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Transcript

Podcast: Cam Coleman knocks down big domino for Auburn’s portal season · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

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[Music]
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Welcome back everybody. Another edition
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here of the Auburn Undercover podcast on
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the 247 Sports Network. My name is
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Nathan King, joined here by Christian
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Clemente. Merry Christmas to everyone as
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we're recording this here on December
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29th and a happy new year coming up.
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Starting to get back in the swing of
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things um in the uh in the holiday
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season. I just had to ask Christian what
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day of the week it was before we started
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it because it's that time between the
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end of Christmas and New Year's or
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>> it's it's that time but also when you
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get caught in the pre-portal pulooa
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madness and uh there's a portal entry
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once or twice a day and new Connor
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Connor Lou is declaring for the draft at
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8:00 p.m. or you know whatever
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>> you get uh you get lost in the shuffle a
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little bit but we're here now.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. And and once January 2nd
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comes and the portal is actually open,
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don't ask us what time it is. Don't ask
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us what day it is. That's going to be
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>> it's it's day three. We're not going to
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know the dates of the week.
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>> Correct.
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>> Day three of the portal.
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>> That's that's exactly true. Um well, we
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have some some big news to talk about
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here, Christian. probably the biggest
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news of the off seasonason um
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personnel-wise I would say on offense
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because Xavier Atkins was just as
1:20
important of a player on defense for
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this coaching staff. So that should not
1:23
be overlooked. So yeah. So so Cam
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Coleman is is is leaving Auburn. Um
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that's what we're here to talk about
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today on Monday. He um as we and
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everyone else reported getting set to
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enter enter the transfer portal. It's
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the same
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disclaimer that we put on every single
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one of these guys. Um, portal's not open
1:44
yet. And even once they're in the
1:46
portal, you know, certain guys I think
1:48
are completely gone and and that ship
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has sailed. There may be some other guys
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who could continue to have conversations
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with the coaching staff about coming
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back. Uh, just saying I will go to the
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portal doesn't mean everything. But, um,
2:01
for all intents and purposes, Cam
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Coleman is leaving Auburn. Uh, we talked
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about him as one of the three
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highest paid guys to return on this
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roster. Guys that Auburn staff would be
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prioritizing. It's Xavier Atkins, it's
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Cam Coleman. Um, and then a quarterback
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of the future, Deuce Knight. Um, all
2:20
those guys make a lot of sense. And
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Christian, as you and I have been
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talking about today, um, this doesn't
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feel like a situation where Auburn is
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being outbid for a guy like Cam Coleman.
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Of course, that's sort of the crux of
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these conversations right now. It's all
2:32
about money. Um, makes sense when we're,
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you know, it's a semi-pro league at this
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point. Makes sense. That's what these
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negotiations are about. I think it just
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comes down to Auburn making a coaching
2:43
change. Cam Coleman not being familiar
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with a lot of people in that building
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anymore and realizing that he could go
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play elsewhere for for his for his
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junior season, most likely his last
2:54
college season before he goes um to the
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NFL. And and certainly that's what we
2:58
would expect. We would expect him to
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just be able to go play anywhere and
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probably end up at a at a highly rated
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power program next year.
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>> Yeah, I mean, you just hit the nail on
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the head. Look, he could he will maybe
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get a little bit more money from another
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program depending on how things shake
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out. Could things turn into a bidding
3:15
war in the transfer portal? Absolutely.
3:17
But Auburn made a very, very competitive
3:19
offer from everything we were told that
3:22
matches up with what his expected value
3:25
is in the transfer portal as he enters.
3:27
Again, you don't know how things can
3:29
shake out. Maybe a guy gets a little bit
3:31
more money. Maybe two schools start
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bidding back and forth and it becomes a
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little bit more. Point being, Auburn,
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the money was there. The investment
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besides just the money was also there.
