Tracy Rocker -- DL Coach

[AUApostle 7,651]

Love Tracy Rocker.  I had one AU jersey as a kid and it was a #74 mesh jersey...I wore that thing out.  I finally met him as an AU Arch student when I went over to Troy for my thesis project...he showed me around the facility for a half hour, unplanned, and let me take photos of everything.

[AUinfusion 390]

So is Rocker considered an upgrade as a DL coach? Garner was a good recruiter.

[W.E.D 11,070]

21 minutes ago, Paladin said:

Maybe Rocker can convince Pegues that DT is his path to the NFL and he is the coach that will develop him.

JJ is listed at 6'2".  So he's probably 6'-6'1"  Not many DTs that short

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

I'm not sure why it's difficult to just be honest.  @Zeek is correct.  Rocker hates recruiting.  He has for his entire time in college.  He left UGA b/c he was bad and accidentally texted a recruit that he was a baby and needed attention.

Now THAT makes me want Rocker even more. Not kidding.

[aublue88 145]

Great Auburn player from a great Auburn family, welcome home!   

[W.E.D 11,070]

6 minutes ago, AUinfusion said:

So is Rocker considered an upgrade as a DL coach? Garner was a good recruiter.

On the field coach I think it's an upgrade.  Rodney seemed to have gotten stale and we either aren't recruiting DEs or he hasn't developed a DE that can rush the passer in years.  Also not sure his style is meshing with current players.

[W.E.D 11,070]

1 minute ago, CleCoTiger said:

Now THAT makes me want Rocker even more. Not kidding.

Well I'm pretty sure it caused UGA to lose out on an elite recruit.  Think he went to FSU.  That isn't a good thing.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,669]

10 minutes ago, AUinfusion said:

So is Rocker considered an upgrade as a DL coach? Garner was a good recruiter.

Probably not, but he doesn’t seem like much of a down grade. And if he can specifically develop DEnds, then he could be an upgrade one day soon. That aspect of the DL has seemingly passed Garner by. 

[Carnell 592]

1 hour ago, gravejd said:

I'm good with the Rocker hire. Our defensive line were very good when he was here. People complain about the recruiting but we signed some good ones when he was here and uga signed some really good ones when he was coaching there. I would not be surprised to hear that Rocker is not crazy about all the attention you have to give some of these recruits. But maybe those are the recruits we can pass on. You know the Byron Cowarts of the world. All world talent but doesn't have the drive to be great at the higher levels. 

I'll take results over hearsay and the results for Rocker speaks for themselves. 

 

One thing I like about Rocker when he was at Auburn he taught the Bull rush.  This was excellent to collapse the pocket around the QB to block his line of site, reduce throwing lanes and for the athletic quarterback prevented escape routes out of the pocket.

[bootskii 264]

Here is an easy fix. Make his recruiting area of responsibility Alabama and Georgia maybe? Can leave in the morning and be home before dinner.  Just thinking outside of the box.

[AUnCullman 601]

Specifically the Tuscaloser area. LOL

[bigbird 60,525]

13 minutes ago, W.E.D said:

JJ is listed at 6'2".  So he's probably 6'-6'1"  Not many DTs that short

Demarco Mcneil

Warren Sapp

Aaron Donald

[casatiger 513]

In a 3-4 is the DT or nose typically a shorter low center of gravity type?  

[toddc 13,194]

1 minute ago, Paladin said:

Aaron Donald is 6'1" 285

 

And one of the best ever!

[W.E.D 11,070]

6 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Demarco Mcneil

Warren Sapp

Aaron Donald

  

4 minutes ago, Paladin said:

Aaron Donald is 6'1" 285

 

 

Right, I said not many.  It's always fun to point out the anomalies.  Aaron Donald was probably one of the most dominant College DL's in recent memory and slid down draft boards b/c of his height concerns.  JJ needs to lose weight and be a solid TE

[DAG 33,983]

Auburn men be like :

 

 

[Taco 617]

Regarding Rocker hating recruiting... 

 

Im blessed to be in collegiate Athletics. It’s a dream job and a blessing to be around student athletes. As an administrator I don’t go on the recruiting trail heavy unless it’s a city or town I’ve been wanting to go and basically have a mini-vacation on the department’s dime. 
 

But I’ll break the news to you guys. Plenty of coaches do not enjoy the recruiting aspect in the college ranks. And it seems like the longer a coach has been a coach in the college ranks, the less excitement they get about hitting the recruiting trails. Especially with these “new age” student-athletes. 
 

But hating recruiting does not equal sucking at recruiting. If anything, I think Rocker will be just fine and I’m very excited about bringing in coaches at seemingly every position that can DEVELOP the position group as well as being able to recruit. 
 

just my two cents for anybody that actually cares lol

[JFDTiger80 790]

I hope Rocker will recruit with passion. Elite Oline and Dline are required to win championships.

[Carnell 592]

7 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Demarco Mcneil

Warren Sapp

Aaron Donald

Make him a NT.  Short and compact he can use that leverage to push the center in the backfield disrupting plays.

[Viper 3,132]

Fairley was a 3-star offensive guard recruit and was lazy when he arrived. Rocker red-assed him into the Lombardi the very next season. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

2 minutes ago, Viper said:

Fairley was a 3-star offensive guard recruit and was lazy when he arrived. Rocker red-assed him into the Lombardi the very next season. 

He was a guard out of HS then went to Copiah Lincoln CC but was a DT at JUCO and came to Auburn as a DT

[AuburnEagle79 2,168]

Overall, I really like what Harsin is doing with the staff. I don't necessarily like all of the hires, but the strategy is exactly what it needed to be:

1) Familiarity with Harsin

2) Familiarity with SEC

3) Familiarity with Auburn

4) Quarterback Development

5) Solid Recruiters

6) Overall Solid Character Men 

 

Maybe these hires work out, maybe they don't, but I just feel like we are doing something here that has the real potential to be special. 

[Viper 3,132]

1 minute ago, W.E.D said:

He was a guard out of HS then went to Copiah Lincoln CC but was a DT at JUCO and came to Auburn as a DT

I didn’t say otherwise. Further, he was recruited by Tubbs’ staff as an OG.  

[AU-Allen 85]

You know what recruits best.... Winning, I don't care how bad the recruiters are if you win you win recruits. Your name is out there as a winner and kids want to play for winners on TV. Rocker will help our defense and that will translate to wins thus translating to recruits. If those wins include players that have developed and went on the the NFL then that just adds fuel to the fire. Lets just see what we do on the field and how that translates in recruiting. I will leave you with this and remind you where that player is now. 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1936370-georgia-recruiting-how-tracy-rocker-hire-impacts-lorenzo-carters-recruitment

[AUStew87 326]

1 hour ago, W.E.D said:

JJ is listed at 6'2".  So he's probably 6'-6'1"  Not many DTs that short

I think he make a bigger impact at one of the end spots in a 3-4 scheme. He would still lack the ideal height there, but I think has other attributes that would make an impact at the position.