote didn't pick it up. A mystery, lol.

We haven't had the development from the position coaches at the LB position AND we haven't had the continuous recruitment of enough high talent players there, which is the lifeblood of any position. That of course is how you do end up with All-SEC linebackers. It has been sad to watch the proud AU tradition at the linebacker position become neglected the way it has been the last few years. My own point of reference goes back to watching Mike "Captain Crunch" Kolen, so that might tell you something about the proper standard I find necessary.

[1TexasTiger 55]

SMH... brother, "development" was an after thought in your text. The body of your text was to prove true Mikey's claim that we need to recruit All SEC type linebackers when this is a complete oxymoron. None of the guys listed by the coaches or AP are freshman. Not one. The last one...

Wait for it.....

Denzel Nkemdiche - not rated by many recruiting sites. 3* 247 composite. Ranked 648 Nationally, 46th in his position and 46th in his state. In his first year he was All SEC.

So again how do we recruit All SEC type linebackers?

or...

Can we develop the ones we have on the roster into All SEC "type" linebackers?

In my eyes development usurps recruitment. Now before this statement is taking out of context recruitment shortens the learning generally shortens the learning curve. Those All SEC guys are developed. They are primarily Juniors and Seniors.

When you develop players no one on your team is expendable in terms of future success. No one is overrated or failures. The people who failed are the ones who got fired and they got paid. Are we becoming the fan base that throws people away when they don't meet our definition of success? To me that's the difference business and family. We both want to win, but at what cost?

[tbone4jc 2,241]

What happened to the " everything linebackers" thread?

[IronMan70 3,277]

SMH... brother, "development" was an after thought in your text. The body of your text was to prove true Mikey's claim that we need to recruit All SEC type linebackers when this is a complete oxymoron. None of the guys listed by the coaches or AP are freshman. Not one. The last one...

Wait for it.....

Denzel Nkemdiche - not rated by many recruiting sites. 3* 247 composite. Ranked 648 Nationally, 46th in his position and 46th in his state. In his first year he was All SEC.

So again how do we recruit All SEC type linebackers?

or...

Can we develop the ones we have on the roster into All SEC "type" linebackers?

In my eyes development usurps recruitment. Now before this statement is taking out of context recruitment shortens the learning generally shortens the learning curve. Those All SEC guys are developed. They are primarily Juniors and Seniors.

When you develop players no one on your team is expendable in terms of future success. No one is overrated or failures. The people who failed are the ones who got fired and they got paid. Are we becoming the fan base that throws people away when they don't meet our definition of success? To me that's the difference business and family. We both want to win, but at what cost?

First I will say, if you have a beef with Mikey on all this that is your issue.

The first part of my post was used to point out that indeed, Auburn has no All-SEC LBs. That happens to be a fact. Another fact is that Mikey's standard has been the All-SEC standard ever since I came here. The recruiting and development issues at the LB position have been going on for 5 years now. But a Freshmen reference ? Most people don't expect Freshmen to be All-SEC so I'm not sure what that even means.

The second part of my post was where I took the time to state my own opinion on what I thought were the 2 main issues involved, namely development and recruiting. I even took the time to make sure you would understand that I used that word in the context of coaching. It just so happens that you agree with me on that.

No, what I did do was to point out areas where I disagree with you (ie., you were wrong about Mikey's position) and areas where I agree with you (ie., on development). If you read my posts over the years you would have already known that development of players by position coaches wasn't an after thought on my part at all.

[auburnphan 6,050]

The d coaches lost the players when they overly punished a player for responding to a coach who took it too far, said a little bird.

[im4au 44]

The d coaches lost the players when they overly punished a player for responding to a coach who took it too far, said a little bird.

That same little bird sang to me.

[Mr Bad Example 126]

Two sides to every story......

[Mikey 16,631]

The d coaches lost the players when they overly punished a player for responding to a coach who took it too far, said a little bird.

That same little bird sang to me.

And that's why we have no all-SEC linebackers? What has the little bird been singing about for the previous four years?

[Mikey 16,631]

The body of your text was to prove true Mikey's claim that we need to recruit All SEC type linebackers when this is a complete oxymoron. None of the guys listed by the coaches or AP are freshman. Not one. The last one...

