Auburn Head Coach Gene Chizik
Signing Day Press Conference
Feb. 3, 2010
Opening statement...
"I'd like to welcome everybody here to a very highly anticipated day today. It's a very exciting day for the Auburn Family. I want to especially thank all the people involved in this recruiting process, starting with our coaches who, starting after signing day last year, started out on an extremely hard recruiting trip and spent a lot of time. I want to thank the families who sacrificed a lot with their husbands to go out and work so hard with this to get this recruiting class. There are so many people involved like our Tigerettes and our Tiger Hosts and I want to thank everybody in the Auburn Family that was a great part of this.
"This was a great day for Auburn. A year ago at this time, literally a year ago on this day, we came together and we really laid down a vision for what we wanted to try to do for the next recruiting year. When we came in last year, it was a different scenario because we had about three weeks to recruit our class. This year, we've had a full year. When I say that we had a vision, we had a blueprint of what we needed at Auburn. I've said this so many times, but it's not about getting the best player. We obviously want the best player, but he also has to be the right player. I think our coaches did a great job and we did a great job of evaluating not only talent, but the mark of a man that we wanted to bring in to represent this university, our football program and the Auburn Family. I am as much or more proud of that as I am with the talent that we recruited with this class.
"One of the things that we wanted to do is we wanted to bring in student-athletes. It's very important for us, as we go out to recruit young men, to be able to recruit guys that want to get an education and a degree. It's important for them and their families to get a degree from Auburn. That was another thing that was very high on our priority list. Everybody is going to have all kinds of notions about where this class ranks and things of that nature and, to be very honest, everybody is going to have a different opinion on that. We know that as we set out a year ago, we knew we had to really use this class to build a foundation of what we are trying to do at Auburn. This first building block was one year later of exactly what we envisioned, but we did it with the right young men. There are going to be different ideas of recruiting ranks and things of that nature and that we have no control over, but we do have control over recruiting the right guy for Auburn.
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"So, with our sights set on that one year ago, we went out and, my hat is off to all of our assistant coaches who worked so hard on the road, day in and day out with a lot of long hours. The sacrifice with their families you can only appreciate if you're in the middle of one as I am. There were people here in this building who were basically on call 24/7, knowing that we could have recruits coming in at any minute. So many people worked very hard. This is a great day for the Auburn Family and I want the people to be excited, but I want people to also understand that this is the first building block of a foundation that is going to take us some time to build, not only the right way but to get us to where we want to be. That's where we are at.
"One year ago, looking back, our goal was simply to start laying that foundation and build it from the ground up and that's what we did today. There are so many great families involved in this recruiting process. My hat is off to so many guys in this recruiting class who hung tough and stuck with Auburn through thick and thin and nothing was going to change them. That's a tribute to our coaches because there were great relationships built in order to do that. In this day and age, that's hard to do. Again, I feel like our coaching staff really worked hard in developing those relationships with those young men.
"So, we signed 32. Five of them, as you know, are already here and 27 more today. As we said one year ago, Alabama is the number one priority in this state, where we signed 11 young men, which is big. Georgia was another huge priority and we made that clear last year. We signed 10, I think, from the state of Georgia. Then we took the surrounding states and said that we want the absolute best player that's the right fit for Auburn for every surrounding state in the southeast. That's how we attacked the rest of the states in which we signed some guys. I think that, as we look back on it, it unfolded about how we would've liked it to. It's the first building block in a long building situation that we feel really good about."
On the importance of early commitments giving momentum to the recruiting process...
"One of the cool things about this class is that as the commitments were built behind the scenes. They stayed in touch with each other. A lot of them played in all-star games together and came on visits together. There was an uncommon bond between our guys. It seems like so many guys in this class have already played together for a year. They talk to each other and text each other. There is a cool line of communication in there that they've had and it's made it special. It was a fun class to recruit. They were a lot of fun from top to bottom with these guys and their families and I think that goes back to relationships."
On pulling the top players from other states...
