2015 Under Armour & U.S. Army All-American - Commitment Announcements

[Mikey 16,576]

I don't buy the "time needed to build relationships" excuse. The Tennessee staff came on board the same time our staff did and we've had much better results on the field. We should be leaving them in the dust.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

I don't buy the "time needed to build relationships" excuse. The Tennessee staff came on board the same time our staff did and we've had much better results on the field. We should be leaving them in the dust.

I wanna see what Tennessee does on the field...also they have plucked a lot of state grown talent too...Auburn leaves UT in the dust by beating them on the field. Relationships are key, I know from personal experience it is far more important than some think. Defensively AU needs to perform better to become a more attractive place for elite defensive talent. Bringing WM on will help a ton, but it may take one recruiting cycle to fully satisfy many here. AU has recruited above average defensively, they just have failed with scheme and coaching..

[IronMan70 3,277]

I think we have a good chance for this to happen.

Boom's hiring leads to these 3:

LB- Jeffery Holland who now has AU his #1

DE- CeCe Jefferson

DE- Byron Cowart.

In addition we get these 2:

WR- John Burt

ATH-Terry Godwin

That leaves slots for these 4:

DT- 2

CB- 1 from JUCO

??- 1

[AURealist 2,185]

I believe the OP list is only players who plan to commit during the game telecast. This does not include players who will commit on signing day. We are not in bad shape. Not nearly as gloomy a picture as some on here have painted.

Well, yeah. We're not recruiting like GT. However, out of that entire list, there will be top defensive players committing to our SEC rivals: Alabama, LSU, Florida and Georgia. But Not to Auburn.

It's not about gloom. Auburn plays with the big boys at the highest levels. They should be recruiting at the very top as well, which means AU should be a serious contender with the top recruits instead of a "consideration" or "possibility". I prefer 'in great shape' over "not in bad shape".

I agree but I think AU has finished in top ten on several occasions, specifically since 2009. The staff recruits hard but there are only so many prospects determined elite each year. I look at how well a school develops what they recruit - and if a recruit meets a specific need a team has. Cause everybody ain't gonna be able to recruit all 5 star athletes. Furthermore AU has a great program, but just wrapped up year 2 for CGM tenure. Recruiting is about relationships, and often those relationships have to be built over time. Nevertheless I expect this staff to close really strong with some surprises along the way....

The staff recruits hard... Yeah. Well, "working hard" is actually not as important as getting results. I saw Mincy work really hard to cover Cooper in the Iron Bowl... So clearly, he'll go early in the first round in the NFL draft. :-\ Refresh my memory. Were you for keeping CEJ for another season? I understand that he and his staff coached really hard... But he didn't have the 5-star to play star and the D-Line was a non-factor. Could better recruiting have made a difference with those defensive situations?

...but there are only so many prospects determined elite each year. And they are going to other schools, not Auburn.

Cause everybody ain't gonna be able to recruit all 5 star athletes.

True. But our cross-state rival gets 3-5 every single year. So does LSU. We got Garner, who supposedly is flush with relationships, from UGA and he was hailed as a great recruiter, and yet UGA is out-recruiting AU. I don't care what everyone can't do. I'm concerned about what Auburn can't do in recruiting and why.

Don't misconstrue my message as an indication that I'm hung-up on star-power. I'm using "elite" and "5-star" as short-hand for players everyone knows are good and the coaching staff believes would be great additions to the team, but we just can't land for some reason. Georgia gets them. Tennessee gets them. aTm gets them. LSU gets them. We rarely get one out of HS; we get JUCOs.

Seriously, why is that?

[WarEagleAU 0]

I think we have a good chance for this to happen.

Boom's hiring leads to these 3:

LB- Jeffery Holland who now has AU his #1

DE- CeCe Jefferson

DE- Byron Cowart.

In addition we get these 2:

WR- John Burt

ATH-Terry Godwin

That leaves slots for these 4:

DT- 2

CB- 1 from JUCO

??- 1

Hard to say but I'm going to predict after two HS AA games.