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This staff met extensively with him, put
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an extensive amount of work in getting
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to know him and his family, trying to
3:52
recruit him in a sense to stay to keep
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him on the roster. and he didn't. And at
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the end of the day,
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I mean, people aren't going to want to
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hear this, but it it kind of is what it
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is. You can't necessarily blame Cam for
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wanting to leave. Cam and his team and
4:08
his agent and all of them for wanting to
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go to a more competitive program, a
4:13
program in a little bit of a better spot
4:15
at this moment. Um, and to be able to
4:18
put out potentially better film next
4:20
year. That's not discrediting Alex
4:22
Gooish and his staff and what things
4:24
will look like next year. But given what
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is shaping up to be a bit of a rebuild
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coming from two straight losing seasons
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that Cam has been here, he he wants to
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go somewhere else next year. And for
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Auburn, look, they they put in the work
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to try and keep him, but he's he's not
4:42
staying. And we've said it before and
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people don't want to hear it, but when
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money's going out, that means you can
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spend it on guys coming back in as well.
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Again, Auburn made a very very sizable
4:52
offer for Cam to the point it was
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approaching
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10% of your your $30 million salary cap
4:59
next year. We think that Auburn will pay
5:02
that much around that much from what
5:04
you've reported to get Byron Brown in
5:06
the USF transfer quarterback who I'm
5:08
sure we'll talk about. So, if you know
5:10
if Cam stayed or if he changes his mind
5:13
and does stay for somewhere around that
5:14
number, that's 20% of your salary cap
5:17
for next year. And I'm not trying to
5:20
discredit who Cam is as a player.
5:22
There's a reason he's ranked as the
5:23
number one guy in the transfer portal.
5:25
There's a reason Auburn made such an
5:27
investment to try and keep him to build
5:28
the offense around him there at wide
5:30
receiver.
5:32
But you're also you only have so much
5:34
money. And so with him going, it does on
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the little bit of a bright side trying
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to be somewhat optimistic for folks who
5:42
think that the world is burning and
5:44
everything is over. you are you are
5:46
going to free up some money there for
5:48
this roster that needs it. The offensive
5:50
line needs it. You wrote about the
5:51
entire reset there. Um defensive line
5:54
will need some help. The edge spot will
5:56
need some help. Cornerback needs some
5:58
help. Tight end needs some help. So it
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is what it is. Losing Cam absolutely
6:04
stains. And I'm not trying to say like,
6:06
"Oh, it's fine." And I'm not trying to
6:08
>> Yeah.
6:09
>> puff it up as positive. I'm just saying
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there's there are aspects that make it a
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little bit more okay. I guess I I don't
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know how to phrase that, but
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>> No, I mean there's I think it's okay to
6:21
look at this like I have I have operated
6:23
with the perspective this entire time
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of, you know, sort of a wait and see
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because the portal's not open yet. And
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people are talking today about already
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losing so many players. And it's like,
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well, you can't that's all you can do
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right now. All you can do is lose.
6:37
Nobody can gain. Let's see what this
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group looks like when Alex Golish can
6:42
gain. Um the other side of it is that
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and look for me Cam this decision by Cam
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Coleman if we are to say that when he
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was at Auburn he represented so many
