Chizik off to big start at Auburn

[OldNewby 27]

Chizik off to big start at Auburn

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The nation's No. 1 high school football player is now considering becoming an Auburn Tiger. That's a big deal for the early tenure of Gene Chizik.

Wide receiver Rueben Randle isn't just considering a courtesy visit from Phenix City or Alexander City. His hometown of Bastrop, La., is 424 miles away, yet he's still considering a visit to check out the Tigers. A team that just finished the season 5-7. Then went through a messy divorce with Tommy Tuberville. Then weathered a near nuclear meltdown when Chizik and his 5-19 head-coaching record were introduced.

The chances that Randle will choose to play for Auburn and with a quarterback who has either struggled in the SEC (Kodi Burns or Chris Todd) or has never taken a significant major college snap (Neil Caudle, Barrett Trotter or some undetermined 2009 signee) are still no better than 20-to-1. But that doesn't diminish what his interest in the Tigers signifies.

The fact that Randle is even considering Auburn is proof that Chizik is off to a great start since arriving on the Plains, even if he isn't successful in immediately swaying top recruits away from rivals Alabama, LSU or Georgia.

First, he convinced Antonio Coleman to bypass the NFL draft and return for his senior season. Coleman is one of the top five favorites to be SEC defensive player of the year next season if the Tigers bounce back with even a respectable season.

It's true that losing junior Sen'Derrick Marks to the NFL is a blow, but keeping one of the two Mobile stars is a better-than-OK batting average.

A fresh start elsewhere for Tray Blackmon, Ryan Williams and Chris Slaughter — who struggled with a combination of on-field, academic and off-field issues while at Auburn — is probably a good resolution for the players and the Tigers. The ill-fated decision of undersized cornerback Jerraud Powers to enter the NFL draft is something he will probably regret but not a blow Auburn can't overcome.

Even more instrumental in the long-term success than Coleman's return is the staff that Chizik is assembling.

The reason Randle is now considering Auburn and not Oklahoma State is because Chizik hired Curtis Luper away from the Cowboys. It's the same reason one of the country's top uncommitted quarterbacks, Tyrik Rollinson of Sulphur Springs, Texas, is now considering a visit to Auburn.

It also doesn't hurt that Luper can help sell Gus Malzahn's unique and explosive offense. At Ladd-Peebles Stadium, less than a mile from where Coleman made his announcement to return to Auburn, Malzahn produced a three-hour Auburn recruiting video when his final game as Tulsa's offensive coordinator resulted in a clinic on how to pick apart a defense in the GMAC Bowl.

By using a scheme that spreads the field and also utilizes the power running game, Malzahn seems to have a chance to please recruits and the Pat Dye crowd at the same time.

Of course, the only way for Chizik to prove he's better than a 5-19 coach is to win on the field. But one month on the job, he seems to be making all the right moves.

Contact Sports Editor Randy Kennedy at:

rkennedy@press-register.com

His column appears on Sundays in the Press-Register.

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[Justin5 20]

I want to see a copy of that recruiting video.

[OldNewby 27]

I had the game on our DVR, but there's no way to copy it to DVD. I erased it to make room to copy other stuff. If you didn't get a chance to see the game, Tulsa's offense was most impressive!

Hopefully someone in the athletic department made DVD's of it. I say this because I'm not sure Malzahn actually produced a three hour recruiting video, or the writer was implying that the game itself was a clinic on CGM's offense.

[Justin5 20]

I'm an idiot, yeah - I watched the game. I misread it.