2021 NSD Discussion Thread (Part 2)

[dilligas 581]

5 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Uscher was not referring to him. The tweets about his impending commitment was the night before Uscher’s tweet.

Then he might have just been yanking everyone’s chain.

[Ausburn2 488]

42 minutes ago, Ausburn2 said:

That is the way al.com is reporting it.

 

9 minutes ago, ellitor said:

They are wrong as usual

I hear you but it is a flip. 

[jAUSon 2,836]

I've been jonesing to see how today went but work is crazy I haven't even had ten minutes to look. Is anyone willing to summarize? Wins? Disappointments? @ellitor? 

[AUinfusion 390]

11 minutes ago, AUMicBK said:

just a note that this guy (who i mentioned a few weeks ago as "should be a target") appears to not have signed today 👀

https://247sports.com/player/ketravion-hargrove-46099596

 

Has just a tiny bit of Kerryon in him. I'd take that.

[ellitor 33,114]

14 minutes ago, dilligas said:

Then he might have just been yanking everyone’s chain.

@dilligas unlikely. Keith is hearing from his sources that Auburn is expected to land Hunter and a Flip in the next 48 hours.

[ellitor 33,114]

13 minutes ago, jAUSon said:

I've been jonesing to see how today went but work is crazy I haven't even had ten minutes to look. Is anyone willing to summarize? Wins? Disappointments? @ellitor? 

It went completely as expected so far. Losing Balfour and Wallace are disappointing but we have known it for a few days that was happening now. The last page or two of the closing out the class thread should catch you up.

[AUgrad2013 114]

Could the flip be a transfer portal guy or we think it’s a High school kid?

[leglessdan 1,934]

1 minute ago, AUgrad2013 said:

Could the flip be a transfer portal guy or we think it’s a High school kid?

Has to be a HS kid I would assume 

[ellitor 33,114]

1 minute ago, AUgrad2013 said:

Could the flip be a transfer portal guy or we think it’s a High school kid?

No clue. Have not seen any informed speculation on that part.

[ellitor 33,114]

3 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

Has to be a HS kid I would assume 

Not necessarily. There are many guys in the transfer portal committed to new schools that have not been announced by the new schools yet.

[AUwent 3,775]

Good job by CBH salvaging SOMETHING out of this class (from #48 to #30 in a couple weeks on 247). By no means a good class, but a stepping stone nonetheless. (Re: Clay Travis, if the majority of this class stays it's already better than that disastrous 2008 class.)

Now, build on it! Should be aiming for the pre-teens next year.

Edited February 3, 2021 by AUwent

[slot canyon 1,344]

Today, Clay Travis stated that this may be the worst recruiting class that AU has ever had.  Had us around #36 I believe.  He said that you need 3 out of 4 classes to be in top 10 to be in contention for a championship.  Lots of work to do.

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

My impressions...

First of all, for all you guys that wanted a coach to talk and complained that Gus never said anything, you got it! Harsin can go on and on and on and say the same stuff over and over again. In his defense, he was asked the same questions and he is still trying to get his feet under him at Auburn, so I will give him a pass.

Secondly, it looks like we will see what kind of developer of talent he is. I would love some hard-nosed guys with an awesome work ethic and a hunger for the game. I am not bashing the current players at all, but we have needed a little more physicality to the team, a few more "biters". So, if Harsin is not a good developer, this will be an experiment in mediocrity.

Third, we really need this year's class to be successful on the field and generate excitement for the future.

Last, Harsin talked about culture a lot. I'm wondering, is Harsin fitting in and recruiting to Auburn's culture or is he trying to change what Auburn is? I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. It is really a wait and see for me.

[Paladin 3,305]

Quote

Bryan Harsin 'very proud' of new Auburn staff's swift recruiting work

by Nathan King

6 minutes ago

AUBURN, Alabama — Finally, Bryan Harsin finalized his first Auburn coaching staff last when the hire of defensive line coach Nick Eason was made official, replacing Tracy Rocker. There wasn't any time to relax, however, with national signing day less than a month away, as Auburn looked to improve on a 2021 class that was ranked at one point No. 49 in the country.