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things. He represented the hope of a
6:55
better offense. He represented highlevel
6:58
recruiting wins. Um he also now this
7:01
decision represents
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sort of the return of on investment of
7:06
those sorts of things. um you no longer
7:10
I just see this as a changing of the
7:11
guard because even if somebody like Duce
7:14
Knight stays um all those freeze era
7:18
highly rated offensive guys that you
7:20
just Hugh Freeze just tried to to to
7:24
overwork with talent because sort of as
7:26
an incompetent offensive coach and play
7:28
caller he thought that would make up for
7:30
it. pretty much all those guys are about
7:32
to be gone. And so you are no longer you
7:36
are no longer just leaning on, oh well,
7:38
you've got so much talent on offense. It
7:40
surely has to work out. But the other
7:42
side of that coin is yes, it hurts to
7:44
lose Cam Coleman. Absolutely, it hurts
7:46
to lose Cam Coleman. I am in complete
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agreement with the people who said, and
7:50
I and I feel the same way about Duce
7:51
Knight, with the people who said like
7:53
just from an optics perspective, it's
7:55
important to try to keep a guy like
7:57
that. like just getting so we were
7:58
talking to somebody today and it's like
8:00
it was like you know face on the side of
8:02
the stadium for the for the opener in
8:04
Atlanta when you're advertising that
8:05
against Baylor like yes Cam Coleman is a
8:07
quote unquote franchise player now is he
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has he done that yet? Has he been as
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productive
8:14
as that yet? No. He's been really really
8:17
good but he hasn't been
8:18
>> a full season. No. Yeah,
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>> correct. But again that represents the
8:22
hope. He is the hope of a better offense
8:25
tomorrow. He is the hope of being, like
8:27
you said, the centerpiece you build
8:29
around of Alex Gooles's offense. All of
8:32
that being said, for better or for
8:34
worse, it's now going to be completely
8:36
Alex Golish's thing on offense. It's
8:38
going to be completely his guys. Um, the
8:41
bad news there is that you lose a a
8:44
tremendously talented player. And again,
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I I keep going back to the hope and the
8:48
projection of Cam Coleman because we're
8:50
going to talk about him for a long time
8:51
as the most talented receiver. just just
8:54
when you when you package that word all
8:55
by itself talented to play at Auburn so
8:59
much of it is going to be man what could
9:00
have been if you if you had put him in a
9:02
good offense
9:04
the thing is I said for better for worse
9:06
I think the the upside of that is you
9:08
can't really get much worse you you lost
9:11
and that's that's where I come down with
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this and all these players that you're
9:14
losing um does it hurt yes you want to
9:17
retain players yes is Alex Gooish now
9:19
pivoting his plan he said that in his
9:21
interview with Jason like his plan was
9:22
to retain players. Now he's like I I'm
9:25
this isn't working as well as I thought
9:27
it would. You maybe have to pivot a
9:28
little bit. Um
9:31
but at the end of the day, you in terms
9:33
of onfield results, you scored three
9:36
points against Kentucky. You had have
9:38
now had five straight losing seasons.
9:41
Something has to change. And Cam
9:43
Coleman, of course, they didn't want
9:44
that to be the change. They didn't want
9:46
to lose Cam Coleman. He was he was
9:48
priority numero uno to try to keep. Um,
9:52
but I guess I just say that as a caution
9:54
to people who are, and I totally get it.
9:56
I'm I'm I I totally understand it. But I
9:59
wouldn't say the world is ending and the
10:01
Golish era is already destroyed because
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you're losing a player and all you've
10:07
done recently is lose games. Let's see
10:09
how Alex Golish does with his guys. And
10:12
as you kind of mentioned, this frees up
10:14
a little bit more money. And even before
10:17
this decision, they were going to have
10:18
to be gang busters in the transfer
10:21
portal. Like certain positions, O line,
10:23
Dline, cornerback, you were going to
10:24
have to clean house or clean up, excuse
10:28
me, in the portal when it opens. And so,
10:31
yeah, I mean, let's it's it's a it's a
10:33
difficult day right now. It'll be even
10:35
more difficult depending on what Duke
10:36
Knight does. Like I will not blame
10:37
people for being really really really
10:39
really really upset if Deuce Knight
10:41
leaves but at the same time you know
10:44
people get attached to players and I get
10:46
that. Um but when you make a coaching
10:50
change Christian and big bold underlined
10:53
word change you are changing things. You
10:57
run the opportunity of of this
10:59
happening.
11:00
>> I mean it had the chance to happen with
11:01
whoever. If Hugh Freeze was still here
11:03
it could have still happened. A lot of
11:05
these guys probably would have been
11:06
gone. If DJ Durkin was elevated to be
11:08
the head coach, could have still
11:10
happened. If Auburn goes out and hires
11:12
whoever, it could have still happened.
