2022 Recruiting Budget Vs Our Rivals

[toddc 13,194]

Report: Auburn spent 6th most in the SEC on football recruiting in 2022

Keith Niebuhr

Auburn had the sixth-highest recruiting budget in the SEC during the 2022 fiscal year and No. 1 Georgia outspent the Tigers by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, per a report Wednesday in USA Today.

Auburn spent $1,307,480; the Bulldogs led the SEC — and the country — with recruiting expenses by spending $4,506,248. That was a significant distance ahead of Clemson, which had the second-highest total at $3,158,941.

Georgia now has won two straight national titles.

Overall, Auburn was 16th nationally in money spent for recruiting. Surprisingly, the Tigers were behind programs such as Rutgers, Maryland and Arizona.

Some schools did more with less.

Take Ohio State for example. The Buckeyes, a yearly national title contender, finished two spots behind Auburn for 2022 with recruiting expenditures of $1,292,799.

While Georgia’s recruiting expenses nearly doubled from 2017, Auburn’s grew only marginally from a 2017 total of $1,076,050.

Auburn spent far less than its two main rivals 

It is not known how much Auburn’s recruiting expenses will grow in 2023 and beyond.

About its report, USA Today wrote, “That data was revealed in NCAA financial reports obtained by USA TODAY Sports Network in response to open records requests and compiled in partnership with the Knight-Newhouse Data project at Syracuse University. Georgia’s spending far exceeded any other Power 5 public university. In fact, its recruiting budget was at least double that of 45 of the 51 other public schools in Power 5 conferences.”

It added, “Recruiting expenses cover transportation, lodging and meals for recruits, additional personnel for official and unofficial visits, phone charges and postage for pursuing recruits and the value of schools’ vehicles and planes or those used by the school for recruiting. Compensation for coaches and recruiting support staff is not included in the recruiting expenses. …. Varying accounting systems for athletics departments and/or university can result in a lack of uniformity in how these numbers are compiled for financial reports. USA TODAY Sports Network obtained recruiting expenses for Power Five public universities for the past six years.”

Worth noting, “the SEC will add two top-10 spending teams in 2024. Oklahoma ($2.63 million) and Texas ($2.44 million) ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, in 2022 recruiting expenses.”

You can find the complete USA Today story HERE.

[toddc 13,194]

Auburn can sell itself to recruits but we have to be willing to spend more to get them here. Between this and NIL it’s proof positive that teams are buying their way to winning in some cases. Didn’t work for aTm of course but that’s an outlier. Ohio State and their low spending is also a outlier.

Edited April 5, 2023 by toddc

[DAG 33,988]

2 hours ago, toddc said:

Auburn had the sixth-highest recruiting budget in the SEC during the 2022 fiscal year and No. 1 Georgia outspent the Tigers by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, per a report Wednesday in USA Today.

And the results speak for themselves.

[icanthearyou 4,463]

Buy your national championships now,,, while they are still "cheap".

[AuburnNTexas 7,149]

We are only talking recruiting budget and not NIL. I know schools don't directly do NIL but it is now a key piece in the recruiting wars. If the big boys can do that much more on recruiting budget I bet NIL is also more than us compared to the big boys.

[AUpreacherman22 3,887]

I wonder how much of that $1.3mil Hugh spent in the last few weeks of 2022.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he spent more than the previous guy did all year. 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,297]

47 minutes ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I wonder how much of that $1.3mil Hugh spent in the last few weeks of 2022.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he spent more than the previous guy did all year. 

This is the real question. How much was spent during which weeks

[NoALtiger 3,865]

I’d also take into consideration the second to last paragraph regarding how the data is collected. Its not all apples to apples with how schools report the expenditures via their accounting systems. All this does is give a broad baseline of things and makes for a somewhat entertaining discussion. It also states what we all know, recruiting is the most vital part of todays game and the more a school invests in it the more they generally have success. Not counting aTm of course lol. 

[Win4AU 4,052]

To me what would be interesting is looking at how much was spent on recruiting and how that impacted profit for the program and who got the most for their money.  Ohio State for example has recruited very well spending less that Auburn.  At this point I don't think UGA needs to spend 4.5 mil to recruit so it'll be interesting to see if they keep up that level of spending.  Add NIL into this discussion and you've got a whole other level to this onion.  

