Craig 'the GQ guy' of coaching staff

[Saniflush]

AUBURN — Dameyune Craig is a man of many hats.

Expensive hats. And shirts, ties, suits, pants, boots and several high-end accessories.

The Auburn wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator is always dressed to impress. From designer jeans, brown cowboy boots and a plaid shirt most definitely not off the Kohl’s discount rack in February to a three-piece suit tailored to perfectly fit the 6-foot-1 frame of the former Auburn and Carolina Panthers quarterback for a more formal occasion in May, and let’s not forget his aviator sunglasses, Craig has “a little bit of everything” in his extensive wardrobe.

“I look for sales,” Craig says with a grin. “You have to take pride in whatever you do. You want to be presentable. You meet families, kids, you want to give them something to look forward to and the parents feel more comfortable that they’re around a professional.”

Though even at a discount there are few in the coaching profession who can match Craig’s attire.

“He’s the GQ guy on our staff,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “He’ll make you look bad if you run around with him too long so I just try to keep my distance.”

His eye for fine garments has earned the 39-year-old Craig, one of the top recruiters in the country, a few nicknames to go with his several job titles among the coaching staff. He’s the Tubbs half of the Miami Vice duo when he’s on the recruiting trail with offensive line coach J.B. Grimes, who fills the James “Sonny” Crockett role and cornerbacks coach Melvin Smith gave Craig the moniker Dash Riprock after the image-conscious character from the Beverly Hillbillies. Craig is also coach to an inexperienced corps of Auburn wide receivers, husband to his college sweetheart, Neke, and father to his 10 and 14-year-old sons Devin and Drake.

Yet with all the responsibilities and success Craig is not a prima donna. There are still lessons to learn for one of the quick rising stars in the college coaching world.

“You really have to take a humble approach to everything; your life, your job, everything,” Craig says. “If you want to have success in anything that you do, it’s not because of you, it’s because of somebody else.”

Relentless recruiter

Craig was a very successful quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State the last three seasons, helping the Seminoles sign back-to-back top-three recruiting classes in 2011 and 2012, while also coaching eventual NFL first-round picks Christian Ponder and E.J. Manuel.

He’s already had tremendous success recruiting to his alma mater, flipping 2013 wide receiver signees Dominic Walker and Tony Stevens prior to signing day and is currently ranked the No. 3 recruiter in the country for 2014 by 247Sports thanks to his efforts with seven of Auburn’s 14 current commitments, including three from his hometown area of Mobile.

“He's a relentless recruiter and he'll do a good job as offensive coordinator, as well,” said Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, who served as FSU’s defensive coordinator while Craig was in Tallahassee.

On the recruiting trail Craig and Grimes are quite the duo, hence the Crockett and Tubbs handles.

“I was an old offensive lineman and if you’re the right kind of mentality you’re always going to follow the quarterback,” Grimes said. “That guy’s a machine. He’s a machine. The guy’s one more phone call, one more letter, one more trying to find the right person that’s helping (the recruit) make the decision, creating and building relationships with the right people that are close to the prospect. All those things, he leave no stone unturned and I admire that in him.”
The Playboy

As one of the younger assistant coaches on Malzahn’s staff, Craig is a contrast to some of his more seasoned and conservative defensive colleagues.

Smith bestowed the Dash Riprock label on him and it’s become the staff-wide nickname for Craig.

“The Playboy, the well-dressed guy: clean cut, young stallion, stud - that’s the way I see Dameyune,” Smith said. “Really good coach, really up-and-coming, great mind in football, has all the right stuff, the pedigree, played quarterback in the SEC, he’s one of the best recruiters in the country, he dresses he’s sharp, I just love him.”

With nearly 40 years in the coaching profession Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson has never worked with someone who spends as much on clothing.

“Nobody on the staff has enough money or time to shop to dress as well as Dameyune,” Johnson said.

While he receives good-natured ribbing from his colleagues, the players also appreciate Craig’s style. Defensive ends Dee Ford and Nosa Eguae both took early notice when Craig arrived.

“I picked him out as soon as he got here, I’m like yeah I got competition,” Ford said. “He’s going to show me a lot of good things as far as suits, I’m not a suit guy.”

Eguae likes having a coach on the staff who played for Auburn recently. He watched the 1997 SEC Championship when Craig led the Tigers against Tennessee.

“It's nice to have all the old heads in the building, but it's nice to have a young guy that played here before and has been through what we've been through and so soon and so recent,” Eguae said. “Coach Craig definitely has some swag to him and I don't know if he's up to my level or Dee's level, but it's close.

“I saw him at the FCA banquet with a knit tie and I went to locker room and I was like man I got to get me one of those knit ties. I thought it was pretty spiffy. (…) It’s nice to have that younger coach that’s still kind of hip.”
Rewards for 'consuming job'

Craig gets plenty of help and some raised eyebrows from his wife, who he admits has the smaller closet at home.

“She has to tell me no,” he said.

Neke didn’t get to say “no” to a recent car purchase but wasn’t thrilled when she found out the white luxury car wasn’t conducive to fitting a family of four.

“She goes ‘hold on now you went and bought a car that we can’t fit in?’” Craig said. “She wasn’t happy about that, she’s still not happy about that.”

Moving back to Auburn was the latest for the family which had been down to Miami and up to Tuskegee and down to Tallahassee in the past. Craig has relied on some of the relationships he’s built in coaching to help him as a husband and father in the job which “consumes” him.

“You have to be humble enough to understand that and to be able to seek advice when you need it,” he said. “Guys that’s done this for a long time, that’s raised kids, the demands of this job, you get information from them and you have to have a willing wife to be supportive and understand the demands. I’ve been lucky.”
Aspiring head coach

If Craig can maintain his recruiting prowess and produce a capable Tigers receiving corps it’ll help him reach his long-term goal of being a head coach.

“He's a real good coach,” wide receiver Sammie Coates said. “He's smart and he expects the best from us, and we're going to give it to him because we're going to push it to the limit.”

In his various stops to date, Craig has worked for Nick Saban while a grad assistant at LSU and on special teams with the Miami Dolphins as well as for first-year coaches at Tuskegee (Willie Slater), South Alabama (Joey Jones) and Florida State (Jimbo Fisher) and a second-year head coach in Malzahn, who is in his first year at Auburn.

“I want to be a head coach; most definitely,” Craig said. “You see the different approaches that guys take coming in and (Malzahn) has been pretty good. He’s done some things really, really quick and I’m excited about that.”

He’s learning Malzahn’s hurry-up, no-huddle system in detail and has avoided weighing in on the quarterback race. No matter who wins the starting job they’ll be aiming at Craig’s program record for passing yards (3,277) in a single season but he’s not too worried about moving down the list just yet.

“If Cam didn’t break it, probably the best quarterback to ever play here, I’m still in good shape,” Craig said.

It would be easy for Craig to be cautious in his optimism at taking over such an inexperienced group of players at wide receiver which were part of a dreadful offense last season. But as a proven leader on the field, an outstanding recruiter and yes, a sharp-dressed coach, Craig is focused on turning Auburn around.

“I think when you focus on the bad things, you can’t focus on the good things,” he said. “There’s too many good things to sell about the university. I’m living proof of it. I’ve been very successful and I owe all my success to my university.”

Much like his outfits, Craig’s success will continue to come together one piece at a time.

[AUChizad]

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