11:15
Um, as we've talked about a little bit
11:16
and you've kind of reported on, a lot of
11:18
those kind of frontloaded contracts that
11:21
Auburn's previous staff had been handing
11:23
out kind of it reached a breaking point
11:27
where now there truly is a salary cap
11:29
with revenue sharing and then the NIL
11:30
that you can add on top of that. Um, and
11:33
so you were going to lose some of those
11:34
pieces regardless, no matter who was the
11:36
head coach. Um, and so we'll see what
11:39
happens. You kind of touched on all you
11:41
can have is losses right now. It's
11:42
definitely it's been a it's been an
11:44
interesting lawn month of the pre-portal
11:48
because like you said, the only thing
11:50
that can happen is negative. I mean, you
11:52
can you can announce some guys being
11:54
retained. Um, so that is positive and
11:56
other schools have done that a little
11:57
bit more than Auburn has. Auburn has
11:59
done it with Xavier Atkins, obviously.
12:01
Um, but realistically, the only thing
12:02
that can really happen is losses. Um,
12:05
the portal cycle keeps changing and how
12:07
they're doing it. So, this is the first
12:08
year where it's just that 15-day window
12:10
in January. Previously, it was in
12:12
December. So, now what was the time
12:15
where guys were going in kind of in the
12:17
middle of the playoff, now the portal
12:19
isn't open until later, but it it might
12:22
as well be open now because everyone is
12:24
just declaring that they're going to go
12:25
in and their agents are out talking to
12:27
guys and back channeling and all that
12:29
kinds of stuff. I mean, I don't even
12:31
know if there's back channeling at this
12:32
point. There's there's no tampering, so
12:34
you might as well just start calling
12:35
guys and nothing's nothing's going to
12:37
happen because the NCAA doesn't care.
12:39
So,
12:41
it's uh it's interesting. It's been an
12:43
interesting learning experience,
12:44
especially with the coaching staff
12:45
change to see how this month operates
12:48
and then we'll see how the portal
12:50
operates in what will be absolute
12:52
madness because you've lost all these
12:54
guys and your scholarship number is down
12:56
so much. And now with the the jump to
12:58
105 scholarships, you're going to go out
13:01
and totally redo some rooms. I mean, if
13:05
Deuce Knight leaves, you're redoing the
13:07
entire quarterback room. You're adding,
13:10
you're almost redoing the entire
13:11
receiver room. As of right now, it's
13:13
what? Bryce Kane,
13:15
Bryce Kane, Sam Turner,
13:17
>> Smith Brothers,
13:18
>> Smith Brothers, and Eric Singleton is
13:20
still here. And we'll see what happens
13:22
with that one. Um,
13:25
some yeah, some of these rooms are going
13:26
to get reset quite a bit and you're
13:28
going to see a ton of new pieces here.
13:30
So, uh, I don't know. I'm trailing off,
13:33
but I don't know. It'll be interesting.
13:36
I'll say that. Well, we knew, and this
13:38
this is goes back to a point Jason made
13:39
on the previous podcast of like this is
13:42
just the problem with contract structure
13:44
in college football nowadays and not
13:46
having a collective bargaining agreement
13:48
and having to do this every single year
13:50
is that you negotiate with every single
13:52
player on your roster. You would love to
13:54
just do what the NFL does and guys are
13:56
on contracts. you don't have to worry
13:58
about somebody being in a position where
14:00
and I think a lot of people have talked
14:01
about okay well if somebody still wants
14:03
to leave and break their contract you
14:06
can't hold a kid to that but at the same
14:09
time maybe they'll maybe they'll lose a
14:11
year of playing maybe they'll have to
14:12
sit out a year kind of go back to the
14:13
old transfer rules but as it stands
14:15
right now when they're in something like
14:17
that yeah I saw John Kalpari had a
14:19
pretty good idea for it as well but it's
14:21
like
14:22
>> I I as it currently stands all you can
14:24
do is what Auburn has done so far and
14:26
that is prioritize like the most
14:28
important guys, try to throw a bunch of
14:31
money at them. We're now, in my opinion,
14:34
we're now at two out of four on those
14:35
decisions because one of those guys is
14:37
not at Auburn and Byron Brown. He he is
14:39
in that category of
14:42
his decision is going to be is going to
14:44
reflect very highly and it's going to
14:46
really change the dynamic of this team
14:48
next year if he's at Auburn or if he's
14:50
not. If he's at Auburn, that answers a
14:51
ton of questions and you've and you've
14:53
really you've streamlined a lot of
14:55
things. And then you have Duce Knight.
