|
Auburn Gus Malzahn Signing Day Press Conference
“It’s been
a great day. I’m very excited about this class. We’ve signed 23 so far
in this class. I really feel like we filled our needs. We tried to
address our immediate needs, and I really feel like that we
accomplished that.
“I’d really like to complement our coaching
staff. They did a wonderful job in a short period of time. With a new
staff coming in, we had a lot of obstacles as far as trying to develop
relationships and a lot of different things. Any time you come in and
you don’t retain anybody from the previous staff and you have a lot of
commitments, there are a lot of things that go with that, and I’m
extremely excited and pleased with our staff. I really appreciate the
work of our support staff and administration, especially (Auburn
Director of Athletics) Jay Jacobs allowing us to have the things we
need to do to recruit. As a matter of fact, he even helped us recruit
on some Saturdays, which I really feel like made a huge difference. At
this time, I’d like to go over each one of our signees and just briefly
say a little bit about them, and then I’ll open it up for questions
afterward.
“First, defensive end Elijah Daniel. He was our first
commit of the day. Pass rushing was one of our big needs, and this guy
can really do it. He had a relationship with (associate head coach)
Rodney Garner that goes way back, and he signed this morning. We’re
tickled to death to have him.
“Our second of the day was Tony
Stevens, a big, tall wide receiver. He has tremendous skills. He’s a
kick returner. (Co-offensive coordinator) Dameyune Craig did a
wonderful job with him; they had a previous relationship. He has a
chance to be an impact player.
“Dominic
Walker, his teammate, is 6-2, 195 -- a big, physical, fast guy, and I
really feel like he’ll have a chance to be that special type player.
Dameyune recruited him also.
“Marcus Davis is a quarterback from
Delray Beach, Fla., and he is going to play like a slot receiver for
us. We’ve had a lot of success with former quarterbacks. He has running
back skills. He’s a really good kid, a smart kid. We’re excited about
him.
“Kamryn Melton is a defensive back from Dothan (Ala.). I
want to say this about all of the guys that hung in there with us,
specifically the defensive guys because we didn’t have great previous
relationships -- we knew a lot of the offensive guys because I was here
before and some of our staff -- but I really appreciate Kamryn. He has
a wonderful family, and I really think he’ll be a very good player for
us.
“Running back Peyton Barber is a guy that we started
recruiting when we first got here. He was committed to another school,
and he got hurt his junior year. This past year, he had a phenomenal
year. I really feel like if he hadn’t gotten hurt his junior year, he’d
be one of those top-ranked guys. He is a very strong, fast individual.
We’re very excited about Peyton.
“Nick Marshall is a
quarterback, and our first one that came in today from junior college.
He is one of three quarterbacks that we took; we felt like that was
definitely a need as far as depth is concerned. He’s a great athlete.
He’s one of those impact players who throws the ball extremely well and
has a very strong arm. We feel like he could come in here and give us a
chance right off the bat.
“Carl Lawson. I’m going to say this
about Carl Lawson. I feel like he is one of the keys to this class. He
hung in there with us when a lot of guys went south, went other ways,
opened stuff up -- he hung in there with us. He provided the stability,
I really feel like on the defensive side specifically, to have the
class that we did. He’s a phenomenal player. He’s a phenomenal person.
He is an Auburn person. He loves Auburn, and his family loves Auburn.
I’m very excited to have him on board.
“Khari Harding, a safety
from Oklahoma, is one of the bigger hitting safeties I’ve seen come out
of high school. He’s a vicious guy. We need some depth at safety, and
he’ll have a chance to come in and contribute early.
“Quarterback-wise,
Jeremy Johnson, I’m going to say the same thing about Jeremy as I did
Carl. He was kind of one of the centerpieces offensively. Me and Coach
(Rhett) Lashlee already had a relationship with him, but he really hung
in there with us and helped us recruit and really provided a lot of
stability on the offensive side. Once again, he loves Auburn.
“Our
next signee that came in this morning was Earnest Robinson, a wide
receiver that’s been committed to us a long time. I actually recruited
him when he was a sophomore. I have a great relationship with him. I
think the world of Earnest. He hung in there with us, too, during the
change.
“Kenny Flowers at linebacker -- we felt like we needed
some depth at linebacker that could come in immediately and help. This
guy is a very physical, hard-nosed type player, and Coach (Ellis)
Johnson did a great job recruiting him.
“Cameron Toney is
another inside linebacker, from Huntsville (Ala.). He was committed
before, a very good kid. He hung in there with us, and I think he’ll
have a chance to be a really good player.
“Jason Smith, a
quarterback out of Mobile -- he’s electric. I think he was the MVP of
the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game. He just has phenomenal skills.
He can do a lot of different things. We’re very excited about Jason.
“Deon
Mix is an offensive lineman that really, we just started seriously
recruiting about a week ago. Coach Melvin Smith had a great
relationship with him. He is the only offensive lineman we took today,
other than the junior college (players) that I’ll talk about here in
just a minute. He is a big road-grader type offensive lineman that
Coach (J.B.) Grimes likes to have.
