AUBURN | You better believe in-state recruiting makes a difference.
It makes a big difference, especially in a state like Alabama, which has two powerhouse schools and two fan bases that live and breath college football 365 days a year.
For the previous 17 years, which not coincidentally coincides with Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama, the Tide signed 86 of the state’s top 10 prospects and Auburn 48.
That’s a significant difference, and the margins were often larger in the years that Alabama put out the most talent.
In the 2008 and 09 classes that produced standouts such as Julio Jones, Mark Barron, Dre Kirkpatrick and AJ McCarron, the Tide signed 15 of the top 10 players in the state while Auburn signed none.
Zero.
The Tigers signed four from the top 10 in 2014 including Tre Williams and Stephen Roberts, but UA landed six including Marlon Humphrey, Rashaan Evans and Bo Scarbrough.
In the three classes from 2020-22, which included the end of the Gus Malzahn era and the ill-fated two years under Bryan Harsin, AU signed four in-state players from the top 10 and UA 17.
There are numerous reasons Saban won so many SEC and national championships at Alabama, but the No. 1 reason was recruiting and that always started by dominating the state of Alabama.
That’s taken an 180-degree turn under Hugh Freeze, and it’s about friggin’ time.
Last season was a strong one for in-state talent and AU took four of them including three of the top five in Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson and Demarcus Riddick.
UA took five but the message was sent.
With the addition of four-star edge Jared Smith Saturday, AU already has commitments from five of the top 10 in the 2025 in-state class. Alabama has just two, the same number as Ohio State, and Texas has one.
And it wouldn’t be surprising if AU ended up with six or seven of the top 10 before all is said and done.
Auburn hasn’t signed more than five in the entire Rivals era.
It could be an even bigger haul in the 2026 class. Only four of the current top 10 is committed and three of them chose the Tigers during Big Cat.
The Tigers could snag a fourth commitment from that class in the coming weeks.
Does this mean Auburn is about to make an unprecedented run of championships?
I doubt it.
But if you can beat the team that's dominated college football for the better part of two decades in its own backyard, it's a good sign that you can win those same battles across the Southeast and across the country.
Auburn is proving that true right now with the nation's No. 5 class.
And once you secure that talent and rub a little seasoning on it in the form of SEC experience, the wins and eventually the championships will come.
In today’s musical journey, we go back 44 years to the day a Grammy Award-winning album was released by a 1980’s fashion icon that included a single that helped launch a video revolution. On Aug. 5, 1980, Pat Benatar released her second album, Crimes of Passion, which featured three hit singles, “You Better Run,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and “Treat Me Right.” “You Better Run” only peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 100 but was the second-ever video aired on MTV when the network debuted in 1981 behind The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Benatar was known for her short black hair, bright red lipstick, leotards and leggings. Her style was immortalized in the movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, when Linda, played by Phoebe Cates, said “There are three girls here at Ridgemont who have cultivated the Pat Benatar look.” The album became Benatar’s first of four consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance from 1981-84. “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” became Benatar’s first top 10 single and signature song. She had three more top 10 hits in 1983’s “Love is a Battlefield,” 1984’s “We Belong” and 1985’s “Invincible.”
Patricia Mae Andrzejewski was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. Her mother, Mildred, was a trained opera vocalist but worked as a beautician. She starting singing at an early age including a solo as an 8-year old and musical theatre during high school. She dropped out of college after a year to marry her high school sweetheart, Dennis Benatar, and worked as a bank teller. After seeing Liza Minnelli in concert, she decided to quit her job and pursue a music career. She started out playing in small clubs, spent three years on Catch a Rising Star comedy club and even did jingles for Pepsi before signing with with Chrysalis Records in 1978 and releasing her first album, In the Heat of the Night, the following year. She divorced Dennis in 1979 and married guitarist Neil Giraldo in 1982. Benatar has released 12 albums, the last coming in 2003, written a memoir and been on close to 40 tours including 2023’s Summer Carnival with Pink and Brandi Carlile. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 alongside Giraldo. Their two daughters have appeared on the E! reality shows Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive and Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules.
