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Auburn new class: PASSING GRADE

 

Gene Chizik and his impressive staff of assistants are inching closer and closer as each day passes towards the first home game in Jordan Hare Stadium. The question is: How is his first team going to look?

Chizik awoke before sunrise to begin preparing for what became a defining moment of his young career. He dressed himself in a tailored suit, said a quick prayer and waited for the phone to ring with good news.

"You've got to go in there and the adrenaline's got to be flowing and you've got to produce," Chizik said. "Didn't sleep a lot last night or any night before that, but it was really neat because it was kind of the culmination. It was your test. That's your exam."

He passed.

Auburn announced a class of 28 newcomers on National Signing Day, addressing several needs and assembling a group that national analysts consider an improvement on the program's past work. Rivals.com ranked the Tigers' haul as the nation's 18th best, up two spots from 2008.

Scout.com placed Chizik's group at 15, an improvement of three spots from last year.

Anchoring the team's national perception was Auburn's ability to coax a pair of highly touted wideouts into accepting scholarships. DeAngelo Benton of Bastrop, La., had twice signed with LSU and was expected to stick with the Bayou Bengals. He picked Auburn instead.

Emory Blake of Austin, Texas, was expected to sign with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders' pass-oriented offense seemed like an ideal fit and provided Blake a more manageable commute. He picked Auburn instead.

Chizik said the Tigers' dynamic new offense designed by assistant coach Gus Malzahn clearly captured the imagination of skill-position prospects. In a similar role at Tulsa in 2008, Malzahn administrated an offense than led the nation in yardage and averaged 47 points per game.

"That was one of the main selling points we had -- the productivity and the effectiveness of the offense over the past couple years," Chizik said. "That was a no-brainer."

Auburn addressed other needs as well.

Chizik and his staff signed six players expected the spend their careers along the defensive front. The varsity roster is particularly thin at tackle, where Sen'Derrick Marks and Tez Doolittle handled business in 2008. Neither player will return next season.

The Tigers signed a trio of coveted tackles -- Nosa Eguae, Nick Fairley and Jamar Travis -- and added a little-known Georgia prospect, Josh Jackson, to help build depth.

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Auburn added four defensive backs as well as four wideouts.

Though that pattern dovetailed with the team's perceived personnel shortages, Chizik said that wasn't part of his plan.

"We really felt like ... we had to go for the best players we could get. It's not that we came in and assessed a lot of weaknesses on our football team," the coach said. "There's always some means to the madness. We can't sign eight tailbacks and one wide receiver. We had to use a fine balance in there between the best players available and what we ... needed to balance out our roster."

Auburn also addressed a need at quarterback, where Tyrik Rollison of Sulphur Springs, Texas, brought some star power to the class. He threw 51 touchdown passes, completed 72 percent of this throws and rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a senior.

"They treated me like I was their brother, so that is where I want to spend the next three or four years," Rollison told the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram . "I know the talent will be good, but I'm going down there to compete for a job."

The Tigers also signed Leroy High quarterback Clint Moseley, who was named the state's "Mr. Football" after winning his third state championship in December. Though few major schools offered Moseley a scholarship, Chizik said he's "always looking for winners."

Auburn's day wasn't perfect, however.

Two of the program's top offensive line recruits -- Johnnie Farms of Perry, Ga., and Aubrey Phillips of Olive Branch, Miss. -- signed with other programs. The Tigers added a highly touted guard in Andre Harris and Auburn High tackle John Sullen.

They lacked widespread prestige.

That didn't dissuade Chizik, who proclaimed Auburn's effort an important breakthrough. He assumed control of the program Dec. 13, quickly hired a handful of assistants and set out to improve the program's sagging status among top-tier recruits.

He appears to have accomplished that goal.

Chizik was quick to praise his assistants for thriving despite difficult circumstances. He believes attitude can mitigate many problems.

"It's a challenge if you let it be one. I don't think that was really an issue with us. I hired great guys," Chizik said. "It's like going to buy a Volkswagen versus a Cadillac. If you believe in the Cadillac, you can go sell it. It didn't really matter who I put out on the road. Those guys that we put on the road, they believed in Auburn."