Have you entirely lost it, or just floating a straw man out there? Never have I said that a team recruits all-SEC linebackers. That would involve pirating them away from another college. I've been saying that we need to recruit players with the potential to become all-SEC linebackers, and since the failure rate at that position is very high, here and elsewhere, we need to sign more of that type player than people think. Certainly more of them than we've been signing since 2011.

Accuracy makes one's position at least defensible. Attempting to get away with putting words in other's mouths doesn't help you at all.

[1TexasTiger 55]

It begins again is in reference to you analytical skills and not the defense. You display a clear bias in your assessments and analyses. You clearly have set a moving target for success hidden by your vague claim of what other LB's around the SEC do without taking into account the other proficiencies and deficiencies of the entire defensive system. Now you are headed down the path of calling another group of Lb's overrated because they don't fit your moving target. Tre Williams and Deshaun Davis were your saviors last year but now Tre is overrated by the other services because he didn't crack the line up by your set date. I hate to see what you will say if they don't start over Frost and Cass next year.

Mikey what do you do for a living? On day one of that job were you the best at your job? I would bet you were not. You may have had a knowledge to get you "recruited" but you had to learn the way that business works and develop within the ranks of that business. Our defense as a whole as been sub par and I agree with that. Our linebackers this year have been a brighter spot. Two teams ran the ball well on our defense which was UGA and UA. Everyone else had some success against us passing.

Net Rushing Yds per game:

Ark 153 yds

K-State 40 yds

LSU 138 yds

MSU 223 yds

SC 119 yds

Miss 146 yds

A&M 176 yds

UGA 289 yds

UA 227 yds

That ranked 46th out of 125 D1 teams. Up from 97th the year before. That probably would have been better if we could pressure the QB without blitzing said linebackers but that's one of those convenient things you don't mention.

Since our LB's are so bad what are their gap assignments, keys and responsibilities on the Inside zone, the counter, the wham, the power, the toss sweep etc. How did they fail in their assignments on each? Why were the Lbs consistently graded out higher by professional scouts and not by "MISS" (Mikey's Imaginary Scouting Service). The point is, your evaluation effort is horrid and lazy at best. The defense needs to improve but the linebackers have shown significant improvement year over year and you fail to even give them the slightest credit and it is really pathetic.

I hear what you are saying but, to be fair, I think Mikey has been consistent with the standard he thinks is important for the linebacker position. His standard has been that we should be consistently recruiting All-SEC type linebackers to compete with the other SEC West powers that are doing just that. That happens to be true. It also happens to be a high standard but we should be doing just that. By using that standard we fell short this year and that is something that has become a common theme for us at LB for awhile.

A look at the 2014 All-SEC teams thus far bears that out. The LBs making the All SEC teams came from Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, and Tennessee, but none from Auburn.

2014 Coaches All SEC Linebackers

1st team linebackers: McKinney- Mississippi State, Spaight- Arkansas, DePriest- Alabama

2nd team linebackers: Herrera- Georgia, Wilson- Georgia, Morrison- Florida

2014 AP All SEC Linebackers

1st team: Spaight-Arkansas, Ragland-Alabama, Herrera-Georgia

2nd team: Alexander-LSU, Brothers-Missouri, Morrison-Florida, Wilson-Georgia

honorable mention: DePriest-Alabama, Floyd-Georgia, Johnson-Tennessee

A lot of this has to do imo with the development received by AU LBs the last 5 years. We do have talent on the team that is capable of achieving that goal next year. Looking to 2015 I think Frost, Cass and hopefully Tre Williams will make a solid run at becoming All SEC type linebackers. We need to keep them coming at a high level too.

How does a school recruit "All-SEC type" linebackers whom have never played in the SEC? What is an All SEC type linebacker??? Do you not see a problem with this theory? You recruit the players for your system and develop them to succeed in your system and when they succeed they become All-SEC.

This is what has not happened consistently at Auburn for linebackers but lets look at something:

Ted Roof DC- area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Brian Van Gorder DC - area of focus LB (average recruiter)

Ellis Johnson DC - area of focus LB (doesn't really recruit)

Maybe our linebackers needs a dedicated coach who is not multitasking with the whole defense and can devote his time to the linebackers and enjoys recruiting linebackers.

