Auburn’s Willis tearing up the recruiting trail

By Robert Rousseau  |   Sunday, June 15, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Auburn Tigers
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article!

So far this recruiting season, Auburn Tigers linebackers coach James Willis -- who played LB for the team in the early 1990s -- has had a hand in convincing six of the team’s 11 2009 verbal commitments to join the program (Jamontay Pilson, Eltoro Freeman, Nick Fairley, Jonathan Evans, Raymond Cotton and Terrence Coleman).

Willis helped convince five players to come to Auburn last season.

So why the improvement?

Perhaps most important is the fact that Willis is gaining experience on the recruiting trail. He’s gotten the chance to learn from some of the best -- Auburn offensive line coach Hugh Nall and wide receivers coach Greg Knox, for instance -- and now he’s beginning to put that experience to good use. Second, some of the guys he’s been able to pull in this year, like Eltoro Freeman and Nick Fairley, had already committed to the team back in 2007 before they were forced to go to junior college instead.

In other words, Freeman and Fairley were recommits.

Beyond that, once again, Tony Franklin’s new offense is simply helping guys like dual-threat quarterback Raymond Cotton choose the Tigers.

Regardless, Auburn now has another guy who can get it done on the recruiting trail. James Willis just knows how to get kids excited about becoming a Tiger.




Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article! (0)

About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report