ATLANTA | A lot like last year, Auburn’s off to a slow start in recruiting in comparison to its SEC rivals.
But Signing Day is still five months away and Bryan Harsin is pointing to this season to help jump-start his recruiting efforts.
“I think the message is: Watch,” said Harsin Thursday at SEC Media Days. “We got to go out there and play. That's the beauty of what we get a chance to do every Saturday. When you get into the arena, you have the opportunity to go out there and settle the score. You have a chance to compete. That's really what we do this for. We do it so that we can get into that arena and have that opportunity.
"We've told our recruits: Watch. I think the ones that have been on our campus, they see the energy and the vibe, what's happening, how the players are responding, coaches are connecting, everything that we're doing.”
The Tigers have just four commitments, the least in the conference, and are currently ranked 67th nationally by Rivals and 13th out of 14 teams in the league.
On the bright side, its 4.0 star average is tied for second nationally, which gives Auburn the opportunity to make a big move up the rankings as they add more highly-rated players.
Auburn brought in 30 official visitors during the summer and will bring more in during the first part of the season, especially home games against Penn State Sept. 17 and LSU Oct. 1.
“Auburn sells itself,” said Harsin. “It's a beautiful campus. It's a phenomenal stadium. The people there are fantastic. Everything about it is what you want to be a part of. Now we got to put a product on the field that players want to be a part of. We want to go out there and be successful. Our guys know that. We know that.”
There are a myriad of reasons AU’s recruiting is off to a slow start including an inquiry into Harsin’s handling of his staff in February, which has brought a lot of negativity around his job security, and staff turnover that’s includes five new assistants, who are all trying to build relationships with recruits that opposing staffs have known for a year or two longer.
For Harsin, the best way to turn that around is getting off to a good start with five home games to begin the season.
“There's gonna be a lot of narrative changes that happen over that time,” he said. “All these players, they're all open. These guys are trying to figure it out. They're 17 years old and some guys, ‘Hey, this is where they want to go now,’ and later on, they'll end up somewhere else.
“And even where that momentum's at in the season too. A lot of guys it's gonna be like if there's a lot of momentum on a team, they might go, ‘I'm gonna go to that team,’ and they can change their mind. So until December, they’ve got a chance to do that.”
Auburn will have a big opportunity to close on some recruits before the season with Big Cat scheduled for July 30. One of the most important parts of Harsin’s program that he’ll stress during the event will be development.
“We're all about development,” said Harsin. “We're trying to develop these guys so that when they leave, they're ready to go on and be successful and continue what they've built in our program. That's one of the best gifts you can give anybody, and I learned as a young coach and experiencing that as a player, is development. We can't forget about that.
“I think that's something through character, through discipline, through toughness, through conviction and understanding what that truly means, through integrity, class — those things are what college is all about. Those are things that we're providing guys with an opportunity to learn and develop in our program.”
The early signing period is Dec. 21-23.