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,673]

Alabama only was 7th iirc. Don’t need to be #1 to be national title contender, but you do need to get to a spot where you can convince talent to come even if you’re spending less 

[Randman5000 4,229]

Don't they consistently out spend us. 

[AU-24 3,096]

The article mentions Ohio State did more with less, because they compete for national championships almost every year. They are in the Big Ten! If Ohio State or Michigan was in the SEC, they would be a little over a .500 team.

[keesler 5,924]

AU has to up the budget considerably now that Texas & Ok are heading to the sec. Get a jump start while we can. Is it too much for AU to double the football allocation right now?

[80Tiger 899]

On 4/7/2023 at 8:41 AM, NoALtiger said:

I’d also take into consideration the second to last paragraph regarding how the data is collected. Its not all apples to apples with how schools report the expenditures via their accounting systems. All this does is give a broad baseline of things and makes for a somewhat entertaining discussion. It also states what we all know, recruiting is the most vital part of todays game and the more a school invests in it the more they generally have success. Not counting aTm of course lol. 

Especially vehicles and planes. What if one school applies the depreciation/cost of Citations ($7M to $10M) vs another school who utilizes a King Air ( $1M). While there is something to be taken from the article, this is not a direct spend vs direct spend comparison.

[toddc 13,194]

How Auburn football's recruiting budget stacks up against other SEC schools

Richard Silva

Montgomery Advertiser

AUBURN — It hasn't exactly been a great past six years for Auburn football.

The Tigers have posted a 44-32 record since 2017 and had back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in over two decades. They'll have their third head coach in seven years this fall.

During that run, Auburn has had its ups and downs in recruiting. Former coach Gus Malzahn brought in the No. 7 class in 2020, according to the 247Sports Composite, but that was followed by Bryan Harsin and his No. 19-ranked class in 2021 and No. 21 in 2022.

SEC COMPETITION:Georgia recruiting budget for football soared while Alabama's flattened. Both plans worked

JOSH HEUPEL:Tennessee football spares no expense in recruiting. Do Vols get their money's worth?

While the Tigers have toiled, their biggest rivals have soared. Alabama is still a well-oiled machine, and Georgia won back-to-back national championships while Auburn was enduring sub-.500 seasons.

LSU had its 15-0 season in 2019 and went to the SEC Championship last year. Josh Heupel led Tennessee to its first season of double-digit wins in 15 years in 2022.

Recruiting, obviously, plays a role in that. Here's how Auburn's recruiting budget has stacked up to other public schools in Power 5 conferences, according to a USA TODAY report published earlier this month.

How does Auburn compare to other SEC programs?

AU has spent an average of $859,270.67 on recruiting over the last six seasons, which is good for No. 19 in the country and eighth in the SEC behind Georgia ($2.75 million), Alabama ($1.91 million), Tennessee ($1.79 million), Texas A&M ($1.57 million), Arkansas ($1.10 million), Florida ($1.07 million) and LSU ($983,769).

Texas ($1.30 million) and Oklahoma ($1.26 million) each have outspent AU ahead of joining the conference.

Auburn had its highest ranking during the 2017 fiscal year when it spent $1.08 million, a total that was top 10 in the nation and No. 5 in the SEC behind Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas A&M.

Pandemic hit Auburn harder than most

The COVID pandemic did a number on Auburn's recruiting budget. AU spent $638,643 during the 2020 fiscal year and $95,717 in 2021, marks that were No. 32 and No. 47 in the country among public universities in Power 5 conferences, respectively.

That decrease in 2021 was an 89% dip from Auburn's average. For comparison, Georgia suffered a 74.6% decrease from its average and Alabama saw its budget go down by 72.4% that same year. The Bulldogs still spent the third most in recruiting in 2021 − Oregon State ($804,502) and Texas ($713,374) were the only programs higher. Alabama sat at No. 7.

The only SEC program to be impacted harder than Auburn was Mississippi State. The Bulldogs saw their recruiting budget fall by 96.2% in 2021 ($15,617).

A spike in 2022

Auburn spent $1.31 million during the 2022 fiscal year, which is the most it has spent since at least 2017. Other programs, however, have increased spending just as much. AU ranked No. 18 in the country for 2022, just about in line with its average ranking over the past six years.

AU's spending in 2022 got it the No. 18-ranked recruiting class in 2023, according to the 247Sports Composite. Over the past six cycles, Auburn has averaged about the 15th-best class in the country.