Auburn Football: Some News to End Spring Practice 2010

For Auburn fans this is the longest part of the year. Having gotten a glimpse of the potential for 2010, spring practice is over. The next two months will be long indeed with little news of progress for the team.

Reese Dismukes , a very talented offensive center, is set to announce his verbal commitment on Wednesday April 21, 2010. What makes this interesting is two fold.

He is the first recruit that has been intensely recruited by both Auburn and Alabama programs. This is a true head to head competition of Auburn v Alabama in recruiting.

The only important reason; he is one of the top prospects in the nation at a position where Auburn will lose their starter after this season. This will be a huge coup for Auburn if he commits on Wednesday, if not Auburn must find another quality offensive center to add to the class of 2011.

Mario Fannin has stepped in at the premiere running back role this spring. He was very productive at  H-back in 2009. In this interview with Andy Bitter, Coach Luper predicts a 1000 yard rushing season for him if he stays healthy.

He said reporters could write this prediction down in bold letters. Many scoffed at his prediction of a 1000 yard season for Ben Tate in 2009.

Mario Fannin did not fumble the ball a single time during spring practice.

Fiery, aggressive leadership is what the Auburn coaching staff is looking for in the quarterback for 2010. They are giving every participant ample chances to show that they have the highest level of this trait. They want a quarterback that can lead the team to fight back no matter what the circumstances.

They have not announced where each participant stands to keep them competing and see how they all react from the pressure. This does not mean they don’t have a leader in mind, it simply means they want that leader to go through the process of scratching and clawing their way to the top position.

The Auburn staff feels that going through this process will help ensure the 2010 Auburn quarterback is not simply good, but is a winner that will never give up. They want a quarterback that will fight back no matter if they are seven or 35 points down. They do not ever want a repeat of the 2009 LSU game.

The entire coaching staff was pleased with the progress made in spring practice. Every coach on the staff has been quoted saying it is time for this Auburn team to go from good to great. The consensus seemed to be that this process was well on its way in the final day of practice.

From all of the information that I have been able to gather, A-Day was a huge success. The large showing of fan support has put Auburn toward the top of the list for several prized recruits. The football team was really pumped about the turn out and support for them.

The crew that was working A-Day for Auburn University was overwhelmed at times due to the unexpected size of the crowd. I really can’t figure why they did not anticipate Auburn fans being supportive. Auburn fans have always been supportive when allowed access to the program.

I quit counting at over 83 different players and recruits that commented on the family feel and friendliness of the crowd at A-Day. This impression made its way across the nation Saturday.

The only negative feedback seemed to be the following:

The staff handling seating did not seem to be well informed and organized, “I suspect this was due to them simply be overwhelmed. There were thousands more there than was expected.”

The team did not show any of its new improvements. “I don’t think the Auburn coaching staff will ever reveal new plays at A-Day. There were representatives from at least twelve teams that would really like to see something.”

Cameron Newton did not play enough.“In fact Cameron Newton did not run any of the more effective plays that he awed the team with in spring practice. This was due to the Auburn coaching staff not wanting to show their hand on the 2010 offense. Neil Caudle ran the majority of the plays he had been running through spring practice.”

The lines were too long at the autograph tables.“This is simply not a fixable problem; Auburn fans love their Tigers and will overwhelm them at every opportunity. Some of the recruits and players signed autographs until their hands were blistered. The fact that they were willing to do this means there is a definite link between the 2010 team and the Auburn fans.”

In my opinion the 2010 Auburn A-Day was a resounding success. While I was unable to be there, I did have a representative there to mix, mingle, and get a feel for the event. He had a blast and has offered to take my place at any Auburn event I can’t make.

This says a lot considering he, along with his wife, are graduates of another university. They felt welcome and quite comfortable. There were more fans in the stands at Auburn A-Day than the capacity of the stadium at their university. They were quite impressed with this fact.