[SouthGATiger 64]

Well to me...I think the majority here are upset that out of both games...we will not hear Auburn's name called.

Although I feel we will have another great class, you can't deny it's great for AU to get the publicity from that recruit announcing on TV at an all star game.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Well to me...I think the majority here are upset that out of both games...we will not hear Auburn's name called.

Although I feel we will have another great class, you can't deny it's great for AU to get the publicity from that recruit announcing on TV at an all star game.

Exactly...the most important date is in Feb, then after that see who qualifies.

[war eagle6 0]

Blame previous staff for this one. But things are about to change big time with muschamp and t-rob on board. ( with a few surprise position coaches)!

[RkyMtnTIger 0]

Does anyone think that recruits will hesitate to commit to CWM because they think he will not be at AU longer than 2 years?

[tinman 305]

Does anyone think that recruits will hesitate to commit to CWM because they think he will not be at AU longer than 2 years?

Not at all. Because, as Cowart said in his interview, he only plans to play 3 years wherever he goes. Same goes for all the elite players. Move on to the league ASAP.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Does anyone think that recruits will hesitate to commit to CWM because they think he will not be at AU longer than 2 years?

Not at all. Because, as Cowart said in his interview, he only plans to play 3 years wherever he goes. Same goes for all the elite players. Move on to the league ASAP.

I would also offer that they are probably sophisticated enough at this point to know that most programs can't offer 4-year stability at the coordinator positions.

[AU64 10,122]

Blame previous staff for this one. But things are about to change big time with muschamp and t-rob on board. ( with a few surprise position coaches)!

What I would like to see is Gus out recruiting these top defensive players...and not leaving it to the DC. Saban for example, recruits all of their top candidates and does not leave it to Smart to bring them home. Gus is the HC...not the OC and should be working all the top prospects...yet I rarely hear about him influencing these commitments to play at AU.

[bikeriderga 134]

Under Armour (Friday, Jan. 2, 3:00 p.m. CT)

RB Ronald Jones II - Notre Dame and USC (My pick: USC; Confidence level: 9)

WR Tyron Johnson - Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (My pick: Oklahoma State; Confidence level: 3)

WR DaVante Phillips - Florida State, Louisville and Miami (My pick: Florida State; Confidence level: 9)

DT Daron Payne - Alabama, Auburn and Miss State (My pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 10)

DT Tim Settle - Oklahoma State, USC, Virginia Tech and Washington State (My pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 7)

ILB Anthony Wheeler - Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas (My pick: Oklahoma; Confidence level: 6)

CB Kendall Sheffield - Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Texas A&M (My Pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 5)

U.S. Army (Saturday, Jan. 3, 12:00 p.m. CT)

WR Lawrence Cager - Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (My Pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 1)

TE Devonaire Clarington - Florida, LSU, Miami and Texas (My Pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

OT Martez Ivey - Auburn and Florida (My pick: Florida; Confidence level: 4)

DT Neville Gallimore - Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC (My Pick: Ohio State; Confidence level: 5)

DE D'Andre Walker - Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee (My Pick: Georgia; Confidence level: 9)

DE Kyle Phillips - LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee (My Pick: LSU; Confidence level: 8)

OLB Porter Gustin - Arizona State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 10)

S Marvell Tell - Oregon, Texas A&M and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 6)

ATH Tim Irvin - Florida, Miami and Texas (My pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

Thoughts? Let's hear out...

You are pretty much saying, "No need to watch folks."

I would agree that out of this list, our best hope would be Ivey.

[around4ever 4,139]

Just an FYI for those interested in the Under Armor Practices. ESPNU is replaying Tuesday's practice at 7:PM CST on Tuesday and 6:30AM CST Wednesday. Wednesday's practice will be replayed at 7:00PM CST on Wednesday and Thursday at 12:00PM CST.

