Auburn added 23 players from 9 different states on Wednesday and Thursday.  A breakdown of the Tigers’ “target zone” is below:

Alabama = 6 recruits

Kansas = 5

Florida = 4

Georgia = 3

California = 1

Colorado = 1

Indiana = 1

Mississippi = 1

Oklahoma = 1

In-State Signees = 26.0%

Out-Of-State Signees = 73.9%

Observation:

Of the four new coaches in the SEC, no one had as good a day as Gus Malzahn.  Of course, when you’re returning to a program you won the 2010 BCS Championship with (as offensive coordinator), you’ve got plenty of recent history to sell.  Malzahn also made sure to shore up a thin roster with six juco players including all five of those Kansas signees.  On the downside, recruiting against Nick Saban and an Alabama program that’s won three out of four national crowns is going to be tough.  Having a unique offensive system could offset Bama’s talent advantage.  At least that’s the hope on the Plains.

You might remember Auburn running back Mike Blakely.  Not because he mustered 153 yards on 33 carries last season as a redshirt freshman.  But probably because in 2011 he signed with first-year Florida coach Will Muschamp and then immediately asked for a release to transfer.  Blakely landed on the Plains soon after.

Now he’s leaving Auburn.

AU officials confirmed last night that Blakely is no longer enrolled at the school and internet speculation is tying him to South Florida’s program.  Blakely didn’t manage a carry during the Tigers’ final five games last season and he must not believe things will get much better with Gus Malzahn now running the show.

Good luck to the kid.  Next stop: Winnemucca, Mack.

Ole Miss defeated Tennessee 62-56 Thursday night to go 5-0 in SEC play for the first time since the 1930s
Rumors continue to connect Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham to the NFL, but Graham refuses to comment
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn will reportedly hire Arkansas State assistant Casey Woods if Rich Bisaccia leaves to join the Dallas Cowboys’ staff
According to Les Miles’ new contract with LSU, if the coach is fired without cause during the next three years he will receive a buyout of $15 million
Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik and former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley will take part in ESPNU’s coverage of national signing day
As many as five Alabama players are projected as possibly going in the first round of the NFL draft
Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith isn’t commenting on the NCAA’s bungled investigation into his old Miami program
Get all your SEC news from MrSEC.com and twitter.com/mrsec

SEC Football

1. Twice next season Georgia could face opposing quarterbacks kicked off its team.

2. 28-year old former major league baseball player Jai Miller has enrolled at Alabama and will be eligibile for spring workouts.  He’s listed as a defensive back.

3. Group of nine early enrollees at Alabama includes three quarterbacks.

4. Eight early enrollees at Florida include running back Kelvin Taylor, son of former Gator Fred Taylor.

5. The quarterback situation at Missouri – unusually uncertain.  Will feature plenty of competition this spring.

6. Little QB uncertainty at Florida with Jeff Driskel returning. Former Gator Jacoby Brissett expected to transfer to either West Virginia or North Carolina State.

7. Seven members of Tennessee’s signing class of 2012 are no longer with the program.

8. Know the name Vincent Smith?  That’s the Michigan player on the other end of the legendary Jadeveon Clowney collision. Says the hit looked worse than it was. 

9. Top game of the 2012 season?  How about Texas A&M’s upset win at Alabama.

NFL Draft Prospects

10. South Carolina wide receiver Ace Sanders took to Twitter last night to say he’s going pro. Size raises questions about his chances in early rounds of draft.

11. Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd’s thank you to Gator Nation.

12. A record 74 underclassmen have declared for the NFL draft. That list includes 33 players from the SEC. Mel Kiper’s mock draft has Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel and Damontre Moore as the top two picks.

Coaching News

13. New Mississippi State cornerbacks coach Deshea Townsend will be the second-highest paid position coach on staff at $250,000. Salary pool for MSU assistants could rise by as much as 10 percent.

14. A big reason why Geoff Collins was promoted to defensive coordinator at MSU - defensive production dropped in seven of the eight major NCAA statistical categories last season.

15. Check out James Franklin’s business card.

16. Why Auburn coach Gus Malzahn should go to bat for an early signing period in college football.

17. “Malzahn was arguably the winter’s most obvious hire.”

18. Fifteen BCS-conference schools have hired a new head coach this offseason.  Stewart Mandel grades them.

Update: Another head coach needed?  Oregon’s Chip Kelly to the Philadelphia Eagles?

Expansion/Realignment

19. Duke basketball coach Mike  Krzyzewski: “This is an assault on tradition.”

20. See our earlier story with comments from Texas A.D. Deloss Dodds.

SEC Basketball

21. Alabama at Mississippi State. Alabama guard Trevor Releford turned an ankle in practice Monday. The team’s leading scorer called “doubtful” for tonight by coach Anthony Grant. With Mississippi State banged up and shorthanded, staff, assistants, even coach Rick Ray have practiced this season.