"We're prepared to do it. The young men go through a more difficult process simply from the challenges with the other people from that state who have different agendas. There are so many people out there that are going to have agendas. We are just prepared to tell them that they need to do what they want to do. I think if you really make this a fair fight, we'll have an opportunity to go into whatever state we want, and recruit, again, the right guy for Auburn."
On the recruiting rankings saying Auburn is a top-five class...
"It's nice that on this day that the class, by the people that are `experts' or along the lines know that this is a good class, but anyone that knows football knows that it will be two or three seasons away before you can judge the class. I feel good for our coaches, the Auburn Family and the people that worked so hard right now during this past year to make this recruiting class special. I feel good that people can look at that and others can recognize how hard our people worked, but at the end of the day, those rankings really won't pan out for a few years where in terms of how good the classes really were."
On the first year with the 28 person limit for the SEC...
"The challenges that it presents really come down to the end of recruiting. You have to have a great plan, and we felt like we had a great plan, and as long as you have a great plan that should really never be an issue. You know that's in the back of your mind as you recruit, but when it really becomes something you have to be cognizant of is those last couple of days when you're sending scholarships and things of that nature. Again, it all goes back to having a blueprint and a plan of what you're trying to do. If you do that and you have a great idea of where your class is and what direction you want to go if one guy doesn't jump on and things of that nature, as long as you've got a good plan and you're organized, that shouldn't be an issue."
On needs at the beginning of the recruiting process and where you are now...
"Right now, offensive line is the first thing that jumps out at me, simply because we know that after this year, we're going to graduate four across our line of five. It was imperative that the offensive line was, in numbers, what we needed to address. Same with the defensive line in a lot of ways. Those two and linebacker are probably the three areas that were glaring on our football team where just simply numbers were the issue. Obviously, our goal is always to upgrade athletic ability and speed across the whole football team. That's always at the forefront of what we're trying to do, but in terms of numbers on our football team, which we know were somewhat of an issue at times this year, those numbers at those three positions were very important for us to address.
"I think we did that, but I think overall, again, when you look at the quarterback position and the tailback position, we need upgrades everywhere on our football team. Wide receiver, defensive back, we need it everywhere, and that's going to be our goal every year. Overall from top to bottom, I think we addressed the needs, even in special teams with a kicker and a punter. I'm willing to spend scholarships on guys who can change field position, and I'll always be willing to do that. We feel great about the punter and kicker situation in terms of affecting our special teams. The same thing goes with return men. There are guys in this class that we're hoping are going to be able to be effective return guys, and I think anybody that watched us play this year knows that that's something that we certainly need to upgrade."
On having one available spot to fill...
"We'll always proceed in the next couple of months. There are always different ways things unfold. A guy that didn't look like he was going to qualify, all of a sudden qualifies in April. We'll obviously be open-minded to whatever's out there. We have one slot where if a situation arises that's kind of out of the ordinary, we can capitalize on it if we feel like that's the right thing."
On having a plan if too many people qualify...
"We've got that all covered. Again, it goes back to the blueprint. We're very direct and up-front with everybody that we recruit on what their situation is, and they know that going in. We've addressed all those issues."
On anxious moments in the last few days leading up to signing day...
"I think there always are with everybody. I think that's universal. There are a lot of sleepless nights and there are a lot of us who were up all night and talking to guys. It's stressful for the young men, it's stressful for the families. A high percentage of the guys have their minds made up the night before signing day, but there are some that don't. It's just stressful for everybody. Sometimes with recruiting, it's the last man standing, who talks to them last, who gets to them last. You have to work right down to the end, but there are always anxious moments. I think, and I won't speak for everybody on our staff, but I'm anxious until I get the fax, and that's from every one of them. I think that's probably a universal feeling, but I don't want to speak for everybody else."
On Corey Lemonier and knowing if he would sign with Auburn...
"We had a great hope for what Corey would do today. Corey's a great young man and he had so many great choices out there. We really felt like he had whittled it down to two. We really felt like that was a situation that could have gone either way, but we hung in there and we fought and clawed our way down to the very end. It was a situation that we weren't necessarily 100 percent sure. We had a good idea, but when you're that far away and you can't be there and things of that nature, you never know how they're going to unfold. We had an idea."
