Stating the obvious. We are concentrating (as ususal) on AL, ATL and FLA for our base. Malzahn still plans to recruit nationally. Gots to give them an A for the way we finished last class and started this one. Hired great recruiters. Hope there is great coaching going on as well. Click link to see Malzahn with a babe.
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2013/05/auburn_gus_malzahn_recruiting.htmlGus Malzahn: Auburn's recruiting starts in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, but Tigers will still search nationally
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By Joel A. Erickson | jerickson@al.com
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on May 14, 2013 at 6:53 PM
Auburn 2014 commitments
Kamryn Pettway flips from FSU to AU
Josh Casher picks AU to play center
Chris Laye commits to Auburn
Auburn offer lures Deshaun Davis
Tre Williams chooses Auburn over UA
JUCO DB Derrick Moncrief picks AU
Justin Thornton expects big things
ATLANTA, Georgia -- For the better part of a week, the spotlight has shone brightly on Auburn's sudden recruiting success in the Mobile Bay area, and with plenty of reason.
Auburn has landed seven recruits for the 2014 signing class so far; six of those players are originally from Alabama, four from Mobile.
But the Tigers' new coaching staff plans to continue recruiting nationally as Auburn continues to strengthen its ties close to home.
"It's all going to start in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, but we'll nationally recruit, and our guys are doing that," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said at a Tiger Trek appearance in Atlanta Tuesday night.
Under Malzahn, Auburn's first priority has been locking down the players available a stone's throw from the campus. By virtue of where it's located geographically, Auburn is ideally placed to pull from recruiting hotbeds across Alabama, Atlanta and the rest of the Georgia area and the entire state of Florida.
For the most part, the Tigers have stuck to that formula so far in the 2014 recruiting class.
Four players -- linebackers Tre Williams and Deshaun Davis, center Joshua Casher and defensive end Justin Thornton -- hail from Mobile, running back Kamryn Pettway and junior college safety Derrick Moncrief are both originally from Prattville and tight end Chris Laye, the lone out-of-state prospect so far, is from Suwanee, Ga.
That's by design. The bulk of Auburn's surprising 2013 class hailed from those three states.
"At the end of the day, Alabama's what matters," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee told the Montgomery Quarterback Club in March. "We signed 18 of our 20 players out of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and that's what matters, that's what's important to Coach."
But Auburn's coaching staff has been working hard outside of those three key states, too
According to Malzahn, the Tigers' coaches continue to cast a wide net, such as the one that flipped Edmond, Okla. native Khari Harding from Arkansas to Auburn in the 2014 class.
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn speaks to the media before a meeting of the Atlanta Auburn Club Tuesday, May 14, 2013, in Atlanta, Ga. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)
"They're identifying guys that fit our system, and going after them to see if there's any interest," Malzahn said.
No matter where Auburn is targeting recruits, the Tigers have plenty of momentum, a trend that started during Auburn's push to finish the 2013 signing class
Malzahn believes the coaching staff's push that nailed down 2013 signing class -- Auburn finished with a top-10 class despite the normal wave of decommitments following a coaching change -- set the tone for the Tigers' current momentum.
"You know, we really feel good about the way we finished and we feel like it gave us momentum now," Malzahn said. "We still have it."
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