22. Auburn at Arkansas. Auburn guard Josh Wallace on playing at Bud Walton Arena: “They have a great home atmosphere, but there’s nothing like crushing up a home crowd.” Razorbacks coach Mike Anderson looks to find some scoring beyond BJ Young and Marshawn Powell.

23. South Carolina at LSU. Gamecocks still trying to learn Frank Martin’s aggressive man-to-man defense. Depth an issue at LSU, especially with Johnny O’Bryant battling a lingering ankle sprain.

24. Georgia at Missouri. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope accounts for 28.4 percent of Georgia’s scoring – only Bulldog to average double-figures. Tigers discovering life isn’t easy without leading scorer Laurence Bowers - need someone to fill the offensive void.

25. Raising some questions about the future of Georgia coach Mark Fox.

26. Florida travels to Texas A&M Thursday. Gators are third-best in the conference in rebound margin.

27. John Calipari on the physical play last night between Kentucky and Tennessee: “This is a man’s game and this is a man’s league we play in.”

28. Tennessee sophomore Jarnell Stokes played just 15 minutes last night against Kentucky – had more fouls than points.

29. Sports Illustrated’s Andy Glockner: “I’d expect Kentucky to scrape through enough SEC games to make it into the eventual Field of 68, but its margin for error isn’t great.”

Extras

30. Katherine Webb will cover the Super Bowl for Inside Edition.

31. Brent Musberger, the man who helped launch Webb’s career, on ESPN’s apology for his comments: ”Individuals say what individuals say. And corporations do what corporations do.”

32. The golden age of Texas quarterbacks.

33. The NCAA will meet and vote on reducing the size of its rulebook.

34. Study: Emergency room visits tied to energy drinks have doubled since 2007.

If you’re looking for a story that’s going to make waves across the SEC today, look no further than the news that after 15 years as a Georgia assistant, Rodney Garner is joining Gus Malzahn’s new staff at Auburn.  Garner is one of the nation’s top recruiters and has served as Georgia’s recruiting coordinator since 1998, under both Jim Donnan and Mark Richt.  Garner was UGA’s defensive line coach this past season as well as the Dawgs’ assistant head coach.  He will have the same job titles and responsibilities at AU.

Garner was an All-SEC player on the Plains in the late-1980s.  And make no mistake, his homecoming is major coup for the first-year head coach… and serious blow to Georgia as signing day is less than 50 days away.

Garner told The Atlanta Journal Constitution late last night that his decision was not about the significant raise he’ll receive:

“It was a very difficult decision.  I’ve been approached many times about this opportunity.  But it’s my alma mater.  It may be more of a pride thing, just looking at where they are right now and felling like I really wanted to be a part of getting them back on track.  I just felt like God was leading me in this direction.  It’s something I prayed about and it was not an easy decision.  I would not have left for any other reason than Auburn.”

Here’s how Georgia has fared nationally in Rivals.com’s recruiting rankings over the past decade:

2013 (current class):  9th

2012:  12th

2011:  5th

2010:  15th

2009:  6th

2008:  7th

2007:  9th

2006:  4th

2005:  10th

2004:  9th

Not a bad run.  Now, Garner can’t take sole credit for that work and there’s no guarantee he can help Auburn match Georgia’s recruiting prowess.  But if you’re a Tiger fan today, there’s reason for optimism.  And if you’re a Bulldog fan, there’s reason for disappointment.

On his way out the door, Garner did throw some love in Richt’s direction, saying: “Mark has been very good to me and I want people to know that.  People need to recognize the body of work that Mark has done here.  Here’s a guy who has been at Georgia 12 years and he’s gone to the championship game five times.  Priot to him coming there, they’d never been to that game.”

Of course, Richt will now have to get to that game for the first time without Garner coordinating his recruiting efforts.

No two ways around it — a big get for Auburn and Malzahn.

Reuben Foster‘s recruitment has turned into what many analysts have predicted all along.

“It’s been getting kind of crazy,” Foster told GigEm247.com. “I knew it was coming.”

That certainly became the case when Foster decommitted from Auburn on Friday. The linebacker from Auburn (Ala.) High School has now been committed to both the Tigers and rival Alabama.

Auburn isn’t out of the running, however. Foster recently visited with newly-hired head coach Gus Malzahn.

“I went by there. It went great,” Foster told AuburnUndercover.com. “I’m going to give him a chance.

“It’s the first time I met him. It was a good impression. He’s a nice man, a clean-cut guy.”

Foster has heard from several schools since he decommitted from Auburn. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Miami and Washington have all called.

Texas A&M is sure to receive a visit, according to Foster.

“I don’t know when,” he said. “I’m going to take a visit there. It might not be an official.”

Which school will Foster choose? That’s yet to be determined. But his family will play a role, according to Foster.

“I’m a mama’s boy so my mom is going to help me,” he said. “(She told me to) keep God in your head, keep God in your prayers and stay focused in school.”

