AUBURN | Auburn’s early signing day won’t be looked upon as a defining moment in the history of this program.
The Tigers signed 13 players in a class currently ranked 52nd nationally by Rivals. Much of the promises made by interim coach Kevin Steele about a Friday addition and several targets holding decisions until February didn't turn out well.
It wasn’t a good look for Auburn or Steele, but it was never going to be easy trying to win key recruiting battles just days after firing your head coach.
But when you take a step back and look at the big picture, the Tigers actually came out of the day better than expected. Signing 11 of 12 commitments and adding two more is a surprisingly positive outcome. And despite its ranking, this is not a program-tanking class.
Auburn got some players and they also got the room and flexibility for the next coach to add some key pieces in building the roster for his first season.
First of all, when looking at the rankings, in can be misleading to compare a class with 13 signees to ones with 20 or more. The way Rivals and most rankings work is by totaling up the points of the top 20 players in a class. If you’ve got less than 20, your class ranking is not going to stack up.
For smaller classes like Auburn’s, it’s better to look at average star, which ranks AU 24th. Below the standards of the Tigers’ normal class, sure, but not nearly as bad as the current 52nd ranking looks.
Taking a closer look at the class, it meets some important needs including a talented and athletic quarterback, Demetrius Davis, that could be AU’s next starter, five defensive backs, always an important need, and a pretty impressive group of four defensive linemen that average 6-4.5 and 278 pounds.
Auburn also has room for another dozen more. There are actually 11 of the Rivals100 that remain unsigned and plenty more 4-stars and 3-stars still available for a coach that might have a different approach for evaluating and recruiting.
It’s also expected to be an extremely deep class of transfers that Auburn can target for immediate help after the NCAA’s one-time transfer rule was approved for the 2020-21 season and is expected to be passed on a permanent basis in February.
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There are two very big holes in this class, however, and both have been a recurring issue at Auburn and a contributing factor in Gus Malzahn’s ultimate demise — offensive tackle and Buck linebacker.
The failures at offensive tackle have been ongoing for years now. The only true offensive tackle that AU signed out of high school and then developed into a starter during the Malzahn era was Austin Troxell. Braden Smith played some tackle but most of his 41 career starts were at right guard.
That is frankly unfathomable and completely and totally unacceptable for any Power 5 program, particularly an SEC school with championship aspirations. This one can’t be blamed on the coaching change. AU had already lost both of its 2021 offensive tackle commits well before Malzahn’s firing.
As for Buck, Auburn hasn’t had a true edge rusher since Jeff Holland in 2017, and he was a converted linebacker. The Tigers were poised to sign two and maybe a third before Malzahn was let go thanks to the hard work of Al Pogue, who was brought in last year to coach and recruit the Buck position.
Instead, former South Carolina commit, George Wilson, signed with Florida State, JUCO standout Byron Young signed with Tennessee and Jeremiah Williams stuck with his commitment and signed with Florida.
Tough, tough day on that end.
Those are the two biggest personnel issues a new head coach and his staff will have to tackle. The late signing period begins Feb. 3.
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A very quick note on the coaching search. It doesn’t matter how poorly the process is perceived from the outside or how badly you or I think it’s going presently. What matters is the end result and who AU eventually hires. Auburn is by far the best job available and it’s going to have its pick of candidates. It’s just a matter of making the right choice.
I’ll take you back to Dec. 8, 2006 when Rich Rodriguez accepted and then changed his mind and turned down the opportunity to become Alabama’s next head coach. The Tide’s coaching search was mocked nationally. It appeared to be in shambles. And it was ridiculed for another 26 days until Nick Saban accepted the position on Jan. 3. You know the rest of the story.
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In today’s musical journey we go back 36 years and the ascent of one of the most successful and influential musical artists of the 1980’s and beyond. On Dec. 22, 1984, Madonna made it to No. 1 on the U.S. charts for the first time with Like A Virgin. The song, controversial at the time, helped send her career into the stratosphere.
Madonna Louise Ciccone was born and raised in Bay City, Mich., moving to New York in 1978 with “$35 in her pocket” to pursue a career in dance. She began playing drums, guitar and signing in different bands until releasing her first album, Madonna, which included Holiday, Lucky Star and Borderline. She's produced 22 albums, had a record 50 No. 1 hits and also starred in several movies including Desperately Seeking Susan and A League of Their Own. The best-selling female music artist of all-time and the most successful solo artist in the U.S., Madonna has sold over 300 million records worldwide. She is ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest artists and songwriters off all time.
Like A Virgin, Madonna’s second studio album, was recorded at Power Station Studio in New York with Nile Rodgers as the producer. Madonna wrote five of the songs including Into the Groove and Angel. She debuted the first single from the album, Like A Virgin, at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 wearing the iconic wedding dress, emerging from a 17-foot wedding cake and rolling on the stage in a provocative manner. The ensuing music video showed Madonna in her wedding dress and on a gondola in Venice. A number of family groups tried to ban the song due to its portrayal of a sexually independent woman and sex without marriage. It helped to turn Madonna from a pop star into a cultural icon. The song has sold over five million copies and is listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.