[Auburn4Winners 0]

Under Armour (Friday, Jan. 2, 3:00 p.m. CT)

RB Ronald Jones II - Notre Dame and USC (My pick: USC; Confidence level: 9)

WR Tyron Johnson - Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (My pick: Oklahoma State; Confidence level: 3)

WR DaVante Phillips - Florida State, Louisville and Miami (My pick: Florida State; Confidence level: 9)

DT Daron Payne - Alabama, Auburn and Miss State (My pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 10)

DT Tim Settle - Oklahoma State, USC, Virginia Tech and Washington State (My pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 7)

ILB Anthony Wheeler - Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas (My pick: Oklahoma; Confidence level: 6)

CB Kendall Sheffield - Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Texas A&M (My Pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 5)

U.S. Army (Saturday, Jan. 3, 12:00 p.m. CT)

WR Lawrence Cager - Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (My Pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 1)

TE Devonaire Clarington - Florida, LSU, Miami and Texas (My Pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

OT Martez Ivey - Auburn and Florida (My pick: Florida; Confidence level: 4)

DT Neville Gallimore - Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC (My Pick: Ohio State; Confidence level: 5)

DE D'Andre Walker - Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee (My Pick: Georgia; Confidence level: 9)

DE Kyle Phillips - LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee (My Pick: LSU; Confidence level: 8)

OLB Porter Gustin - Arizona State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 10)

S Marvell Tell - Oregon, Texas A&M and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 6)

ATH Tim Irvin - Florida, Miami and Texas (My pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

Thoughts? Let's hear out...

You are pretty much saying, "No need to watch folks."

I would agree that out of this list, our best hope would be Ivey.

Man... if that's really the way it turns out, I'm going to be so sad.

[Randman5000 4,226]

Under Armour (Friday, Jan. 2, 3:00 p.m. CT)

RB Ronald Jones II - Notre Dame and USC (My pick: USC; Confidence level: 9)

WR Tyron Johnson - Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (My pick: Oklahoma State; Confidence level: 3)

WR DaVante Phillips - Florida State, Louisville and Miami (My pick: Florida State; Confidence level: 9)

DT Daron Payne - Alabama, Auburn and Miss State (My pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 10)

DT Tim Settle - Oklahoma State, USC, Virginia Tech and Washington State (My pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 7)

ILB Anthony Wheeler - Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas (My pick: Oklahoma; Confidence level: 6)

CB Kendall Sheffield - Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Texas A&M (My Pick: Alabama; Confidence level: 5)

U.S. Army (Saturday, Jan. 3, 12:00 p.m. CT)

WR Lawrence Cager - Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (My Pick: Virginia Tech; Confidence level: 1)

TE Devonaire Clarington - Florida, LSU, Miami and Texas (My Pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

OT Martez Ivey - Auburn and Florida (My pick: Florida; Confidence level: 4)

DT Neville Gallimore - Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC (My Pick: Ohio State; Confidence level: 5)

DE D'Andre Walker - Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee (My Pick: Georgia; Confidence level: 9)

DE Kyle Phillips - LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee (My Pick: LSU; Confidence level: 8)

OLB Porter Gustin - Arizona State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 10)

S Marvell Tell - Oregon, Texas A&M and USC (My Pick: USC; Confidence level: 6)

ATH Tim Irvin - Florida, Miami and Texas (My pick: Texas; Confidence level: 6)

Thoughts? Let's hear out...

You are pretty much saying, "No need to watch folks."

I would agree that out of this list, our best hope would be Ivey.

Man... if that's really the way it turns out, I'm going to be so sad.

I'll be there...waving my war eagle sign. Bringing the good luck

[mcgufcm 4,096]

Based on that list, I don't think I'd be that upset. I've always been of the opinion that Tyron Johnson and Daron Payne were long shots. It seems like we've backed off D'Andre Walker over time, and I'm not sure we ever really threw our resources at Gallimore.

Ivey is really the only guy on that list I've got a lot of hope or investment in. It'll suck if he picks Florida, but it won't be shocking or anything. Expect the best; prepare for the worst, ya know?