14:56
He's he's the last one. Um because that
14:59
doesn't while maybe that doesn't change
15:01
your product on the field next year, it
15:04
changes your quarterback room for the
15:05
future. And Alex Gooish is looking at a
15:07
guy with four years of eligibility who
15:09
was a former top 50 recruit and he's
15:11
like, "Yeah, sign me up. I'll that's
15:13
that's my guy for the future." And
15:15
obviously you have Xavier Atkins on
15:16
board. So if they can go I don't know,
15:19
Christian, it was you and I talked about
15:21
this a while ago with the three guys to
15:23
retain which was Atkins, Deuce, and Cam.
15:25
It's like if you got two out of three,
15:27
you were feeling like eh three out of
15:29
three would have been really really
15:30
difficult. So that leaves Deuce, but
15:33
it's not the end of the world either if
15:35
Deuce doesn't decide to stay because he
15:37
probably wasn't going to be your starter
15:38
next year anyway. It's just difficult.
15:40
It it was you you said it like with all
15:43
losses right now, that's all you were
15:45
going to do for a month. I think we
15:47
talked about this on this podcast
15:48
shortly after Golish was hired. It's
15:49
like this is going to be a tough month
15:51
for Auburn fans to just sit around and
15:53
watch their team go by. because that's
15:55
all that can happen. It's really going
15:57
to test the patience of a lot of people.
16:01
And I'm not saying like I have no
16:02
opinion either way of whether he deserve
16:04
Golish deserves patience on any one
16:06
player or whatever. Like I don't I don't
16:07
know because we don't know what it's
16:08
going to look like. We don't know what
16:09
this team's going to look like. We don't
16:10
know what this roster is going to look
16:11
like. Golish could go out there and get
16:13
Byron Brown and tell him, "Hey man, let
16:15
me know which receivers you want in the
16:16
portal. We just got a ton of money from
16:18
not keeping Cam Coleman. We're going to
16:20
go pay any guy you want." and they could
16:22
have a top five offense in the SEC next
16:24
year. Or they could whiff on Byron
16:27
Brown. They've already lost Cam Coleman.
16:29
They could lose Duce Knight and have
16:30
another rough product on offense and
16:31
then we're back to where we started.
16:33
It's just it's just December and it's
16:36
it's so early to panic about this
16:37
roster. But at the same time, I
16:38
understand it hurts to lose Cam Coleman.
16:40
He was again guy on the side of stadium
16:42
like like franchise player. I definitely
16:45
understand the the pain of wondering
16:48
what that guy could have been.
16:49
>> Yeah. Yeah, on the D snip point, look,
16:51
we've talked about it and we've said it
16:52
multiple times on the board, on shows,
16:54
and whatnot. He is likely your future
16:57
quarterback of that room. He has all the
16:59
makings of a future star. You loved what
17:02
you saw out of him against Mercer,
17:03
understanding that there were still
17:04
things that needed to progress in his
17:06
game. But if you're Alex Gooish and you
17:08
believe that Byron Brown can win you,
17:10
throwing out hypothetical numbers here,
17:12
Byron Brown can win you eight games and
17:14
you think Duce Knight can get you six
17:16
games, you got to go get Byron Brown.
17:18
you have to win immediately. There's
17:20
there's no time. There's no patience.
