fiver

Foster definitely visited Tuscaloosa Saturday night, but his mother continued visiting with AU coaches Saturday and Sunday. I believe the 'N-word' component of this is just a rumor started on a Bama forum, but I'm not yet sure. I'm hearing that Foster made plans to visit Bama Saturday night with Kamara earlier in the week, so I don't belive this was a case in which he stormed off to Tuscaloosa. Bottom line, Foster's mother wants him to go to AU, but I would say that Bama is now the leader for Foster....definitely a strange set of circumstances. 5 star DE Carl Lawson confirmed his committment to Auburn and indicated he will sign with AU on Wednesday. RB Peyton Barber has decommitted from Ole Miss and just committed to AU. I thought Barber was out of the picture and was not going to visit this weekend....so dew, I believe this meas that Ford may end up at Tennessee...although I've heard that Texas may have also recently offered. Elijah Daniel, a 5 star strong side DE that is currently committed to Ole Miss, also visited Auburn this weekend, and he will decide between Ole Miss and AU on Wednesday. Toby Johnson, a 4 star JUCO DT, visited AU this weekend, and he will decide between Auburn and Georgia on Feb 12th. 5 star CB Mackensie Alexander and his twin brother Mackenro (3 star safety) have visited AU last weekend and this weekend respectively, and I'm hearing Mackensie is now likely heading to AU. 5 star DT Montravius Adams visited AU this weekend and cut his list to 4 (Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, and Alabama). I'll be suprised if Montravius ends up at AU, but some prognosticators are picking Adams to AU. It should be an exciting few days. I'm pleased with what Gus Malzahn has been able to do with the recruiting class in a short amount of time.

IU is a 4.5 point favorite tonight.

ok, dew....Is Johnathan Ford headed to AU or UT? Auburn needs to sign 2 quality RBs, and Ford is at the top of the list at this point. Corn Elder is the other top candidate, but he's more of a small, speed guy. AU is offerring both football and basketball to Elder.

Hammons is a beast...no doubt about it.

I'm now hearing that Carl Lawson is leaning towards honoring the commitment to AU, dew. Are you hearing anything either way from the UT 'insiders'? I'm also hearing Reuben Foster is likely to re-commit to AU on Sunday or Monday.

He apparently loved his visit to UT over the weekend and new WR recruit Ryan Jenkins is apparently working him really hard to commit to UT. We seem to have made up a ton of ground, but he's still taking his AU visit and nobody seems to really know what he's thinking. That mesh with what you're hearing? yeah, he holds his cards pretty close to him. I have no idea whether he'll sign with Tennessee or Auburn at this point.

dew, what are you hearing about Carl Lawson?

that was a very disappointing loss at home for IU. IU shot 37% from the field and 25% from behind the arc. that's not going to get it done. The zone wasn't working for them, and they finally played some stingy man defense for a large stretch during the second half...needed to see more of that. What has happened to IU's bench?...no production the last couple of games.

Yep, Saban, Bear, and Jesus (in that order) are king here.

I'll be thrilled if IU wins by 1.

Let's talk about SEC assistant coaches instead. Did Auburn ever settle on a strength and conditioning coach? damn, you're right. I forgot to mention that Gus brought over Ryan Russell from Arkansas State...resume is a bit underwhelming.

Peyton Barber is Lawson's teammate who is currently committed to Ole Miss. Now, Malzahn is heavily recruiting Barber to come to AU. Barber took an unofficial visit to AU this past weekend and missed the Ole Miss bowl game because of it. He's scheduling an official visit to AU this month. AU's interest in Barber is at least somewhat related to Lawson, but he is a better fit into Malzahn's offense than he would have been with the pro style AU's previous coaches were trying to run.

The negative aspect of AU hiring Georgia's DL coach, Rodney Garner, is that Garner was late in recruting Lawson over at Georgia. Georgia coaches didn't view Carl as a 3-4 DE intially and went after other targets. Carl got his feelings hurt about this and thus didn't consider Georgia thereafter. Garner went to speak to Carl's father this past weekend, and the conversation went well. However, I have no clue what this kid is going to do. Technically, Lawson is still 'committed' to AU, but that's just a silly word used by recruiting sites. If a kid hasn't made his final decision, is 're-evaluating everything', then he's not committed.

We eat dill chips and drink Dr. Pepper by the gallon like any other SEC fan. Roll Tide. Hold up a second. No one ever told me anything about any dill chips. ...fried pickles will suffice if you're not into dill chips.

Gus just filled the TE coaching slot a few minutes ago. Tim Horton is leaving Arkansas. He was their RB coach, recruiting coordinator. He recruited and coached some very good running backs while with the Hogs (McFadden, Felix Jones, Kniles Davis), and he did a great job of recruiting WRs as well. JB Grimes at OL and Rhett Lashlee at co-OC were the two hires that I didn't like. On the offensive line, I would have preferred we retain Jeff Grimes or hire Vanderbilt's OL coach, Herb Hand. Rhett Lashlee is just too young and inexperienced to be our OC in my opinion. However, he played QB for Gus and has worked directly for Gus for a long time and is more familiar with his scheme than anyone. I believe Gus is going to be calling the plays during games anyway, and now Dameyune Craig will share the OC responsibilities.

