mattd 3 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 We had done a really good job of pulling talent out of this school over the last couple of yrs, and now I noticed we aren't even on the list of some of their players...and they have a top Center and CB and we aren't even considered a contender...what happened? oh and AL is on their list and they (as far as i know) haven't had a history of getting players out of that school....food for thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PChamp119 96 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Maybe Tubs had his staff recruit there? Maybe Willis was the recruiter? Beats me. Probably has something to do with a change in staffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeduke 8 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Probably has something to do with the coaching change. As long as we don't see Dillard High start sending people to UAT, we'll be alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sogaaufan 27 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I think that was Eddie Gran's territory when he was here. I'm sure this staff will do all they can to reestablish relationships in that area. We have gotten players from South Florida since Dye's days of the Dillard pipeline. I don't see any reason that will change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,510 Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 They seem to be concentrating harder on in-state recruits and then utilizing the existing relationships in Texas and other nearby states that Luper and Taylor have right now. I don't see us just forgetting about FL though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 South Florida is going to be a lot less of a priority than it was previously. If you haven't noticed they are hitting Georgia hard...under Tuberville South Florida kind of overtook Georgia (at least in the past few years of his tenure) as the top out of state priority. The new staff thinks they can make some in-roads in the Tampa area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerEyes1914 1 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Yea it is pretty obvious that FL is not the priority that it was under Tubs and co. Just looking at the prospect lists on Rivals and Scout will show that. I like the emphasis on GA and Tx is talent rich so Im sure we'll be fine. I just hate conceding all that speed in FL to the rest of the football world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,723 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Maybe Tubs had his staff recruit there? Maybe Willis was the recruiter? Beats me. Probably has something to do with a change in staffs. No, we actually got a bunch of good players out of Broward County, Florida. If Willis had been the guy there he'd have got us what he delivered out of Mobile; ZILCH! When Joe Whitt retired from active recruiting, Willis dropped the ball big-time in the Mobile area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Willis dropped the ball big-time in the Mobile area. As much as everyone wants to hate the guy, thats simply not true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,723 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Willis dropped the ball big-time in the Mobile area. As much as everyone wants to hate the guy, thats simply not true. Instead of saying that's not true, please provide some alternate explanation of why the Mobile to Auburn pipeline dried up after Willis took over. An example would be "Willis wasn't really responsible for the Mobile area. It was really, um, JJ?" Or give us a list of the top prospects Willis brought to Auburn over the past two years. Isn't that list ZERO? There were a bunch of top prospects there, but UAT, LSU and Florida got 'em all. When Joe Whitt retired, Willis was given responsibility for the Mobile area. Our excellent pipeline dried up almost immediately. Now that Willis is gone, it looks like things MAY be improving for us. What else can be said? I'd like to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Willis dropped the ball big-time in the Mobile area. As much as everyone wants to hate the guy, thats simply not true. Instead of saying that's not true, please provide some alternate explanation of why the Mobile to Auburn pipeline dried up after Willis took over. An example would be "Willis wasn't really responsible for the Mobile area. It was really, um, JJ?" Or give us a list of the top prospects Willis brought to Auburn over the past two years. Isn't that list ZERO? There were a bunch of top prospects there, but UAT, LSU and Florida got 'em all. When Joe Whitt retired, Willis was given responsibility for the Mobile area. Our excellent pipeline dried up almost immediately. Now that Willis is gone, it looks like things MAY be improving for us. What else can be said? I'd like to hear it. It didn't "dry up" until after Nick Saban was hired as the HC, thats all that needs to be said. I've repeated this numerous times so I'm not going to write a huge response, but when Nick Saban was hired he personally took responsibility of recruiting Mobile, because he already had some established contacts there from his LSU days. At that point its over, there is zero percent chance an assistant coach, no matter how good, is going to compete against Nick Saban (one of the best recruiting HC's) one on one. Whitt. Jr recruited against a bunch of retreads, not bashing him, but theres no comparison. Think about it logically. If Willis sucked so bad then why was Bama so quick to sign him away from us? Saban has a strong staff in place and he could have gone after a number of strong candidates. Also, we were all doing jumping jacks when Willis was originally retained....then he spurns us and all of a sudden he sucks. He was a good recruiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Willis dropped the ball big-time in the Mobile area. As much as everyone wants to hate the guy, thats simply not true. Exactly. Hate or him or not, Willis didn't have a chance in Mobile. He knew that. (Edit - Kristen Saban went to school at St. Thomas Acquinas when they lived in Miami. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything, other than the fact that Saban would obviously have some contacts there.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Bama's not going to get anyone big from STA this year BTW, so the fact that they are on Linder's list means very little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,723 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 It didn't "dry up" until after Nick Saban was hired as the HC, thats all that needs to be said. Auburn did pretty well in Mobile Saban's first year. Mike McNiel, R. Williams, N. Fairly, J. Cooper are four that Saban "personally visited" yet they signed with Auburn. There may be more, I don't obsess about recruiting by keeping lists, etc. Then Willis took over and it all went down the drain. Facts speak for themselves. As for Saban hiring Willis, are you suggesting that Saban is infallible? He makes mistakes just like everybody else and this is most likely one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,510 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Not to take up for Lil' Nicky, but I don't think you can get a gauge on how we did vs Saban in Mobile when he only came in two months before Signing Day that year. We'd had a year or more to build relationships. I don't know that Willis was a great recruiter, but I think he's a pretty good one. I was happy when we retained him because I didn't want to start from scratch there with someone totally new. That said, I have no love for Willis. He's a traitor in my book. And with this Frankin article coming out it appears Willis felt like an outsider with two totally different staffs, the second of which had not worked together at all. At some point, you have to ask if the reason you feel that way is because of something about you rather than the other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metafour 4,969 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Then Willis took over and it all went down the drain. Facts speak for themselves. Facts DO speak for themselves...your facts are just inaccurate. Willis was the one who recruited McNeil, Fairley, Williams, etc. He didn't "take over" after that class, he recruited Mobile that year, and we also would have gotten both Corley and Phelon Jones if we wanted them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,723 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Facts DO speak for themselves...your facts are just inaccurate. Willis was the one who recruited McNeil, Fairley, Williams, etc. He didn't "take over" after that class, he recruited Mobile that year, and we also would have gotten both Corley and Phelon Jones if we wanted them. OOPS! I read so much about Tuberville closing those deals that I placed Willis there a year later. My bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aucanucktiger 1,798 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 "South Florida is going to be a lot less of a priority than it was previously" Well if true, that's a mixed bag. For evey SF primadonna there's 3 all-world talents. Esp. traditionally @ the speed/skill positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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