Gene Chizik, Auburn's Success Forces Big-Time SEC Recruiters to Call Uncle

With the recent success of recruiting at Auburn, Gene Chizik and his remarkably effective recruiting staff have caused other Big Time recruiters to call "Uncle!"

The NCAA has made a rule prohibiting more than two coaches from a staff being present at one school during the spring evaluation period.

The rule specifically fits Auburn’s Tiger Prowl spring fundraising tour. It also mentions the use of items like limousines and buses.

New NCAA president Mark Emmert, whose previous claim to fame was hiring Nick Saban while at LSU, wasted little time in responding to complaints that this type of event gave Auburn an unfair advantage.

This comes one week after Auburn gathered in a commitment from a highly sought-after center. Nick Saban and Alabama were on the losing end of this particular recruit’s announcement. It also comes days after Tiger Prowl was in the area of a running back that is highly coveted by Alabama.

This story was first leaked by Jox, a radio station owned and controlled by Alabama boosters that caters to a primary audience of Alabama fans. As with almost every complaint ever made about Auburn, it is a good bet where the complaints about this event came from.

It is also widely accepted that the initial complaints about Big Cat Weekend last year were initiated by some Big Red Elephant. As has always been the case, there will be complaints about success.

This time an effort was made to deflect this complaint to Tennessee. Odd that it would be Alabama’s other hated rival and one that Auburn seldom competes with in recruiting. It would have made more sense if they had attempted to lay the blame on Georgia. At least Auburn and Georgia compete in recruiting regularly.

What does this mean for Tiger Prowl and Auburn? Nothing. It will cause the Auburn staff to have to find some sort of economy car or moped to drive onto campus at schools, but that's about it in terms of repercussions. Maybe they could get the big orange helicopter that Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and his staff used last year.

Auburn will now have to send only two coaches to a school at one time. Of course, this also means they can make three times as many visits when in an area. I think this will actually make Tiger Prowl and spring evaluation a more effective time for Auburn recruiting.

It is very seldom that the Auburn Tiger Prowl bus pulls into a town like Columbus, GA, Mobile, AL, or Birmingham, AL and there are not several recruits to go and see. We must make sure they do not drive a nice vehicle onto the school campus, though.

Auburn fans should take this as a form of a "tap-out." There are programs and coaching staffs that cannot compete and sought to change the rules due to this. It goes back to the old saying—if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Other recruiting programs nearby have seen their success falling as the success of Auburn rises in the other direction. It is the ultimate compliment that the Auburn coaching staff are doing exactly what they were hired to do. Since Auburn did not break any rules, even minor ones, the rules must then be changed.

History has shown time and again that programs that whimper and whine about their ability to compete end up not competing. Tiger Prowl was not going to Atlanta, Orlando, Knoxville, or Baton Rouge; it has been to Phoenix City, Mobile, Montgomery, Leeds, and Birmingham.  

I will leave it to Auburn fans to contemplate exactly what program cried "uncle" and begged old friends in the NCAA for mercy. The only important thing Auburn fans need to know is that their staff was so effective in recruiting that it scared another program enough to take these measures.

The other big news of the day is that Alabama has gotten relief for their 2010 schedule. They have six teams that have bye weeks before playing them this year. The Georgia State game that Alabama plays the week before Auburn has been moved to Thursday. 

Moving this ferocious competitor back two days should provide that vital extra rest and preparation time needed to play Auburn at Tuscaloosa this year. Auburn fans should be happy about this.

This particular game will be crucial this year, and there need to be no excuses or appearance of undue advantage to the national media that will be covering it. It is to Auburn's advantage for Alabama to be at their best and hopefully play their best in this game.