College Football Recruiting: Auburn's "Tiger Prowl" Does It's Job

On Monday, word started leaking out that the Auburn football coaching staff was out visiting high schools in the Mobile area of Alabama in a white stretch limo. The car was decked out in Auburn magnets and car flags, similar to what a President or dignitary would travel in.

The plan was for seven assistant coaches, all in one car, to travel to 30 high schools in four days across the state of Alabama. A giant meet and greet for a new coaching staff that hadn't had time to meet many instate high school coaches and administrators up to this point.

So three questions arose immediately across airwaves in the state of Alabama, and message boards.

Will this actually work?

How will the media treat what some are calling a "gimmick?"

Most importantly; what kind of impact would this make on the potential recruits that they visited?

Well after a week of travel, shaking hands, and kissing babies so to speak, the consensus seems to be that it was a creative, and positive move on Auburn's part. They made headlines, they made a splash, and they seemed to have made very positive impressions on high school coaches and players on each visit they've made.

The media was an interesting dynamic in this whole thing as well. Much like Gene Chizik's hiring was at first hated and is now becoming a more favorable topic among Auburn fans, the idea of a stretch Hummer across the state at first seemed to be mocked and not thought much of. As the tour rolled on though, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, the tune changed to "well that just might not be a bad idea." 

The cross-state tour was even a topic on ESPN's Around The Horn on Wednesday. They wanted media attention and they got it.

Here's what the head coach at Blount high school, a school in Mobile, had to say about the visit from the Auburn coaches:

"It was a good thing the Auburn coaches did that. I think it grabbed some of the kids' attention. Just the coaches coming down and showing that family atmosphere, showing that they care, caught the kids' attention."

See, while much focus was put on the mode of transportation for the coaches, a stretch limo that was upgraded to a stretch Hummer for the remaining three days of the tour, the week long trip was more about a new staff getting out and getting to know a state that will be vital in its success on the football field.

Nick Saban and Alabama have dominated the state in recruiting for the last two years. It's extremely important for this new staff, not only to get their name out there to coaches and recruits that they are serious about bringing them to Auburn, but to try and create some momentum for Auburn, something that Alabama has owned since Nick Saban landed his first No. 1 recruiting class in 2008.

The idea was originally created by recruiting coordinator and running back coach Curtis Luper, as well as wide receiver coach Trooper Taylor, both of which started this at Oklahoma State last year. Only then it was a one day trip—this was a whole other venture this week.

In a conference that is the toughest not only to win in, but also to recruit in, every advantage possible is needed in recruiting. You have to give credit to this staff for thinking outside the box and creating something that would accomplish a goal, and at the same time draw positive attention to a program that desperately needs it.

So whether you started off not liking the idea, you thought it was cheesy or unnecessary, it's really only about what the recruits think about it. If this quote from a high school player in Mobile is any indication of what the rest of the kids thought, then I'd say it worked.

"I like their swagger, I really liked when they came in the weight room and there was a whole gang of coaches all in Auburn gear. Everybody was just amazed at all the coaches that were there. It made me realize how serious they are about football recruiting for them to bring so many coaches to one school. It makes a real big impression."

So as the "Tiger Prowl", as the coaching staff likes to call it, comes to an end, you really have to wonder if another recruiting tool was just created for the future. I'd imagine it has, and don't be surprised to see another school doing it as soon as this year.

In the end, while rival fans might make fun of the idea, and people will question whether it will actually work, if the recruits think it's cool, then that means it's cool. Because those coaches aren't recruiting you or I, they are recruiting 16-18-year-old kids.

Is there a tangible measurement of the success of this tour across the state of Alabama? Maybe, maybe not, but for a program that was coming off a 5-7 season and turmoil in the coaching staff like you wouldn't believe, this was a much needed jolt of energy and a concerted effort to show unity in a program which badly needed both.