AU FOOTBALL: Attrition leaves Tigers short on scholarship players
Cliff Williams | Opelika-Auburn News
New Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, shown here talking to players before Friday’s practice, has only 75 scholarship players to work with this year thanks to some attrition, both since his arrival and in previous years’ signees never qualifying for school.
ANDREW GRIBBLE
08/09 at 12:49 AM
When he took the podium for his final Signing Day press conference as the Auburn football coach, Tommy Tuberville thought he had a premier class that would help sooner rather than later.
There were plenty of stars next to the players’ names and plenty of national pundits who thought Tuberville had put together another knockout class.
“There are not a lot of better offensive linemen in the country than Jermaine Johnson, there are not a lot better running backs than Eric Smith, there are not better defensive ends than Cameron Henderson and Raven Gray,” Tuberville said. “There are not a lot better defensive tackles than Andre Wadley and Freddie Smooth.“
With the exception of Smith, who played sparingly, not one of those players saw the field in 2008. Of those ’08 no-shows, Henderson is the only one still on the team.
Consider the now-laughable statement the final snapshot of three signing classes that have made just as many headlines for attrition and non-qualifiers as they have for participation and retention.
The Tigers currently have about 75 players on scholarship, 10 below the 85 allowed by the NCAA and the 85 that most Bowl Championship Subdivision schools more often flirt with exceeding rather than coming up short.
It’s the result of a number of reasons — basic attrition, unhappiness, injuries, overhyped talent — and it’s set Auburn as far behind the curve as any school in the SEC.
Thirty-five of Auburn’s 84 signees (41.6 percent) from the 2006-2008 signing classes are no longer on the roster. That ties the Tigers with Mississippi State for the highest rate in the conference, according to Opelika-Auburn News research.
“Our numbers are down a little bit,” Chizik said after Wednesday’s practice, the first of the 2009 season.
This is a different kind of problem for Auburn. In the past, Tuberville was typically asked how he’d bring his signing classes that would sometimes break 30 down to the NCAA maximum of 25.
Even if Chizik would have retained every member of his 28-man signing class, he’d be three short of the maximum.
Instead, the Tigers are already down to 21, as five players — Izauea Lanier, Terrance Coleman, Josh Jackson, LaVoyd James and Reggie Taylor — were lost to qualification issues and one — Brandon Jacobs — is close to signing with the Boston Red Sox. Cornerback Taikwon Paige is still waiting to hear from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
If the seven Auburn has already lost is where it stops, Chizik’s first signing class would be considered a success sheerly because of its body count.
Sixteen of Auburn’s 25 signees from 2006 are still on the roster, eight of whom are returning starters and four more who could start this season. The two most highly touted members of that class, though, never saw the field.
Defensive tackle Greg Smith, the “Internet King,” as Tuberville used to call him, arrived to camp overweight, redshirted, then asked to transfer. Offensive lineman Lee Tilley, a rare signee from Ohio, spent two years on the Auburn roster before leaving without a down under his belt.
No class has retained worse than 2007, as 14 of its 30 members are no longer with the team. Eight players failed to qualify from the start and the rest have tapered off without making much of an impact. Former offensive lineman Chaz Ramsey, who suffered a career-ending back injury and has since blamed it on former offensive line coach Hugh Nall and former trainer Arnold Gamber in a lawsuit, was a member of that class.
Tuberville’s final class hasn’t proved much better, as 12 of the 29 are already gone. More than half of that group officially left the team after Chizik’s hiring, but none saw regular playing time as true freshmen.
Retaining signees doesn’t exactly translate into consistent success in the SEC, however.
Vanderbilt has lost just 10 of its 60 signees from 2006-2008, but is 16-21 with one bowl appearance during that stretch.
Florida, the second-best at retaining players over that time period, has proved it doesn’t hurt, though. The Gators are 35-6 since 2006 and have won two of the last three national championships. Currently, all 22 members of their 2008 signing class are on the official roster heading into the 2009 season.
Auburn will lose 11 scholarship seniors after this season and could potentially lose a couple scholarship juniors to the NFL draft. So the Tigers will face the same numbers crunch next year and, perhaps, in 2011 as well.
Though the Tigers are well under the maximum, Chizik said in July he has yet to award any scholarships to walk-ons.