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

I tend to agree from this list Ivey is the only one that we seem to have gone after hard. NSD days with guys like Cowart, Jefferson, Holland is more important even though I do agree with the PR side of having players announce at these games it can't hurt to get your schools named when one of these players commit. Also we have gone hard for Payne but that has always been an uphill battle.

[war eagle6 0]

Blame previous staff for this one. But things are about to change big time with muschamp and t-rob on board. ( with a few surprise position coaches)!

What I would like to see is Gus out recruiting these top defensive players...and not leaving it to the DC. Saban for example, recruits all of their top candidates and does not leave it to Smart to bring them home. Gus is the HC...not the OC and should be working all the top prospects...yet I rarely hear about him influencing these commitments to play at AU.

FYI, Kirby was at that fiasco last year at the Evans camp, not Nick. Gus was also there and it still didn't do any good. If a position coach is good enough, he can bring that recruit home without the head coach

[AU64 10,122]

Blame previous staff for this one. But things are about to change big time with muschamp and t-rob on board. ( with a few surprise position coaches)!

What I would like to see is Gus out recruiting these top defensive players...and not leaving it to the DC. Saban for example, recruits all of their top candidates and does not leave it to Smart to bring them home. Gus is the HC...not the OC and should be working all the top prospects...yet I rarely hear about him influencing these commitments to play at AU.

FYI, Kirby was at that fiasco last year at the Evans camp, not Nick. Gus was also there and it still didn't do any good. If a position coach is good enough, he can bring that recruit home without the head coach

As for Evans, I expect Nick knew the outcome and saved his money. JMO but it's only after you lose a key recruit that you wonder if the HC could have made a difference. Just sayin'....don't leave any stone unturned in the recruiting battles.

Maybe it's just me, but Garner has not brought in the heavy hitters that people expected....certainly time for AU to come up with a better plan.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

Garner has one full recruiting season at AU? I think AU did pretty well with dline recruiting last cycle..Russell, Williams, few others I can't recall. Let's just show patience, and see what happens in February

[TheBlueVue 177]

There are some seriously funny posts in this forum. Garner had a couple months to work AUs 1st class under this staff and only ONE year on his second. It seems some here were expecting a magician not just a good recruiter and coach. The guy hasn't suddenly forgotten how to recruit..give him at least a "minute"

[AURealist 2,185]

There are some seriously funny posts in this forum. Garner had a couple months to work AUs 1st class under this staff and only ONE year on his second. It seems some here were expecting a magician not just a good recruiter and coach. The guy hasn't suddenly forgotten how to recruit..give him at least a "minute"

So you mean we will be getting a Defensive End this year, after all? After CRG does his magic? That's some much-needed great news! WDE!

I'm so sorry for posting "funny" posts, everybody. Please forgive my lack of faith. (Though you should come to expect that kind of silliness from me as I was one of those Auburn-haters who thought it was time to let CEJ go. I am so glad to have been wrong about that. I really should have listened to you guys. :-\ ) You see, UGA having three (3) 4-star commits at DE so far this year while AU has exactly 0 had me worried... Silly me. When I see our SEC rivals getting their 4-star and 5-star recruiting targets on-board early while Auburn gets their much-better-than-their-ranking-3-stars late, I irrationally overreact. My bad. Clearly, recruiting on the defensive side of the ball has been stellar this year (Here. See for yourself).

Sorry for the hysterics.

Just so you know: Any movement to Auburn by defensive targets can and should be wholly attributed to the Muschamp Effect. I hope it's not too little too late.

Oh, and on Offense: Kerryon Johnson setting up a trip to UAT. I shouldn't give that a second thought, right? Whew! Yeah. Just checking.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

R-E-L-A-X ..........seriously

[FHeal 4]

E-X-L-A-X ..........seriously

FTFY

* ( t'was missmelled - although gas can often fool ya )