New style of recruiting turning heads at Auburn

By Robert Rousseau  |   Thursday, June 04, 2009  |  Comments( 1 )

Auburn Tigers
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They called it "Big Cat Weekend." Several big-time college football prospects showed up for it. There was reportedly some fun for the guys who showed up (Lache Seastrunk, Marcus Lattimore, and Khairi Fortt were just some of the names). Names that, by the way, seem to have been announced when some of these prospects lined up to throw toilet paper into the live oak tree on Auburn's campus. Per NCAA bylaw 13.10.6, "“an institution may not introduce a visiting prospective student-athlete at a function (e.g., the institution’s sports award banquet or an intercollegiate athletics contest) that is attended by media representatives or open to the general public.”

A rule may have been broken, then.

Thus, the university is looking into this possible violation. Regardless, not much is likely to come of such a secondary violation in terms of consequences, particularly if the university reports the infraction on its own. Perhaps the bigger story is that there's a new, glitzier style of recruiting going on at Auburn since head coach Gene Chizik took over. "Big Cat Weekend" is just an example of this different mindset.

“We’ll always be working hard to find new and innovative ways to relate and keep up with young people,” said wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor recently. “There are some old school things that guys stand for as far as morals and standards and values that I will never change. But as far as having an open mind to reach out to young people — to get them to reach back to you — I’m always open to that.

“Old school will get you beat.”

So there you have it. The bottom line is that there are a lot of big-time prospects who might not have looked Auburn's way the past few years giving them heavy consideration. It's quite clear that the new order is willing to push the envelope and think outside the box when it comes to bringing talent in.

Perhaps it's just what the doctor ordered to contend with Nick Saban and archenemy Alabama.
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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 ...
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