I'm copy/pasta'ing the first part of a waayyy too long article by Matt Hayes on SDS. It had 6 more parts as long as this one, and got super duper repetitive. Plus, he had to throw in the obligatory, "It's an annual booster shit show at Auburn" take. Anywayz, whether it's Prime or somebody else, his point stands.
1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …
Take this chance, Auburn. Take it and run with it, knowing everything else hasn’t worked — with the exception of 1-off seasons with a mercenary quarterback and a couple of fluke plays.
There’s no luck with this move, no hoping for the best.
This is the long haul.
Before you make the easy hire, the expected hire of Hugh Freeze, take a long, hard look toward Jackson, Miss.
You want the equalizer to the 5,000-pound elephant in the room? You need the most charismatic, dynamic personality in sports with the fattest NIL war chest in his back pocket.
You need Primetime.
You need Deion Sanders strolling onto The Plains, planting a statement flag and doing the only thing that can possibly slow the Alabama/Georgia train: reach and recruit young people like no previous coach at Auburn has.
Want to know why Kirby Smart is the new king of the SEC and college football? Players.
Or why Nick Saban has won 6 national titles in 16 seasons at Alabama and 7 overall? Players.
Players win games. Players win big games.
Don’t believe it? Check out Saturday’s Tennessee-Georgia game, where the Vols’ magical season came to an ugly halt because — I know this is going to shock everyone — Georgia had better players.
Tennessee couldn’t block Georgia’s better players. Tennessee’s prolific receivers couldn’t separate from Georgia’s better defensive backs.
Auburn had the better player (singular) once, and the greatest college player of the modern era (Cam Newton) led the Tigers to a rare national title run we may never witness again.
Auburn had a handful of elite players in 2013 — and got a couple of huge breaks along the way (see: Kick-6, The Prayer at Jordan-Hare) — before Florida State’s better players (all 22 starters eventually on NFL rosters) won out on the last drive of the national title game.
Players win games.
Auburn will only get better — only becomes championship-caliber — if the coach at Auburn can convince elite, 4- and 5-star players to join a suddenly stale program that has fallen behind not only bitter rival Alabama in the SEC but everyone else in the upper half of the 14-team league.
When Texas and Oklahoma arrive, it’s only getting worse.
Now more than ever, the college game is about recruiting and developing players. When Sanders arrived at Jackson State in 2020, the Tigers hadn’t had a winning season since 2013.
He navigated the COVID delay and kept the program together, then was forced to play back-to-back seasons in 2021 so the program could financially stay afloat. The spring season was transitional, and the 4-3 record included a forfeit.
The fall season finished with a school-record 11 wins, a SWAC championship and coach of the year honors. How did it turn so quickly?
Players.