Still, the staff had some fun with it. Harsin spent the past week trying out his new commitment signal on Twitter — the equivalent of Gus Malzahn's old "Boom!" posts — as he cryptically shared some of Auburn's recruiting success. Other staff members joined in on social media, too, expressing their excitement for a recruit's pledge and even teasing some future developments for the recruiting class.

This week in the Auburn football complex, Harsin said he enjoyed spending time with his new staff and getting to know them and their recruiting styles even better — even if most of their time in a room together was spent passing around a phone to talk to a recruit.

"I’m very proud of our staff for putting in the work to get to where we are right now," Harsin said Wednesday during a Zoom call with reporters.

Auburn inked six new Tigers on Wednesday — three-star safety and South Alabama flip Cayden Bridges, four-star wide receiver Tar'Varish Dawson, four-star safety Juwon Gaston, Northwestern pass-rusher transfer Eku Leota, four-star offensive tackle Colby Smith and the No. 2 inside linebacker out of the junior college ranks, Joko Willis — and Harsin said they're not done, with "several" spots left to fill. The Tigers' new head coach did say, however, that he doesn't expect any more letters of intent to be sent Auburn's way on Wednesday.

Harsin is especially pleased with the way his new staff members were able to connect with Auburn's recruiting targets in such short order. Some of those on Harsin's staff may have crossed paths with these recruits before, but many — like Jeff Schmedding from Boise State and certainly Eason from the NFL — are having to develop relationships swiftly and efficiently.

Obviously, the dialogue within Auburn's building had to be on the same page for the past few weeks, and Harsin was pleased in that area, as well.

"I think there was great communication," he said. "I think we did a good job of making sure not only we communicated with the players that we were recruiting but also the family, but then internally as well. Where are we at? What are some of the things that we need to do to move this forward? And we had those conversations. And I think the staff did a good job of just staying connected and making sure the questions that were asked got answered and that we got to really show a vision for what it is we want to do here and make sure the guys can see that and how they fit into it and how they’re going to be a part of this program.

"With the coaching change and not getting a chance to get out there and get face to face, a lot of conversations had to be had to give that vision and a lot of connection points needed to be made to make sure we had the information back and forward so we could make the right decision."

The challenges came not only with the coaching change and staff overhaul, but also with the fundamental recruiting drawbacks that have been in place ever since the NCAA placed a ban on in-person visits due to COVID-19.

Like Malzahn said so many times after the coronavirus came into play in college sports, Harsin noted that Auburn is affected greatly because the campus aspect of a player's recruitment at Auburn — plus the "vibe" of the college town in general — is one of the program's biggest assets.

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So Harsin and his staff have had to work overtime to make connections with prospects, high-school coaches and players' families, while doing all of it over the phone or Zoom.

"I think the players and families appreciate that, and at the end of the day, you know, they know they're in good hands," Harsin said. "They know they're going to be in a very good program with high-character men that are going to be coaching them and are going to be developed in our program."

With a few slots left to be filled with 2021 high-school prospects or the transfer portal, Auburn's recruiting class currently ranks 30th in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

"Our staff right now, we feel good about where we're at, we feel good about the work that's been done, the guys that have been signed, who's in this program right now," Harsin said. "But that will continue, and we need to finish this class. We need to finish and make sure that we do have our numbers filled and we have our depth and competition at these positions."

 

[leglessdan 1,934]

3 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Not necessarily. There are many guys in the transfer portal committed to new schools that have not been announced by the new schools yet.

Gotcha, didn't think about that. Guys in the portal doesn't scream flip to me, but I see what ya mean. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,179]

I'm satisfied with what our staff has done so far. 

It's a real testament to how badly Gus and staff were dropping the ball this year to see how Tennessee actually walked away with a "good" class while literally imploding as a program and Harsin had to work like hell just to get Auburn up out of the SEC basement. 

 

Firing Gus right before the early signing day probably hurt a lot too, but oh well.

