AUBURN | Auburn’s been recruiting Tyrone Truesdell for a long time. In fact, he attended last year’s Big Cat recruiting event.
But as recruiting moved into the fall and things really heated up in December and January, Truesdell saw interest from many of the bigger schools on his list start to wane.
Auburn, however, kept in touch with the defensive tackle from Laney in Augusta, Ga., bringing him in for an official visit the final weekend before Signing Day.
Shortly after Auburn defensive line target Ryan Johnson chose Stanford Monday, Rodney Garner let Truesdell know he had a firm offer and the three-star signed with the Tigers Wednesday morning.
“Trues is a really skilled guy,” Garner said. “If you look, coming out of his junior year in high school he went to all of those combines and different camps and he actually was running like a 4.8 in some of those camps after his junior year. He was about 310 then or 315.
“He gained a little bit of weight this year. We’re going to try to trim him down to about 300 or 310, but he’s a kid that’s a big, powerful, explosive, quick-twitch guy that should be able to hold the point in this league. He also has the athleticism that you may even get some value on him in a third down situation because he does have a skill set.”
Truesdell, who Auburn lists as 6-foot-3 and 335 pounds, had 39 tackles, 7.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks as a senior. He’ll report to Auburn at the end of May and begin that process of trimming down under strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell.
Before long it will be August and Garner will take over.
“It’s a different mindset to want to go in there and battle every single snap when you’re lined up against a 330 pound guy across from you that wants to break your neck every time that ball turns over,” Garner said. “You’ve got to have a little something about yourself, you’ve got to have some heart, you’ve got to have some grit. That’s why I try to tell my guys.
“I take the philosophy that Coach Dye inbred in us when we came in here. I want Sunday-Friday to be the toughest thing they have to go through. I want them to be able to endure that so when they get to Saturdays it’s fun. During the week we’re going to work hard. I want to know if a kid is going to quit on me during the week. I don’t want to find out in the stadium.”
