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

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STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — May the force be with the Auburn secondary.

Auburn safety signee Carlito Gonzalez is less than two weeks away from — finally — officially becoming a part of the Tigers. Gonzalez went through more coaching change than most during his recruitment, as he watched Will Muschamp, Travaris Robinson and Wesley McGriff take bigger jobs elsewhere after he committed.

All that turnover had Gonzalez intently monitoring Gus Malzahn’s secondary coach decision earlier this year.

When the choice was Greg Brown, Gonzalez quickly approved of the choice, but he had a funny first impression of his new position coach.

“Coach Brown came in, and now I’ve got Yoda,” Gonzalez joked. “He knows I call him that now. Me and my dad call him Yoda all the time. I saw him the first time and was like, ‘That’s Yoda right there.’ Plus he seems like he knows everything. … And I’m the Jedi. I can’t wait for him to teach his young sensei.”

Brown’s extensive resume protected Gonzalez from any recruiting doubts he started to have.

All he needed to see was Brown’s track record with three Thorpe Award winners. Gonzalez specifically mentioned HaHa Clinton-Dix and Landon Collins as safeties who have worked under Brown that he hopes to emulate.

In their early encounters, Gonzalez has been able to break down film with Brown, which has given him a whole new insight into how he’ll attack the game of football at the next level.

“No telling what he’s going to be able to do with me. He’s taught me so much already,” Gonzalez said. “He knows the exact point of where to stand, the exact timing of everything. When I get there, I know I’m ready for everything. He always says in order to be a great DB, you’ve got to work on a specific part of your game every day.”

“But, you know, it’s confidential because it’s Yoda teaching the Jedi.”

Gonzalez and Brown will be begin that more personalized teaching on May 28 when most of Auburn’s signees report to campus.

With Auburn’s lack of depth at safety, Gonzalez could be who Auburn calls upon early to make plays. Gonzalez said he and Brown have already discussed the openness of the position group, which could give Gonzalez and fellow safety signee Jordyn Peters a chance to shine as freshmen.

“He told me to come in and take someone’s spot,” Gonzalez said.

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‘It’s strictly business’

Former Auburn wideout and Tampa Catholic wide receivers coach Jeris McIntyre has seen Barrett preparing. It’s part of why McIntyre believes Barrett will have an opportunity to step in and contribute.

“You never know. Just depending on how the season goes, backs can go down, he can be in there. Backs can stay healthy and he’s the third guy,” McIntyre said. “You never know, but I think with his competitive edge, it’s going to give him a chance to play. He doesn’t know how much, how little, how quick he’ll pick up the offense and everything, but if he can stay healthy, it’ll be a little different.”

Playing as a freshman is not a foreign concept for Barrett. As a newcomer at Tampa Catholic in 2013, Barrett made an impact.

“He matured a lot over his four years here. He started as a freshman, which not a lot of people get a chance to do,” Tampa Catholic coach Mike Gregory said. “That speaks to his talent level.”

Gregory then saw what every high school coach wants for their players: progress.

“I’m not sure if he was mature enough to handle a lot of playing time early on, quite frankly, but he grew. And you could tell year by year a difference in his mentality. He continued to grow and it shows in how well he’s played the last couple of years.”

Barrett will take the same mentality with him when he travels to Auburn at the end of May.

“Some people just have that mindset of being that dog. I feel like I have that mindset,” Barrett said. “I have my mind set on going in there and playing. When I get up there it’s strictly business. I’m just focused on making that third position and getting ready to play my freshman year. This is what I’ve dreamed of so hopefully it’ll work out that way.”

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Auburn’s top RB has Tigers in top 3

Master Teague warned that a decision was coming soon. Now he’s one step closer.

The 4-star running back from Blackman (Tenn.) released a top 3 at 3:33 p.m. CT. That’s a lot of threes for the running back who dons No. 33 for his high school. The significance of all it goes back to Teague’s deep faith, which is a reason he feels a strong connection with Auburn.

“That’s the year and how old Jesus was when he died on the cross,” Teague told DawgNation. “So I was thinking that I want to just keep that number, play for Chris and make that number represent something.”

His list of three didn’t have any surprises: Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee.

South Carolina was believed to be in the mix, but the top-3 release included the home-state school, as well as the two out-of-state programs that have been trending for Teague in recent weeks. As the tweet above indicates, Teague only plans to do in-person interviews for the foreseeable future, so direct comments from him will be minimal over the course of the next month.

But SEC Country has been able to gather some information on Teague in the last few days. Here’s what I know.

- Auburn has always felt quite confident with Teague. In fact, multiple sources have told me for weeks now that the Tigers should be considered the favorites for the 4-star running back.
- Georgia has made a major impression lately. The Bulldogs continue to be a major factor for 5-star running back Zamir White, but Georgia wants to take both in its 2018 class, which would be an impressive haul.
- While Tennessee has the home-state push, the Volunteers best hope is that the Teague stays patient with his decision. To my knowledge, Teague hasn’t set an official commitment date, but the sooner he makes a decision, the more likely it is to be Auburn or Georgia — the two programs who have made the strongest push in the last few weeks.
- For Auburn, this offers some running back intrigue. The Tigers have picked up the pace with Asa Martin in recent weeks, and there’s also running backs of interest like Harold Joiner whose recruitments have been calm. Many of Auburn’s next moves will hinge on Teague’s decision, so the Tigers are hoping for a choice sooner rather than later.

