Auburn Football: Gene Chizik's Selling Point To Recruits Was Auburn

The one thing about working nights is that one has plenty of time to think about past occurrences but not necessarily have the time to write about it. On one shift in Savannah, Georgia, I was pondering the recent success of Gene Chizik and his staff with the 2010 recruiting class. 

Auburn has a concensus top-five class according to many recruiting sites and nabbed several star players from the state of Alabama as well as other southern states. 

Cameron Newton, Michael Dyer, and Shon Coleman are just a few of the 32 recruits that Auburn grabbed up this past year. 

Auburn had several positions open for immediate impact due to the lack of depth in some areas. They also were planning for the future, for example when Auburn loses four offensive lineman after this season. 

Each recruit has their own reason they chose to come to the loveliest village on the plain. 

However, there is one theme I kept hearing from a majority of the recruits is something that Auburn alumni and fans hold dear to them. It has come to define Auburn for what it is and known for.  

The idea of family. 

Now this is a subject that is easy yet difficult to explain. 

Easy because everyone has that sense of family, whether it be immediate or otherwise. 

Difficult because how that idea is ingrained in the culture of this small college town. It is something that can only be understood if you have ever traveled to east central Alabama. 

Hearing the recruits say that Auburn feels like home should tell fans that Chizik not only sold them on the game of football but on the whole idea of Auburn. 

That is a major part in why I believe Chizik and his staff was successful this past year.  They not only sold themselves, but they sold the idea of Auburn. 

Granted, it isn't the perfect place in the world, but it is home for me and tens of thousands of other people and students.

You hardly ever hear Auburn referred to as a "Nation," unless it's for counting golds that former Auburn swimmers have accumulated at Summer Olympics.

Auburn is a family, and it is one that keeps growing on a daily basis. 

For 32 football players, it has become their start towards greater things. 

They chose to believe in Auburn, and hopefully they'll love it as much as the rest of us do.