Hugh Freeze was riding high on National Signing Day after keeping Deuce Knight following a fervent attack by Ole Miss but when the Auburn coach was asked about success with in-state recruiting, that’s when he really lit up.
“Really big,” Freeze said. “It’s a priority that we win our battles in-state. At least, our fair share of them. I’m not naive. I know that you’re not going to win every single one of them but we dang near came close to sweeping the top 10.
“We have a lot of great high school programs here, a lot of great high school coaches and we have great relationships with them. Whether it’s Bryan Moore (Opelika) or Jeff Kelly (Saraland) or Frank Warren (Parker) or Mark Freeman (Thompson), who I go a long time back, those relationships go back at other stops we’ve been at.”
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Alabama has the marginally better overall class at fourth nationally and Auburn is eighth but when it comes to in-state recruiting, the Tigers blew away the Crimson Tide.
Auburn signed two of the top-three in-state players in four-star defensive end Jared Smith and four-star running back Alvin Henderson. The state’s top player, five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord, flipped from Ohio State to Oregon (instead of Auburn) on signing day.
The Tigers finished with six of the top 10 players in the state of Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s first signee was way down the line in four-star OL Micah Debose, No. 12 in the state.
Even when coach Nick Saban had Alabama dominating college football, the Crimson Tide were not totally dominating in-state recruiting but this was maybe the worst performance ever in the Rivals era.
It’s somewhat understandable, though.
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This time last year, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer was leading Washington through its College Football Playoff run to the national championship game. Last December, Saban was still the Crimson Tide coach and had given no hint publicly that he was planning to retire.
DeBoer, who had no Southeast ties, was not hired in Tuscaloosa until mid-January. Staff wasn’t in place for another few weeks, at best.
In some ways, the new Alabama staff is playing catch-up with in-state recruiting and still developing a lot of those key relationships.
“We’re behind,” DeBoer said at his signing day press conference. “When you look at coming in January, there was still staff we were hiring at the end of February. Spring recruiting was just about getting as many high school guys on campus as we could. We were pretty much bringing in anyone that wanted to come that was at the line or close to the line and above and wanted to share the message, show the vision and get all that out there.
“There were some high school coaches that we got to see maybe a few in January, it continued in the spring and then in January that will continue on. There are added elements of coaches clinics and getting out here and there but one change, not being able to get on the road in December, does hold you back from those relationships so we have to be creative and we have to be open to any opportunities to continue to build those relationships and that trust.”
DeBoer’s biggest recruiting win so far was keeping five-star receiver Ryan Williams in the 2024 class from flipping to Auburn, which now seemed more likely than many believed. He’s already a superstar receiver and has 45 catches for 857 yards and eight touchdowns so far in his freshman season.
But there are some striking characteristics about this Alabama recruiting class. There are seven players from California and eight total from the West region after the Crimson Tide flipped four-star receiver Derek Meadows from LSU.
That’s more than Alabama signed from in-state, Florida and Georgia – combined. Only two in-state players – Debose and four-star OL Mal Waldrep – signed with the Crimson Tide. They only got two players from Texas in five-star Keelon Russell and four-star OL Ty Haywood could flip as Michigan, Texas Tech and others are working on him.
Only two players from Florida (five-star Michael Carroll and four-star Ivan Taylor) and three players from Georgia signed with Alabama.
Those trends should change as DeBoer and his staff develop deeper relationships in the Southeast but it is a compelling difference between Auburn’s class – and Freeze’s approach.
Freeze was name-dropping top high school coaches at his signing day press conference. He was talking about relationships that have gone on for many years. The Southern drawl was in full force. He might as well have had a pitcher of sweet tea next to him.
DeBoer, who’s won 88 percent of the games he’s coached, understands the challenge ahead of winning in-state and Southeast recruiting battles as Georgia steams ahead with a lights-out recruiter and an emerging Auburn is stockpiling talent but not wins yet.
Just a few of the challenges in a bigger, badder SEC.
“It’s no secret – there are some West Coast guys that we’re already talking about,” DeBoer said. “Relationships are where it starts. Relationships are with those players and identification and evaluation but the relationship piece is important. These kids, their high school coaches know who I am, know who much of our staff were, that helped get the ball rolling with those guys.
“As we continue to emphasize and really focus on the relationships we’re building in-state, and in the region as well, I’m really excited about and every year, we’ll continue to grow and build trust. The season that we went though will only help these in-state high school coaches to believe in us and the tradition will continue. That’s the whole Southeast region as a whole.”
