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Bryan Harsin said to be absent on the recruiting trail - Sports Illustrated Auburn Tigers News, Analysis and More
The Athletic's "inside (state of) Alabama recruiting" piece is illuminating, in a bad way, for the Tigers
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The 2023 recruiting class for the state of Alabama is considered by some to be a generational class - there are seven five-star players (247Composite), with eleven top 100 prospects and 15 top 200 recruits.
As of Wednesday morning, Auburn's 2023 recruiting class is ranked 54th in the country with ten commitments, and after the decommittment of WR Karmello English, the top-rated in-state commitment is four-star RB Jeremiah Cobb of Montgomery Catholic, #15 on the list.
Aaron Suttles of The Athletic dropped his "inside Alabama recruiting" piece ($) on Wednesday morning, part of an ongoing series where he provides anonymity to high school coaches in specific states in return for candid assessments of the recruiting efforts and styles of the major programs in the state.
Let's just say the high school coaches of Alabama were not kind to Bryan Harsin's Tigers.
When asked by The Athletic how they'd describe the way Auburn recruits their players:
When asked about the differences between Auburn and Alabama, most responses were that Alabama's recruiters were out recruiting and evaluating every permissible chance they had, while Auburn needed to be more aggressive about getting out on the trail. Coach 1 (Birmingham-area head coach) has the most direct response to what the difference was, and it was glaring.
"Boy, you’re going to get me in trouble. The biggest difference I guess between Alabama and Auburn is every time there’s a permissible time for Alabama to be out recruiting, they’re out recruiting. Every permissible time. And I don’t know that Auburn is doing that right now."
When these same coaches were asked about the best recruiters, from any school, they've come across, many names were former Auburn staffers: Kevin Steele (Miami - mentioned twice), Dameyune Craig (Texas A&M), Rodney Garner (Tennessee), Nick Eason (Clemson). The only Auburn staffer to be named among the eighteen names given was linebacker coach Christian Robinson.
To close the piece, Suttles asked what was the thing he needed to know about that wasn't yet discussed, and two of the four coaches mentioned the importance of NIL to a player's recruitment, while the third discussed Alabama being a machine that's "figured out" everything and stays ahead of the curve. The fourth head coach discussed the transfer portal, and how so many colleges are taking smaller classes because they're saving room for portal players.
Overall, a damning indictment of Bryan Harsin's recruiting efforts across the state of Alabama. Read the entire piece at The Athletic ($).
Didn't read the article. 