I agree with the point on coaching which is why I mentioned development in my post. I even went back and expanded on that point (see previous post) a few minutes before your post but for whatever reason your quote didn't pick it up. A mystery, lol.

We haven't had the development from the position coaches at the LB position AND we haven't had the continuous recruitment of enough high talent players there, which is the lifeblood of any position. That of course is how you do end up with All-SEC linebackers. It has been sad to watch the proud AU tradition at the linebacker position become neglected the way it has been the last few years. My own point of reference goes back to watching Mike "Captain Crunch" Kolen, so that might tell you something about the proper standard I find necessary.

Mikey, please read this and tell me who put those word in your mouth because it was not me. (It's the bold part) So apparently the people defended your point of view don't have accuracy in their statement. It's extremely convenient to let it slide when someone agrees with your view but when someone disagrees they're out of their mind. At least make it a fair debate and use integrity.

[1TexasTiger 55]

SMH... brother, "development" was an after thought in your text. The body of your text was to prove true Mikey's claim that we need to recruit All SEC type linebackers when this is a complete oxymoron. None of the guys listed by the coaches or AP are freshman. Not one. The last one...

Wait for it.....

Denzel Nkemdiche - not rated by many recruiting sites. 3* 247 composite. Ranked 648 Nationally, 46th in his position and 46th in his state. In his first year he was All SEC.

So again how do we recruit All SEC type linebackers?

or...

Can we develop the ones we have on the roster into All SEC "type" linebackers?

In my eyes development usurps recruitment. Now before this statement is taking out of context recruitment shortens the learning generally shortens the learning curve. Those All SEC guys are developed. They are primarily Juniors and Seniors.

When you develop players no one on your team is expendable in terms of future success. No one is overrated or failures. The people who failed are the ones who got fired and they got paid. Are we becoming the fan base that throws people away when they don't meet our definition of success? To me that's the difference business and family. We both want to win, but at what cost?

First I will say, if you have a beef with Mikey on all this that is your issue.

The first part of my post was used to point out that indeed, Auburn has no All-SEC LBs. That happens to be a fact. Another fact is that Mikey's standard has been the All-SEC standard ever since I came here. The recruiting and development issues at the LB position have been going on for 5 years now. But a Freshmen reference ? Most people don't expect Freshmen to be All-SEC so I'm not sure what that even means.

The second part of my post was where I took the time to state my own opinion on what I thought were the 2 main issues involved, namely development and recruiting. I even took the time to make sure you would understand that I used that word in the context of coaching. It just so happens that you agree with me on that.

No, what I did do was to point out areas where I disagree with you (ie., you were wrong about Mikey's position) and areas where I agree with you (ie., on development). If you read my posts over the years you would have already known that development of players by position coaches wasn't an after thought on my part at all.

I don't have a beef with Mikey. I have a beef with how he verbalizes his criticisms of AU players. Secondly I was speaking to Mikey when you intervened with the point that Mikey was correct in his assessment that we need to recruit All-SEC linebackers. I asked you repeated how do we do that which you have failed to even address.

I think we all agree that we don't have them as of yet. The main difference is I believe that anyone on the roster has the potential to get there with time and proper coaching. I believe we have failed in the proper coaching area. Can we recruit more..? Yea we could but another area would suffer. At the end of the day my stance is that Kris Frost, Cassanova McKinzy, Kenny Flowers, Anthony Swain, Cameron Toney, Tre Williams, DeShaun Davis, and anyone else on the roster with eligibility can become All-SEC linebackers with proper development.

[LKEEL75 2,566]

OK... OK... It is about time we start talking about DW or start a new thread to argue over our LB play. Are there any real updates on DW? Come on supervisors, help us out here...

[The Freak 2,528]

All SEC linebacker is their first choice. Any other is, at best, settling for second best. If Auburn cannot pull in All SEC linebacker, it is a failure. That's how I see it.

[bg5 536]

I think we have a much better chance at keeping DW now that Alabama got it's latest LB commit. I once thought we would lose him at the last minute but now I think Ua would be very foolish to add him and if they did he needs to really look at any potiental playing time. That said I think we keep him now.