“I always try to identify some Auburn men, guys that have come in here and walked on here, did it for free, maintained their grades,” Chizik said. “If we have scholarships yet to where we can do that, then I’d like to make a big deal of that before the season starts.”
agribble@oanow.com | 737-2561
SEC teams’ attrition from 2006-08 signing classes
Team Total signees Not with team Percentage
AUBURN 84 35 41.6
MSU 84 35 41.6
Ole Miss 83 30 36.1
Arkansas 79 28 35.4
UK 79 27 34.1
LSU 78 26 33.3
USC 78 26 33.3
Tennessee 72 24 33.3
Alabama 80 23 28.75
Georgia 75 17 22.6
Florida 76 16 21
Vanderbilt 60 10 16.6
*Signing classes courtesy of Rivals.com; team rosters taken from teams’ 2009 media guides.
*Players who failed to qualify once, but are currently on team were not counted.
- Compiled by Andrew Gribble
Auburn signees no longer on roster
The NCAA only allows teams to bring in 25 signees per season, so it’s common practice to oversign and let the expected attrition take its course.
Auburn’s, however, has been much more than the usual over the past few years, which has contributed to the Tigers having just 75 or so scholarship players on the current roster.
Here are the members of Auburn’s past four signing classes that are no longer with the team and why they aren’t here today.
2006
Steven Ensminger — QB — Son of former Tigers’ assistant coach Steve Ensminger transferred to Louisiana Tech after freshman year.
Raven Gray — DT — Failed to qualify
Hendrick Leverette — LB — Redshirted his freshman season before transferring to a Mississippi junior college. Signed with Southern Miss for 2009.
Bo Harris — ATH — Failed to qualify, enrolled at prep school
Bryant Miller — DE — Played sparingly in two seasons before leaving team
Alex Rose — WR — Left program after 2007 season
Chris Slaughter — WR — Failed to qualify, enrolled at prep school
Greg Smith — DT — Five-star juco transfer showed up overweight, redshirted, then transferred.
Lee Tilley — OL — Spent two years on Auburn roster, but never played and eventually left.
2007
Kyle Coulahan — OL — Left team this spring because of academic concerns
Enrique Davis — RB — Failed to qualify, spurned Auburn in 2008 by signing with Ole Miss, where he currently plays
Johnnie Lee Dixon — ATH — Failed to qualify
Brandon Earl — OL — Failed to qualify
Bo Harris — ATH — Played regularly his freshman season before transferring in 2008
Carlton Johnson — LB — Failed to qualify
Jermaine Johnson — OL — Failed to qualify
Wilfred Journet — DE — Failed to qualify
Tim Lamb — DT — Failed to qualify
Chaz Ramsey — OL — Officially left team after 2008 season because of career-ending back injury, which he has since blamed on former offensive line coach Hugh Nall and former trainer Arnold Gamber in a lawsuit
Chris Slaughter — WR — Left team because of personal reasons after 2008 season
Brent Slusher — TE — Left team this summer after spending entire 2008 season on medical hardship
Ryan Williams — DB — Did not return for 2009 after spending most of 2008 in Tommy Tuberville’s “doghouse.”
Chris Zinn — OL — Failed to qualify
2008
Ken Adams — TE — Failed to qualify
Da’Shaun Barnes — LB — Took a medical hardship this summer after battling a nagging hip injury
Dax Dellenbach — DS — Left team this summer
DeRon Furr — ATH — Transferred to Memphis shortly after a practice fight that involved multiple players
Raven Gray — DE — Practiced before 2008 season but never played a down and was not seen on sidelines. Did not return for 2009.
Reggie Hunt — DB — Failed to qualify
Marcus Jemison — LB — Removed from team this summer for unknown reasons
Jomarcus Savage — DE — Removed from team this summer for unknown reasons
Brandon Smith — ATH — Failed to qualify
Freddie Smooth — OL — Failed to qualify
Christian Thompson — LB — Removed from team this summer for unknown reasons
Andre Wadley — DE — Took medical hardship this summer
2009
Terrance Coleman — DE — Opted for junior college instead of waiting out Clearinghouse procedures
Josh Jackson — DT — Failed to qualify
Brandon Jacobs — RB — Drafted by Boston Red Sox
LaVoyd James — WR — Failed to qualify
Izauea Lanier — ATH — Failed to qualify
Taikwon Paige — DB — Waiting from Clearinghouse
Reggie Taylor — DB — Failed to qualify
*Linebacker Eltoro Freeman and defensive tackle Nick Fairley were members of the 2007 signing class, but did not qualify that season. Running back Onterio McCalebb, a 2008 signee, spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy, before signing with the 2009 class.
— Compiled by Andrew Gribble
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