“Mackenro Alexander is a
(defensive back) from Florida. This is a kid that we feel has a very
big upside. He is a tough, smart kid that can run, and he’s a very good
tackler. We think that he will definitely provide some depth in the
secondary.
“Brandon King is a defensive back/safety from junior
college. Once again, we felt like we needed some depth at safety and
some guys that could immediately play. He’s a very hard-nosed, physical
type player, so we are very excited about him.
“Montravius Adams
is a defensive tackle. I think this is going to be my eighth year to
coach college, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bigger, more
athletic guy than him. I really feel like the sky is the limit with
him. Coach Rodney Garner had a great relationship with him that really
helped get him here. He’s a very good person with a great family.
“Daniel
Carlson, who is our kicker from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He hung in
there with us through two special teams coaches. We really appreciate
him doing that. He’s got a very big leg, and he’ll be a very good
kicker for us.
“Johnathan Ford just signed with us this morning.
He’s a very good running back. He has a lot of different skills. He’s
not only a good runner, but he can catch the ball in the backfield, and
he loves Auburn. His family loves Auburn, so we’re very excited to have
him.
“Our January enrollees: Cameron Artis-Payne is a big
physical runner. I really think he’s going to provide some very good
depth, and I think he’s going to be a very good player for us.
“Ben Bradley; we needed depth up front. This guy is very athletic and very strong.
“Then
with Devonte Danzey, we needed some help at center and at guard, and I
feel like he’ll have a chance to help us immediately.
“Overall,
I feel very good about this class, especially in a short period. Like I
said earlier, we addressed our needs and I’m very pleased.”
On
the defensive linemen… “Y’all know in this league you win on the
offensive and defensive lines, and the defensive line was the focus.
The three guys we have we feel like are three of the best in the entire
country. Coach (Rodney) Garner is a great coach, and he’s going to have
three guys that will have the chance to help us immediately.”
On
signing Montravius Adams… “It was a great feeling when he put on that
Auburn hat. It was a special feeling. Coach (Rodney) Garner has had a
relationship with him a long time, and they’re extremely close.
Everyone in the country was wanting him. He got back to Auburn, because
he loved Auburn before, but he developed a relationship with the new
staff, with Rodney, and when we came back on him, he still felt the
same way. That was a very exciting moment this morning.”
On the
quarterback signees and if they may play other positions… “We’re going
to give all three of those guys a shot at quarterback. They’re all very
talented at that position. As y’all have seen in the past, the dual
type threat guys that can do a lot of different things keep plays alive
and can be very successful with what we do.”
On more potential signees… “It depends on who they would be, but there could be a couple more in the near future.”
On
the outcome of signing day… “When we went to bed last night, I would
say there’s very little change from then. There was some anxiety. Any
time you’re coming into this thing four or five weeks in, and you don’t
have those foundation relationships then stuff can happen, but our
coaching staff did a wonderful job developing those relationships in a
short period of time. It pretty much went as planned today when we got
up.”
On how much sleep he got last night… “I’m thinking 2 hours,
but sometimes I work best when I don’t have much sleep. I was extremely
excited. We’ve been gearing up for this day, and I’m going to bet our
staff didn’t get much sleep either.”
On the impact of defensive
players and what it will allow him to do offensively… “Up front,
they’re going to have a chance to play immediately. Obviously they have
to earn that. At the safety position, we feel like those guys will have
a chance on defense to do that. Any time you have depth in all
positions on defense, it definitely helps.”
On how he went about
identifying Auburn’s positions of need… “We hired our defensive staff
first, and we evaluated Ellis Johnson’s defense, and we tried to
evaluate our own players first and then evaluate the commitments and
then open the door for our needs; we did that on a very fast
turnaround. Offensively, the unique thing is that I was here for three
years previously, and we recruited specifically for positions, so we
kind of knew what we were looking for, and a lot of the guys that were
committed we actually recruited before, but the main thing was probably
defensively.”
On how he feels they addressed their needs,
particularly on the defensive line… “I think our whole staff is
excited, and I know from the head coach’s standpoint, defensive
linemen, especially talented defensive linemen like these three we got
-- how they can all rush the passer and they can all play run defense
and they are extremely talented -- I know Coach (Rodney) Garner is very
excited.”
On signing six junior college players… “We had some
needs that we had to address. This will not be the norm. I am not
saying we will not recruit junior colleges every year, but I felt like
we had to address some needs, and we had to have some players that we
feel like are physically ready to play next year, so that was the plan.”
On
how much he talked to former head coach Gene Chizik during the
recruiting process... “I talked to him a few times. It wasn’t always
about recruiting. It was just checking on him and seeing how he was
doing.”
On the importance of getting Johnathan Ford and Peyton
Barber late in the recruiting process… “We definitely wanted two
running backs, and we felt pretty good about Johnathan for a while. It
got interesting there in the middle of it, but he loves Auburn, and we
really think he is going to be a phenomenal running back. Peyton Barber
was a fight to the finish, but once he came on his official visit, he
loves Auburn, too. Those two guys are going to have the chance to help
be on the field and provide depth next year.”
Is Ford someone he
sees as a slot receiver, an every-down back or a guy who can do both…
“I think both of those guys are true running backs, and I think they
have all the skills that it is going to take to be a running back in
this conference and this offense.”
