Even with six months to go before football season starts, Will Muschamp and Travaris Robinson are already paying dividends for an Auburn program looking to reload the roster.
With National Signing Day coming to a close, Auburn received 27 National Letters of Intent, including one from the number one player in the country, defensive end Byron Cowart of Seffner, Florida.
With a recruiting class that currently ranks anywhere from No. 3 in the country (Scout.com) to No. 9 (247sports.com), Auburn managed to procure the interests of several high profile recruits across the nation.
But without Muschamp and Robinson, Auburn’s class wouldn’t have been nearly as prolific. At his televised press conference, Gus Malzahn sang the praises of the newly hired defensive coaches.
“I’m glad they’re on our side,” Malzahn said. “Will Muschamp is one of the best defensive minds in all of football, not just college. Of course, coach T-Rob is very good with relationships, and he did a great job.”
Both Muschamp and Robinson were instrumental in swaying Cowart, who they recruited heavily to the University of Florida before being hired at Auburn. The two also had a big part in pursuing several players from the state of Florida who previously were not Auburn targets.
Carlton Davis, a cornerback who was originally committed to Ohio State, was one of the initial targets coach Robinson set his sights on. Malzahn recalled him being one of the first players that Robinson said, “We’re going to go after this guy,” soon after he was hired.
Malzahn specifically mentioned four players of the 2015 class who were directly recruited by Robinson and Muschamp: athlete Tim Irvin, guard Michael Horton, Davis and linebacker Jeffrey Holland. All four had interest in Florida while Robinson and Muschamp were employed there.
Since Muschamp took the reins on defense, he has chosen to go after guys that would fit what he was looking for on defense, even though they may not necessarily be the highest-rated players.
“He’s hand-picking these guys to fit his defense, and he’s very excited about that,” Malzahn said. “We got some guys that can help us immediately.” Now armed with a top-10 recruiting class, the Auburn coaches can close the book on National Signing Day. Their biggest signees, however, just might have been hired a few months ago.
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