DKW 86 7,430 Posted August 18, 2006 Share Posted August 18, 2006 http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birmingha....xml&coll=2 Busting down `the wall' Friday, August 18, 2006 CHARLES GOLDBERG News staff writer AUBURN -- David Housel remembers when Bear Bryant was winning at Alabama and beating Auburn in recruiting around Birmingham. "There was almost a wall he had built around Jefferson County," said Auburn's former athletics director. "We had the quality from Birmingham, but not the quantity." Bryant wouldn't allow it. It's a good thing for Auburn a 26-year-old assistant coach didn't know that when he showed up with Pat Dye in 1981. The wall around Jefferson County? Bobby Wallace tore it down. "I was probably too naive and too young to pay any attention to a wall," Wallace said with a laugh this week. "I didn't know any better. I just went full bore in there like I belonged and just tried to develop a good relationship with the players, the moms, the high school coaches." Wallace snagged the two best players around Birmingham his first year - a fellow by the name of Bo Jackson and an NFL-bound defensive lineman in Jeff Parks - and Auburn had began to turn the momentum, although it didn't always last. Still, it is that momentum that current head coach Tommy Tuberville believes in when recruiting Birmingham. The Tigers had 10 players from the Birmingham area report to fall camp this month, added a couple of more walk-ons Thursday and have two commitments already in the fold for next year's team. Tuberville had just about as many Birmingham-area players his first season in 1999, but, significantly, only three of those were on scholarship the year before. That would turn around with the recruiting of defensive line coach Terry Price, who was assigned Birmingham when he arrived with Tuberville. "We knew we had to have success in Birmingham to have success here on a consistent basis," Tuberville said. "We've had some tough recruiting battles - we won some and lost some - but we've had the opportunity to be right there." 4 pages more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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