Quick, grab a pencil and rank the SEC’s football coaches from 1-14.  Where do you put the guys in the new rookie class?

If you go by career wins you may shortchange a guy like Mark Stoops at Kentucky who’s taking over a program for the first time.  Some of those newbies like Mark Richt, Dan Mullen, and Will Muschamp have walked into the SEC and done quite well.  Others have been total failures.

If you go by past recruiting prowess, you might dismiss a guy like James Franklin who entered the league with a staff that had zero SEC recruiting ties.  In case you haven’t been keeping up, Franklin’s recruiting at Vanderbilt has been eye-popping.

In the end, whether or not Stoops, Bret Bielema, Butch Jones and Gus Malzahn succeed, will come down to a few key issues.  Some coaches face more challenges or bigger challenges than others.  Naturally, we break them all down for you, coach-by-coach, below:

Bret Bielema, Arkansas

1.  Recruiting – We’ve said it before.  We say it again here.  Beilema’s recruiting at Wisconsin was not stellar (for a tip-top program) and he does not have connections to Texas recruits or prospects in the Southeast.  On the plus side, that tells you he’s been winning without great recruiting classes.  On the downside, the Big Ten is not the SEC.  Wanna win in Dixie?  Get some players.

2.  Fan expectations – Bobby Petrino was popular, but even he couldn’t get the Hogs to play at an SEC championship level.  John L. Smith certainly couldn’t it this past year, either.  But Razorback fans expect to someday jump to the top of the West Division and beyond.  For the foreseeable future that’ll mean besting Alabama and LSU.  And probably Heisman-winner Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, too.  Bielema is the “name” hire in the league this offseason and the expectations he faces will be higher as a result.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gus Malzahn is returning to Auburn, but he won’t be keeping any of the current assistants on staff unless his new coordinators say so.  Malzahn broke the news to his ex-colleagues yesterday, according to special teams coach Jay Boulware:

“(He didn’t say) much, that he’s just hiring his offensive and defensive coordinator, and he’s going to go from there.  He said if we were interested, he’d let his coordinators choose.  So it is what it is.”

Malzahn has already interviewed ex-South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, but it’s been reported that he’s also a possibility at Florida State.  Former Auburn player and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker has also gotten a call.

Who the new Tiger coach hires as D-coordinator will definitely be one to watch as many defensive minds aren’t enamored with up-tempo, spread systems.  And in the SEC — unless you have Cam Newton at quarterback — you typically have to have a darn good defense to win the league crown.  And that’s the goal at Auburn.

But while the defense will play a huge role in determining Malzahn’s ceiling, his own offensive system will be what makes or breaks him as a head coach.

Read the rest of this entry »

Coaching News/Rumors/Reactions

1. Did Auburn repeat a mistake and skip over more qualified candidates?

2. Stewart Mandel: “Auburn AD Jay Jacobs essentially conceded what many already believed — that Malzahn was the real brains behind Chizik’s 2010 national-title team.”

3. Bo Jackson on Malzahn: “(A)ctually, we were surprised that he was as sharp as he was.”

4. When Auburn phone Bobby Petrino this week, the questions and comments  “all revolved around Petrino’s personal life and why Arkansas fired him in April.”

5. Bret Bielema was a surprise hire at Arkansas to many people, including the state’s governor.  “I never heard him mentioned, so it is a surprise.”

6. Andy Staples on Bielema: If he considered (Urban) Meyer a ruthless foe, wait until he meets Nick Saban and Les Miles.”

7. Dan Wetzel: “There’s hardly any legitimate competition between the Big Ten and the SEC anymore. At least, not on the field. That’s just reality.”

8. Bielema’s deal worth $3.2 million annually over six years.

9. “Both schools found capable coaches, but chose very different approaches.” The challenges the two men will face.

10. Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury a possible candidate to replace Gus Malzahn at Arkansas State?

11. Texas Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown on rumors linking him to Kentucky.

12. Ellis Johnson reportedly interviewing for defensive coordinator at Auburn. Future plans for Gene Chizik?

13. What does the future hold for Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo?

14. What about former Florida coach Ron Zook for the University of South Florida?

15. For the fifth straight year, the GoDaddy.com Bowl losing a coach who guided team to postseason.  This year, both teams, Arkansas State and Kent State, will be looking for new coaches.

16. Butch Davis to Florida International?

17. All these coaching searches have sparked an Internet feud.

What a difference four years and one 2-10 season can make.

Last night, a number of Auburn supporters showed up at the local airport to greet new head coach and former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.  Needless to say, they were happy with his return.

Here was the response at the airport when AD Jay Jacobs touched down in Auburn after hiring Gene Chizik, Malzahn’s old boss, back in 2008.

Now, what’s funny is that Chizik went on to win a BCS title and he and Jacobs were hailed as heroes and geniuses.  After the nosedive this past season things changed just a tad.

And now Malzahn gets to enter the Auburn kingdom like a long lost son returning home.