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

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Auburn clears up offer confusion with top DL

ODENVILLE, Ala. — At Auburn’s most recent junior day, there was one prospect who seemed like a sure thing to receive an offer.

Jalen Cunningham, the 6-foot-5, 360-pound defensive tackle from St. Clair County (Ala.), already had received Alabama, Mississippi State, Georgia and Ole Miss offers. He hoped to grab the Auburn one. But he left the Plains without an offer from the Tigers, so he started to narrow in on his choices.

Last week, Cunningham released a top 5 of Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oregon with a noticeable absence of Auburn from this top list of schools.

It didn’t take long for Auburn defensive line coach Rodney Garner to get Cunningham on the line to clear that up.

“I didn’t think I had the offer. I went down there junior day. When you interviewed me, I thought I was going to get it, but I didn’t. I guess I had it. He said he gave me the offer, but he never specified that he gave it to me,” Cunningham said. “When I dropped my top 5, Coach Garner called me and told me to call Coach (Gus) Malzahn later on that night. I talked to him for the longest, and he gave me the offer later that night.”

Despite the early confusion, Cunningham still has love for the Tigers.

It’s an in-state school, and he “has a lot of love” for the entire AU coaching staff, specifically naming Malzahn as a head coach he’s particularly close to. The late-night conversations with Malzahn and Garner worked. Cunningham knew immediately after those calls that he’d have to rework his recently-released top 5 schools.

“It changed a whole bunch,” Cunningham said. “It meant a lot because I love Auburn. I love the coaching staff. I love everybody down there.”

He plans to release a second version of his favorite schools as early as Monday. Expect Auburn to be on the list when he restructures it. The Tigers still have a lot of work to do to get into the legitimate conversation for Cunningham.

Cunningham speaks with Alabama offensive line coach Brent Key almost daily. Auburn’s communication doesn’t come anywhere near that. Garner talks with Cunningham “at least once every 2 weeks,” and Cunningham said he wanted to see that level of communication increase.

“Yeah, a lot more,” he said.

A source told SEC Country earlier this spring that the Tigers continued to evaluate Cunningham as a defensive lineman, thinking he possibly could be more of an offensive player. Cunningham said Friday that they want him at nose guard like most other programs.

Mississippi State was the only school to mention offensive line, but Dan Mullen flipped his projection to the defensive side shortly after his offer. Since Cunningham hasn’t played offensive line since early middle school, he wants to make sure prospective schools are clear about what side of the ball he’ll play on.

For now, most coaches have encouraged him to drop weight. He’s at 360 right now, but has been running daily suicides on the basketball court before and after school to try to drop weight.

Clemson, Florida State and Penn State are other programs that could enter the equation if they offer Cunningham. LSU could become a major factor if the Tigers offer him.

His decision will come just before his senior season.

Auburn made a wise move to clear up the offer confusion from post-junior day.

“When I left there, I wanted that offer. I love everything about Auburn, plus it’s in Alabama,” Cunningham said. “I knew they were going to be neck-and-neck. I love everything about Auburn. I love everybody down there. Coach Malzahn is great.”

It should be noted that Alabama will be a tough team to beat.

Cunningham’s Chevy Tahoe has a Crimson Tide license plate, a Crimson Tide logo on the back and his key lanyard is Alabama-themed.

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