re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

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Thursday ended up taking us to three different cities all over the place, including a small step outside the state of Alabama.

The day started in Mobile, Ala., where we spoke with top defensive line target Andres Fox from Mobile Christian who has strong interest in Auburn, Alabama and LSU and is a top priority at all three schools. Mobile’s proximity to Pensacola allowed Alabama recruiting reporter Chris Kirschner and I to make it over to Escambia High to talk with top wide receiver target Jacob Copeland.

The final stop sent us back up to Birmingham, where we will spend Friday getting the last crop of top talent in the area. We swung by Jackson-Olin on Thursday night when we got back in town to chat with 4-star defensive tackle Coynis Miller.

Check our quick insider takes from those visits below. Make sure to come back throughout the rest of the week to see more in-depth updates from those conversations.

Programming note: Friday will be the last day on the road, which will include the rest of Birmingham’s top prospects.

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4-star defensive tackle Coynis Miller, Jackson-Olin

Kirschner: It’s clear that Alabama is recruiting Miller the hardest out of the schools he’s considering. Led by offensive line coach Brent Key, the Crimson Tide have gotten across the message that he’s one of the team’s top defensive line targets. Some people may assume that because Alabama and Auburn want Miller on their respective team that he’s automatically going to choose one of those schools. That’s not really the case. Miller said he has high interest in leaving the state of Alabama because he’s been here his entire life. The schools he mentioned out-of-state that he’s interested in are Florida, Clemson and LSU, but I can’t see him going anywhere other than one of the two in-state schools.

Wolk: As a top in-state prospect, Miller has visited Alabama and Auburn more than any other schools, but that doesn’t mean the big defensive tackle is a lock to stay in the Yellowhammer State. Florida, LSU and Clemson are three out-of-state programs who have offered the Miller gives a legitimate chance of earning his commitment. Oregon and Tennessee are two others who, if they offered, would become major factors for his recruitment, especially the Ducks. Miller has stayed in the state of Alabama his whole life and said there’s a “real high chance” he leaves the state for college because he wants to explore something new. He’ll be back in Tuscaloosa this weekend for the A-Day game. There are two timeframes to watch with Miller. The first: right before the season, when Miller plans to narrow his options after he’s taken a few out-of-state visits. The second: right after his senior season, when he plans to announce his college choice. Miller hasn’t decided on all his official visits yet, but said the two in-state schools will definitely earn them.

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3-star defensive end/outside linebacker, Mobile Christian

Kirschner: Fox is a man of very few words when it comes to his recruitment, but if you ask him about his teammates at Mobile Christian, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound prospect just lights up. I think this is a case of Fox being too humble and not wanting to talk about himself. When he did talk about his recruitment, Fox maintained that his top 3 of Alabama, Auburn and LSU remains in place. Just on the outside looking in are Georgia and Oregon. Auburn has an advantage in Fox’s recruitment because the Tigers were the first SEC team to offer him a scholarship. Once Auburn offered, other SEC schools got into the mix after that. He’s been to Auburn more than any other school and is closest with that coaching staff. Though he maintains that no school has an edge over the next, with what we learned from him and his coach, the Tigers seem like the team to beat here.

Wolk: As Kirschner pointed out, Fox is as humble as the come. When it comes to his own recruitment or play, he’s relatively timid in his responses. When talking about his Mobile Christian teammates, Fox perks up to rave about their impressive skill sets, which he hopes will help the squad make another state championship run. The two coaches who stand out to Fox most are both from Auburn — Rodney Garner and Travis Williams. Of all the schools recruiting him, LSU, Auburn and Alabama still standout, but it’s Auburn who has made its plan for Fox most clear. Fox grew up an Alabama fan, and his parents are both Alabama fans, but that will have zero impact whatsoever on his recruitment. Auburn wants Fox as its Buck defensive lineman in the class, and he feels like Kevin Steele’s clear-cut explanation for how he’ll fit at Auburn has given the Tigers a slight advantage over the others right now. It should be noted: after I left Mobile Christian, I put in a Crystal Ball prediction for Fox to Auburn.

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Tony Amerson is a strong running back. He is a rising junior out of Montgomery (Ala.) St. James with offers from Illinois, Kentucky, Memphis and Vanderbilt.

The 5-foot-11, 212 pound playmaker ran for a shade under 1,100 yards and scored eight touchdowns in 2016. He has the right mentality with the early success he has had and the attention he is getting as a recruit.

"It is all a blessing right now to have offers, but I just remember every day to get up and work harder than I did the day before," said Amerson. "I always want to outwork myself because when I am sleeping, someone else is working, so I am always grinding and working to get better."

Out of the schools that have offered, Vanderbilt is the one Amerson knows the most about. He took a trip to Nashville (Tenn.) in 2016 and he has interest in the Commodores.

"I went up to camp at Vanderbilt last summer and I really like it up there. I like how it is a program on the rise and how they can get better. If I went there, I could be part of them building up their program and I like that.

"I have talked to coach [Chris] Marve (linebackers) and he is a great guy. I like the coaches, the campus and of course it is a great academic school."

With Kentucky, the knowledge is limited right now for Amerson. He has watched the Wildcats on T.V. and he knows Mark Stoops has the program going in the right direction.

"I have not been up there yet, but I know it's football program at Kentucky is on the rise right now," said Amerson. "They have great basketball tradition, but their football team is getting better too.

"I saw an interview with Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, and he said that Kentucky's linemen were the smartest he went against. That caught my attention too."

The school that had one of the top running backs in Alabama on campus recently was Auburn. The Tigers have not offered yet, but Amerson is on their radar, he has visited twice already and what he saw there on the Plains surprised him.

"I was at the Auburn spring game and I was there when they played LSU last year, so I have been there a few times now. Auburn is actually better than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be plain with it being right up the road for me, but the campus is great, the life around it is nice and the people there are great."

Many coaches are expected to be on the St. James campus in the coming weeks to check on Amerson. Illinois just offered Wednesday and there will likely be many more to come in before he starts his junior season.

He doesn't have his eye on the offers, he just wants to become a better player this spring.

"I want to ball out in front of as many coaches as I can this spring," said Amerson. "I am going to work hard and see what happens. I am not really worried about who offers me next or anything. I just want to go out there and work hard to get better."

Schools like Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and South Carolina along with Auburn are showing interest in Amerson.

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Out-of-state recruiting is becoming more important in today’s world of college football and we are seeing more schools march deep into enemy territory and pull top prospects away with more regularity. This week we take a look at five of the biggest talent-producing states in recruiting and what schools have done the best job raiding them since 2012. Here is a look at Georgia.

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1. Auburn Tigers

Auburn has been the most successful out-of-state recruiter in Georgia since 2012 with 20 prospects ranked as four-stars or higher. This is even more impressive considering the Tigers did not add any four or five-stars from the state in 2017. However, they made up for this between 2014-2016 when they pulled in 15, including Derrick Brown, DaVonte Lambert, Dontavius Russell and Nicholas Ruffin, while several others have transferred out of the program, including Kalvaraz Bessent and Stanton Truitt. After not adding a four- or five-star 2017 commitment from Georgia, the Tigers have already made an impact in the state in 2018 with a big commitment from four-star offensive lineman Jalil Irvin.

Farrell’s take: Auburn has always done a good job recruiting the state of Georgia and I expect that to continue. It has established excellent relationships at numerous schools and offer a great opportunity for players who want to get away from home but not too far away. I expect Auburn to remain at or near the top of this list for the foreseeable future.

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Wut? Big Cat Bryant???

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