AUBURN | There was a time when most schools wouldn’t get their first public commitment until late summer or fall, and majority would come after the season as recruiting heated up with January visits and eventually Signing Day in February.
But those commitments have shifted earlier and earlier over the last two decades and now with an early signing period, many recruiting classes are nearly full by the start of the season in September.
That’s put a lot more emphasis on recruiting in June, which now includes official visits. Here’s a look back at the top five Auburn commits in June over the past two decades including a pair of brothers that have re-written AU’s record book.
1. CARLSON BROTHERS
Daniel and Anders Carlson have handled Auburn’s kicking duties for the past seven seasons with one more to go in 2021. Daniel got it all started when he chose Auburn over the June 30-July 1 weekend in 2012 out of Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. His brother followed on June 25, 2016. Daniel, rated a 3-star and the nation’s No. 4 kicker in the 2013 class, had a fairly straightforward recruitment. He visited AU in mid June and chose the Tigers over offers from LSU, California and Air Force a couple of weeks later. There was a little drama when Gene Chizik was fired and replaced by Gus Malzahn in December, but the older Carlson stuck with AU despite renewed interest from LSU, Stanford, Florida, Arizona and Arizona State. Anders received several other offers including Alabama, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt, but there was little doubt he was going to follow in his brother’s footsteps and commit to AU despite coming from a family of Alabama graduates including a grandfather that played baseball, grandmother that was a cheerleader, father that was a tennis player and mother that worked in the recruiting office.
Daniel redshirted his first season as senior Cody Parkey handed the kicking duties for the 2013 SEC Champions. He did the kicking and punting as a redshirt freshman in 2014, making 18 of 24 field goals, all 57 extra points, averaged 42.0 yards on 41 punts and had 50 touchbacks on kickoffs. He made 23 of 27 field goals as a sophomore, 28 of 32 as a junior and 23 of 31 as a senior. He was a three-time Lou Groza Award finalist, two-time SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and three-time All-American. Daniel finished his career as the SEC career leader in scoring (480), field goals made (92) and consecutive PATs made (198). Anders redshirted during Daniel’s senior season and then picked it right back up making 15 of 25 field goals as a redshirt freshman, 18 of 25 as a sophomore and 20 of 22 as a junior. He was named first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American in 2020 and enters his senior season with 275 career points, which is fifth-best in Auburn history. He's also third in career field goals made (53) and sixth in career PATs made (116).
In the sibling rivalry, Daniel may hold the biggest edge with his 20-yard touchdown run against Arkansas State in 2016. He also has a career-long field goal of 56 yards, one yard short of the AU record set by Neil O’Donoghue in 1976 and Philip Yost in 2003. Anders, who had a 3-yard catch in the 2018 Iron Bowl, will have one last opportunity to surpass his brother this fall and perhaps win the Lou Groza.