On the chance of the three
defensive linemen Auburn signed playing early… “They’re going to have a
very good chance to. Like I said, we have to have pass rushers to put
pressure on the quarterback without blitzing. I feel like the defensive
ends can definitely do that.”
On Auburn’s wide receiver class…
“I believe that we only had six receivers on scholarship, and so we
knew we had some holes there, and we needed to provide some depth.
Coach (Dameyune) Craig did a very good job of recruiting in a very
short time. I think we will have a chance to look back in the future
and find this is a very talented receiving group. Three of the guys are
pure receivers.”
On Jeremy Johnson possibly playing basketball
and football... “I kind of left that up to him, but he is going to
concentrate on football, and that will be his first priority. I know
his goal is to be the starting quarterback here and what it takes to be
the starting quarterback in college, especially in this league, it
takes a lot of focus. But he is a very good basketball player.”
On
existing players having an impact on recruiting from having
relationships with Malzahn... “I think it helped. There was a point of
reference for these recruits coming in to ask our current players about
me, about some of our staff. I think that definitely helped.”
On
reminding recruits of hard work and focus after the hype of signing
day... “I think it starts today. The recruiting part of it’s over, and
now the preparation time begins -- to get them prepared not only in the
classroom, to get them prepared physically with working out, and the
expectations on the offense and defense.”
Did Auburn give four-year scholarships like it did last season... “We did the same thing this year.”
On
Elijah Daniel... “Coach (Rodney) Garner had a relationship with him for
a long time. We knew that we were in need of defensive ends, and Coach
Garner got him here this past weekend. We’ve known about him for a
while. He can flat-out rush the passer.”
Do hard-nosed, physical
players fit Malzahn’s system and mentality... “That is one thing our
staff looked for: physical, hard-nosed football players. I told our
staff the very first staff meeting we had, we have to find football
players. They’re going to be Auburn-type, tough, hard-nosed, blue
collar guys. I really feel like for the most part we did that today.”
Is
he relieved that signing day is over because of the short time frame
and transition... “It’s probably more excitement that it’s here. When
you look at these players and the faxes come across and the reality is
that they’re going to play for us, I’m very excited because we got some
guys that really fit what we’re doing, that we feel like will have a
chance to be very good football players.”
On recruiting Peyton
Barber... “We knew we needed running backs, and so what we did is we
started out and we started looking at the top running backs in the
country, and we put them all up on film, and he stood out. Early in the
process, we called him, offered him a scholarship and we recruited him
and we showed him that we wanted him badly. Coach (Tim) Horton did an
excellent job with him along with Coach (Rhett) Lashlee. It wasn’t
easy. He had been committed a long time. At the end of the day, he
loved Auburn and really wanted to play here.”
On his first year
of recruiting as an SEC head coach... “I’ve been in this conference as
a coordinator before, so I kind of know what to expect, but from a head
coach’s standpoint, you worry about the defense and the special teams
and offense and everything that goes with that. Like I said earlier,
the fact that we didn’t have a full year to recruit against a lot of
these guys that had a full year to recruit and get the players signed
that we did, I’m just very pleased and tickled to death with our staff.”
On
recruiting for the hybrid safety/linebacker position... “The safety
position gives us some versatility where they could play a high safety
or roll down. It just depends on the down and distance that Coach
(Ellis) Johnson would like to utilize those guys in.”
Did he
have the opportunity to look ahead in the recruiting process... “We
tried to balance some of it. You can’t get too far behind. We have been
working on 2014 and some 2015, but the majority of our energy has been
put in this class, as it well should be within a short period.”
Was
moving quickly to replace a coaching staff vacancy critical to keeping
a solid signing class… “I think so. Any time you lose your running
backs and special teams coach two weeks before signing day, that
definitely is a concern, but the great thing about it is that Coach
(Tim) Horton is one of the best running back coaches in all of college
football. It was a natural fit. Scott Fountain, I tried to hire as my
special teams coach at Arkansas State, and he chose to stay here, so I
know a lot about those two guys, and I feel very comfortable. It wasn’t
a tough decision once it came about.”
Was he surprised Mackensie
Alexander did not sign with Auburn along with his twin brother,
Mackenro... “We recruited both of those individuals differently.
They’re both very good football players, and to be honest with you, we
treated him like we would anybody else. I’m not going to say we’re
surprised, but we recruited him the same way.”
On having signed
three players (Ben Bradley, Devonte Danzey and Kenny Flowers) from
Hutchinson Community College and Malzahn’s familiarity with that
program… “I’m familiar with the standpoint that when I was with
Arkansas State, I knew a lot about those guys and the fact that they’re
very talented and other big-time schools were already recruiting them.
We brought them on campus, and we really feel like all of those guys
can help immediately.”
On thinking about NCAA recruiting rule
changes… “I’ve been focused just on this signing class. When I wake up
tomorrow, I’ll start thinking that way.”
On a recruit leaving
early during his last weekend visit… “All I’m going to talk about are
the players that signed with us, and we’re tickled to death to have
them.”
|
Contact us