When Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze took the job at Auburn last November, he knew what he was getting into as he returned to the SEC.
The SEC’s saying, “it just means more” doesn’t just apply during 60-minute football games on Saturdays in the fall, but year ‘round as the coaches around the conference are known to be some of the hardest hitters on the recruiting trail.
“People in this conference are good at what they do,” Freeze said of recruiters around the SEC during his press conference Wednesday.
And Freeze knew that if he wanted to right the ship at Auburn, he needed to be able to hang with the best of them – no matter what it took.
Tuesday night, or Signing Day eve, rather, was a long night for Auburn’s coaching staff, Freeze says.
“Listen, last night it was – there’s some schools in this conference, they believe in last-night efforts,” Freeze said. “You gotta fight.”
In reference to Auburn’s late-night recruiting efforts, Freeze said the Tigers “held on to some, won one and lost one.”
Given the number of blue-chip recruits the Tigers had on deck coming into Wednesday, it didn’t come as a surprise when Auburn’s commits spent Tuesday fielding phone calls from other programs.
In the case of 5-star wide receiver Perry Thompson, there was chatter that Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide were making a late push for the Foley standout, who was at one time committed to Alabama.
Playing into the noise on social media, Thompson included an Alabama hat on his signing table, even grabbing at it twice during his announcement, causing the heart rates of Auburn fans to rise before he unzipped his jacket to show off an Auburn jersey underneath.
It’d be a safe bet to say Thompson and fellow 5-star wide receiver Cam Coleman both received phone calls well into Tuesday evening.
Guys like 4-star edge rusher Jamonta Waller and 4-star linebacker Damarcus Riddick are two more highly touted prospects who spent time committed to other schools at one point, meaning they also likely received phone calls from other programs down the stretch.
But with white knuckles, Freeze and the Tigers managed to hold on, while also making some last-minute pushes of their own.
The biggest news of Auburn’s day came at about 12:45 p.m. as 4-star defensive lineman Amaris Williams announced his flip from Florida to Auburn in a signing ceremony that forced Freeze to be late to his press conference.
“Sorry guys, I was a little tied up,” Freeze told waiting reporters.
Before flipping to the Tigers, Williams had been committed to the Gators since June.
“To get Amaris — what is he, the No. 37 player in the country? No. 34. The 34th player in the country. That’s pretty big,” Freeze said. “We were behind, obviously, but Coach Garrett did a great job of staying in it, staying in it, staying in it.”
But you can’t win them all.
Buzz indicated that Auburn was still much in play for the nation’s No. 1 safety, 5-star KJ Bolden.
Coming into Wednesday, Bolden was committed to Florida State. However, both the Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs were making late pushes for the Buford, Ga. native.
And though Freeze never explicitly mentioned Bolden, he hinted that two days ago he felt the Tigers were in really good position to land the 5-star.
“You think you’ve done all you can to flip another one, then all of a sudden, he goes in another direction. Those, you just take them in stride,” Freeze said. “You gave your best. Two days ago, was told, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming.’ Today, it changes. Those are always disappointing, because you put great effort in there.”
Bolden ultimately ended up flipping his commitment to Georgia.
“We’ve done this long enough to where those are gonna happen,” Freeze said.
But what’s important is the Tigers won more than they lost down the stretch, even if it meant staying up late Tuesday night and doing what teenage boys do.
“You gotta stay up all night and play video games and do stuff that’s out of my comfort zone. There was some late-night pushes,” Freeze said. “I don’t always like what is done, but you’ve just gotta have plans and you’ve got to fight for it.”