Malzahn has assembled a beastly staff at Auburn. he added Dameyune Craig and Rich Bisaccia today just before the recruiting dead period ends at midnight tonight. Ellis Johnson - defensive coordinator, linebackers (head coach at Southern Miss and former defensive coordinator at South Carolina, Alabama, and Clemson prior to moving to AU) Charlie 'Cheese' Harbison - co-defensive coordinator, secondary (secondary coach at Clemson prior to moving to AU) Rodney Garner - defensive line, associate head coach, recruiting coordinator (d line, assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator at Georgia prior to moving to AU) Melvin Smith - secondary (secondary coach at Mississippi State prior to moving to AU) Rhett Lashlee - co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks (Gus Malzahn protege, offensive coordinator at Arkansas State prior to moving to AU) Dameyune Craig - co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers (quarterbacks coach, recruiting coordinator at Florida State prior to moving to AU) Rich Basaccia - running backs, special teams, assistant head coach (running backs, special teams, assistant head coach for the San Diego Chargers before moving to AU) JB Grimes - offensive line (offensive line coach at Arkansas State, Kansas, and Mississippi State prior to moving to AU) There is still a tight ends coaching vacancy.

...hoping that Hollowell's minutes were just given to Perea and Elston. All three of them need minutes in these blowout games.

AU is putting together an impressive staff on the defensive side. They were able to get Rodney Garner to leave Georgia to become AU's DL coach and recruiting coordinator. Garner has been one of the best recruiters in the nation over the past decade and has put a lot of defensive linemen into the NFL. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8768616/rodney-garner-recruiting-coordinator-georgia-bulldogs-joins-auburn-tigers

Gus Malzahn is looking at a lot of JUCO players to try to get Auburn competitive again next season. The top JUCO DT wanted to sign with AU, but AU didn't accept one of his courses, so he couldn't be admitted. The SEC accepts the course in question, but Auburn doesn't. So....he's signing with Ole Miss. http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/dec/20/top-juco-recruit-hooks-signs-ole-miss-football/

I'll get excited when the deal is finalized.

Auburn is hoping to add Dameyune Craig (former AU QB and current Florida State QB coach/recruiting coordinator), Tracy Rocker (former AU DL, current DL coach for the Tennessee Titans), and Tim Horton (Arkansas RB coach/recruiting coordinator) to the coaching staff.

his high school teammate, Cam Luper, is recruiting him hard to go to Texas A&M with him. Foster stopped by the AU athletic complex yesterday to speak with Malzahn, and Foster had the following to say: I think he'll end up at Georgia, A&M, or Auburn.

Lawson may well stay at Auburn if Gus gets on the phone ASAP. However, it'd be a pretty epic win for the Rebels if they were to get him. He's taking an official to Ole Miss soon and one of his best friends and teamate is Peyton Barber, a RB that has already committed to Ole Miss. Regardless of whether they are able to steal Lawson or not, it is simply amazing what Hugh Freeze has done with recruiting at Ole Miss. They are without doubt the front runner for the #1 player in the country, Robert Nkemdiche, and are currently the large favorite for Laquon Treadwell, the #1 WR and 10th ranked player overall, with Oklahoma being the only other team in the running for him. If those two guys sign, the Rebs will have the 9th or 10th ranked recruiting class. That's an incredibly impressive turnaround coming just one year after a 2-10 season. Gus has tried contacting Carl Lawson several times, but Carl told ESPN that he was busy with homework each time Gus tried to call. It's not looking good, and I don't think he'll be committed to AU by the end of next week. I've heard Ole Miss is a possibility, but Clemson seems to think they may get Lawson to flip to them. Freeze is doing a great job.

I wonder what Foster does with that ridiculous tattoo now. wear long sleeves? To continue with the meltdown....I don't think Rhett Lashlee has any business being AU's OC. I understand that Gus will be calling the plays. However, Lashlee doesn't have the experience on the recruiting trail to go head to head with Bama, LSU, Georiga, Florida, etc. The head coach isn't going to be able to visit players as frequently as the assistants, so we still need a strong presence at OC. There was a surge when Gus was hired, and most were placated by the hire. However, recruiting is an important piece of the puzzle, and I fear we now have a DC who isn't getting any younger (old as dirt) and may find it difficult to connect with players on the recruiting trail in the Twitter era, and no one other than Auburn fans know Rhett Lashlee.

Well, Reuben Foster just decommitted from AU. Carl Lawson will soon. I'm officially in meltdown mode along with dew.