[leglessdan 1,934]

3 minutes ago, 3rdgeneration said:

My impressions...

First of all, for all you guys that wanted a coach to talk and complained that Gus never said anything, you got it! Harsin can go on and on and on and say the same stuff over and over again. In his defense, he was asked the same questions and he is still trying to get his feet under him at Auburn, so I will give him a pass.

Secondly, it looks like we will see what kind of developer of talent he is. I would love some hard-nosed guys with an awesome work ethic and a hunger for the game. I am not bashing the current players at all, but we have needed a little more physicality to the team, a few more "biters". So, if Harsin is not a good developer, this will be an experiment in mediocrity.

Third, we really need this year's class to be successful on the field and generate excitement for the future.

Last, Harsin talked about culture a lot. I'm wondering, is Harsin fitting in and recruiting to Auburn's culture or is he trying to change what Auburn is? I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. It is really a wait and see for me.

I feel like he's trying to meld his football culture with the historical Auburn culture. If that makes sense. When he references culture,  I hear it as "I don't care how good you think you are, you're going to come in here and put in a lot more work to become more than that". Meaning tough, competitive nothing given attitude,  no matter what your star count is.

[augolf1716 21,303]

2 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

I remember the year we went thru 5 of them...wait, that was centers. Nevermind.

I remember that year

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

16 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

Today, Clay Travis stated that this may be the worst recruiting class that AU has ever had.  Had us around #36 I believe.  He said that you need 3 out of 4 classes to be in top 10 to be in contention for a championship.  Lots of work to do.

Yeah, noted recruiting analyst Clay Travis is definitely the one I look for when it comes to Recruiting. 

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

18 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

I feel like he's trying to meld his football culture with the historical Auburn culture. If that makes sense. When he references culture,  I hear it as "I don't care how good you think you are, you're going to come in here and put in a lot more work to become more than that". Meaning tough, competitive nothing given attitude,  no matter what your star count is.

I hope you're right, because that is what he has to work with. I just want to make sure there is an appreciation for tradition and a "feel" that Auburn (not necessarily  all about Auburn football) has.

[Sizzle 3,920]

24 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

I'm satisfied with what our staff has done so far. 

It's a real testament to how badly Gus and staff were dropping the ball this year to see how Tennessee actually walked away with a "good" class while literally imploding as a program and Harsin had to work like hell just to get Auburn up out of the SEC basement. 

 

Firing Gus right before the early signing day probably hurt a lot too, but oh well.

Tennessee paying players helped a lot too

[DAG 34,017]

32 minutes ago, 3rdgeneration said:

My impressions...

First of all, for all you guys that wanted a coach to talk and complained that Gus never said anything, you got it! Harsin can go on and on and on and say the same stuff over and over again. In his defense, he was asked the same questions and he is still trying to get his feet under him at Auburn, so I will give him a pass.

Secondly, it looks like we will see what kind of developer of talent he is. I would love some hard-nosed guys with an awesome work ethic and a hunger for the game. I am not bashing the current players at all, but we have needed a little more physicality to the team, a few more "biters". So, if Harsin is not a good developer, this will be an experiment in mediocrity.

Third, we really need this year's class to be successful on the field and generate excitement for the future.

Last, Harsin talked about culture a lot. I'm wondering, is Harsin fitting in and recruiting to Auburn's culture or is he trying to change what Auburn is? I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. It is really a wait and see for me.

I don't know what you consider Auburn culture, but whatever it is, it wasn't getting the job done. I love the intensity and directness that coach is bringing. Unfortunately, he has to clean up what the last guy left. 

[mcgufcm 4,107]

12 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Tennessee paying players helped a lot too

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by mcgufcm

[ellitor 33,114]

44 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

Today, Clay Travis stated that this may be the worst recruiting class that AU has ever had.

@slot canyon1. It’s not. & 2. It’s not over yet.

[chizhead 618]

47 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Firing Gus right before the early signing day probably hurt a lot too, but oh well.

It was worth it if it meant getting rid of Gus. Gus was 100% heading this program down the s*****r