On the importance of Jeffrey Whitaker...
"It is huge. Jeff is obviously one of the top defensive linemen in the country. He is a physical presence in the middle of a defense. As we try to build the defense from the ground floor up, everybody knows that the better you are on the defense is a direct correlation to how good you are in the front four. We think Jeff really brings a great deal of talent to that position. He is going to have to get used to the college game and things of that nature, but he is exactly what we are looking for here."
On the "off the radar" signings...
"As the recruiting season unfolds, scholarship numbers change. Guys that you anticipated recruiting, for whatever the case may be, you end up not recruiting him. It is volatile throughout the whole year as far as numbers of guys you can sign. You always know who the next guy is. The next guy isn't always necessarily a down the line player. It is a guy that really fits well into what you do, but numbers don't really allow you to be able to jump on. When things change, our plan is to shoot right in. We don't care who is recruiting them or how high or low they are ranked. We go back to, is he the right fit for Auburn? We feel really good about how we have evaluated guys. I know that everybody has two stars or five stars, but we don't look at that. We look at our evaluation and what we see in that young man. Is that what we need here? Will that fit? If it is, we go for it."
On Ladarious Phillips...
"He is a really good football player. He is a big guy that is really athletic. He can play both sides of the ball. He is probably 280 pounds now. He is a strong kid in the weight room and he loves football. He carries the ball as a tailback in high school at 280 pounds. Athletically, I think there are a lot of options for him. That was one of those situations that popped up and we've had our eye on him for a long time."
On Tunde Fariyike...
"Tunde is a great young man. He is from the state of Georgia. As we evaluated, we learned that he is a great student and a great football player. We loved what we saw on film. It goes back to being the right fit for Auburn."
On big recruiting events like Big Cat Weekend and Tiger Prowl...
"We have a very creative staff. We've got personalities that range from A to Z. It's a really unique group of guys that have a lot of great ideas. We literally sit around as a staff and we talk about being creative and ways we can create things that are attractive to potential student-athletes. We want to continue to be creative on the recruiting trail but we know at the end of the day it is about rolling up your sleeves and working hard at it. You can be as creative as you want, but if you don't work hard at it, you're not going to get these guys, if you're not going to build these relationships. We'll sit down when this is all over and we'll go back and revisit this recruiting year. We'll try to troubleshoot on what we can do better and what we didn't do well enough. We're on a constant evaluation of where we're at and why we're there. We have to find a way to make next year's class better than this year's class. Whatever that entails, I don't know, but I'm sure there will be unique ideas out there at some point."
On Shon Coleman...
"I think Shon is a great football player. His whole family, his mom Dekeisha, has been solid as a rock. There are all kinds of things floating around that we have no control over, but since the day they committed, they've been committed to Auburn. I think in the last three weeks he was going to go to about eight different universities other than Auburn, and that just wasn't necessarily so. It was neat to watch his fax come through. That's another one in a state that is challenging in this conference. He was able to step away and say Auburn is the best place for me. So again my hat goes off to a guy like that. And like Trovon he is so highly recruited."
On Michael Dyer and what he brings to the table...
"Michael Dyer, rock solid. Solid from the beginning to the end. My hat is off to him and his family. It's incredible, in our opinion, on what he brings to the table, not just as a football player. His personality is dynamic. His commitment to Auburn, his commitment to his coaches, it's been phenomenal. He's been one of the most fun guys to recruit from the beginning to the end. He played some practical jokes at the end that we didn't appreciate, but we love him. He's been great. The importance of him to us is huge. Michael brings a duel type situation when you talk about a tailback. He is extremely powerful. He's probably one of the strongest running backs in terms of power running, breaking tackles, being able to run through two or three guys at times. He's got great vision. He can make the cuts you need him to make. When he hits a crease and needs to outrun everybody he is certainly capable of doing that too. He brings a rare ability to the backfield and being able to do both and having a combination of both power and speed."