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I don't follow recruiting anymore. Someone tell me about QB Justin Fields.

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Richard Jibunor explains why Auburn is different

ATHENS, Ga. — Richard Jibunor will be the first to admit his naïveté when it comes to college football recruiting.

“For real, I don’t really understand it,” Jibunor joked with SEC Country. “Naturally, I love almost every school recruiting me.”

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound athlete from Athens Christian (Ga.) picked up football his sophomore season, a year after arriving at the school as a foreign exchange student from Nigeria. It didn’t take long for Jibunor to excel in the sport, and likewise, for college coaches to recognize the fast-rising prospect has a clear future as a college football player and beyond.

The recruiting process has been a delight for Jibunor. He has an uncanny ability to be positive about literally everything, especially with his many opportunities to play college football. Jibunor embraces all of these outstanding Division I options that have surfaced over the last year and a half.

But now comes the hard part. He has to differentiate one top-notch program from 15 other schools of the same caliber.

As someone who hasn’t grown up understanding college-by-college culture and history, Jibunor has relied on his own Internet researching, phone contact with coaches and campus visits to get a complete comprehension of each of the universities. It hasn’t always been easy to separate one from another.

Auburn has been one of the only programs to stand out — and remain ever-present — in Jibunor’s mind during the process.

“The Auburn coaches talk to me the same way that most of the other people do. But the thing is, some coaches speak up now that they’ve seen me this spring and compete against some of the top guys. Some coaches spoke up at the time and then slowed down. But Auburn has been with me since the day they offered me last summer,” Jibunor said. “They’ve just always been the same.”

Jibunor attended an Auburn camp last summer. At that moment, Kevin Steele, Travis Williams and Rodney Garner all decided they wanted Jibunor on the Tigers. They weren’t even, and still aren’t, 100 percent certain what position he’ll play, but they know they want Jibunor on their side.

His Auburn recruitment really began at that moment.

Since Auburn offered, the Tigers have remained a constant in Jibunor’s primary interests. He’s never named top schools specifically, but when he arrives at an official top 10 in the next week or so, Auburn will be a cornerstone of that list. Auburn’s dedication to Jibunor’s recruitment has made the Tigers one of the teams to beat.

When Jibunor was name defensive line MVP at the Nike Opening regional in Atlanta, who was the first coach to call and congratulate him? Garner. When coaches were permitted to come by during the evaluation period, who were some of the first coaches he heard from? Steele, Williams and Garner.

Jibunor hasn’t been oblivious to Auburn’s staff-wide effort.

“Coach ‘T-Will,’ he was at my school last week. Coach Steele was at my school this morning. Coach Garner talks to me a lot. They’re planning on visiting again this week. They said they want me. Auburn has never changed on anything with me,” Jibunor said. “Since the first day they offered me, they’ve been 100 percent on me and nothing has changed. We talk the same way, always have fun. Sometimes we never talk football. I like my relationship with them.”

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Another offensive lineman to watch

Here’s a quick bullet-point list of uncommitted offensive linemen Auburn has seen during the evaluation period.

- William Barnes
- Richard Gouraige
- Jalil Irvin
- Kameron Stutts
- Dylan Wonnum
- Qadir White
- John Campbell
- Jerome Carvin
- Trey Hill
- Tank Jenkins

And, based on the vigor Herb Hand has shown as a recruiter, that probably doesn’t even scratch the surface of the secondary, tertiary and future offensive line options Auburn has visited during the spring evaluation period. Many of those on the list are top-100 options and almost all of them fit into the top 20 nationally among their specific position group.

Let’s add another top-tier name to the list: Nicholas Petit-Frere from Berkeley Prep in Tampa, Fla.

Petit-Frere is the No. 5 offensive tackle in the nation, which puts him in the No. 55 spot among overall prospects. He holds offers from Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and 20 others. Hand attended Petit-Frere’s spring game on Thursday night, and he’ll likely stay in Tampa overnight for Gouraige’s spring game on Friday.

Auburn plans to add 2-3 more offensive linemen in the class, and the Tigers are loaded with options.

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TAMPA, Fla., --- Richard Gouraige, the 4-star offensive tackle from Cambridge Christian and a top Auburn target, is a hot commodity. Many of the country's most well-known college programs have made stops at his school this spring.

That, of course, includes the Tigers, who he visited earlier this year.

Right now, Florida leads with LSU next but Gouraige, the No. 88 overall recruit in the country, said Auburn is just behind them (along with Clemson) and still is very much in contention. One reason for that: His relationship with the staff, primarily offensive line coach Herb Hand and running backs coach Tim Horton, his area recruiter.

The Tigers are "among the top," according to Gouraige. "I like Coach Hand. He's a real cool guy," Gouraige said. "I like Coach Horton. We always keep in touch with each other."

During his three-day visit to Auburn, Gouraige spent lots of time with Tigers running back Kerryon Johnson. From him, Gouraige got some insight into the program.

"He was telling me to take my time with the process, and (said) some coaches don't really care about the players but Auburn was the right fit for him," Gouraige said.

What has Auburn told Gouraige about its need for him?

"That I was their main priority at offfensive tackle," Gouraige said.

According to Gouraige, he thinks he's a good fit with Auburn.

"I can play in their offense," he said.

As for a commitment timetable, Gouraige doesn't have anything set. He'd like to visit Auburn and the other schools mentioned again this summer before he does anything.

You can hear his entire interview from the SEC Recruiting Buzz on VSporto. In it, he talks about each of his top schools.

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