Chizik has his hands full with recruiting

[JohnDeere]

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081217/ARTICLES/812170334/1167/SPORTS40?Title=Chizik_has_his_hands_full_with_recruiting



AUBURN - Gene Chizik made himself at home in Jerraud Powers' living room during his recruiting visit as Auburn's defensive coordinator four years ago.

"He came to my house, ate all the food," recalled Powers, now a cornerback for the Tigers. "My mom was just ecstatic that he was eating all the food, because a lot of the other coaches just got bits and pieces. He ate all the food and just kicked his shoes off and put his feet up and just sat back."

The approach worked with Powers. That comfort level with the process of recruiting and winning over both prospects and their parents will be pivotal for the Tigers' new head coach. Chizik has had to hit the ground running trying to hold onto current commitments and seek out some new ones, and said he will spearhead Auburn's recruiting efforts during his tenure.

Athletic director Jay Jacobs called Chizik "a tireless recruiter," and that was surely one of his big selling points in landing the job.

"Not only are we going to recruit, we are going to recruit what will be the best thing for Auburn: Both the best player and the best mark of a man," Chizik said. "We are going to recruit tirelessly, 24/7 and we are going to work. Recruiting is the life blood of any program and we know that."

.........

"He's certainly got a daunting task in front of him on a lot of levels," said Barton Simmons, Rivals.com's Southeast recruiting analyst. "A lot of these Auburn recruits that he's going to have to try to retain have been dealing with a lot of uncertainty for a while now.

"He's got a lot of reassuring he needs to do. Obviously, he struggled both years at Iowa State, so he really needs to be able to sell himself to those recruits. There's been a lot of negativity coming out of the Auburn nation about the hire. So he has to overcome all those things."