17:23
There's no time for full-on
17:26
quote unquote rebuilds as Auburn is
17:28
losing a lot of players and everyone's
17:29
saying it's a full rebuild. You try and
17:32
be as competitive as quickly as possible
17:34
and that's what they're going to try and
17:35
do. So, as much as you love Deuce and
17:37
look, Auburn is working him hard. They
17:39
have a very competitive offer on the
17:41
table for Deuce
17:43
that would probably
17:46
I don't I don't want to speak out of
17:48
turn here, but it it'd be hard to
17:49
imagine another school offering him that
17:52
much to come in and be in the same spot
17:54
where you know Auburn is already going
17:56
to be a major player for Byron Brown
17:58
expecting Deuce to be the backup but
17:59
with a chance to compete. you know,
18:01
point being outside of a a random P4
18:04
school, just throwing things out here, a
18:06
Wake Forester or whoever offering him,
18:08
hey, come be the starter, you know, an
18:10
LSU or an Old Miss, who would maybe be
18:12
in a similar spot to Auburn. Feels like
18:15
Auburn is offering him a very good deal
18:17
and he might not take it. It might be
18:18
the same as Cam where it's just he wants
18:20
to move on. And look, if Auburn believes
18:22
Byron Brown will win them more games
18:24
next year, then that's just kind of what
18:26
you have to do. Um, oh gosh, what was
18:30
your other point? Because I had another
18:31
point to counter what you were talking
18:33
about after deuce.
18:36
Man, we haven't done a pod in a while.
18:39
This is uh this is bad podcasting. What
18:42
were you talking about after deuce?
18:44
>> Yeah. I mean, you just gota you you
18:46
can't you can't let
18:48
>> Oh, the team. Oh, yeah. The the the
18:50
negatives and everyone being upset about
18:52
camp. Look, I totally get it. Right now,
18:54
Auburn's four and eight, five and seven
18:56
next year. Everyone's done. The Alex
18:58
Golish ship is sinking. It's over.
19:00
>> I was told three and nine today.
19:01
Somebody said
19:02
>> three and nine, two and 10. I mean, it's
19:04
a good thing Jacksonville State's off
19:06
the schedule next year. I mean, the the
19:08
ship is sinking
19:10
for according to the fans. Auburn's
19:13
going to get five portal commitments in
19:15
the span of like six hours and Auburn's
19:19
going to be 10 and two. That's just how
19:21
this works. That's just how it works
19:23
from from fans and the way things go.
19:26
And look, I get it. It has been a tough
19:27
month for Auburn football in terms of
19:30
portal departures.
19:32
It's been a tough month.
19:33
>> Yeah.
19:34
>> But next month, the only thing that can
19:36
really happen is a lot of positives and
19:39
bringing that scholarship number back up
19:41
and getting guys and then it's the off
19:43
seasonason and no one loses the off
19:45
seasonason. So,
19:48
>> yeah. And again, it's like we've been
19:50
talking about this whole time. We don't
19:51
I'm not at all discounting the reaction
19:53
of losing Cam Coleman. Like I was
19:57
texting somebody today about it. Like
19:58
there's no way to there's no way to spin
20:00
that other than like woo that hurts.
20:02
Like number one player in the portal
20:04
now. Um
20:06
the idea of getting potentially Byron
20:09
Brown and Cam Coleman together, like you
20:12
you don't have that anymore. That really
20:13
really sucks. Um, it feels a lot
20:15
different than it did when Malcolm
20:16
Simmons hit the portal or when Perry
20:18
Thompson hit the portal. Like, this is
20:20
your centerpiece guy for all of his I
20:23
think Cam Coleman was is electric. He's
20:26
had a little he's had some setbacks.
20:27
He's not been a perfect player, but even
20:29
for some of those, like I absolutely one
20:31
of the most valuable players in college
20:33
football, period. Um, you're exactly
20:36
right, Christian. Like, you get Byron
20:38
Brown and again that you have to do
20:41
these things though. Golish has to pull
20:43
off some positives. Like they got to go
20:45
get Byron Brown or whomever if he if he
20:48
falls through because I'm not I'm not
20:49
I'm not at all stamping that a guarantee
20:51
right now. No way. No, no, no, no way. I
20:54
am saying it's what I think will happen
20:55
if you tell me if you ask me like who's
20:57
going to be the quarterback for Auburn
20:58
next year. Um got to get a bunch of
21:00
receivers. You have to get so many
21:03
offensive linemen. Christian, you have
21:05
like four scholarship offensive linemen
21:07
right now who aren't true freshman. Um,
21:10
defensive tackle is like building out
21:12
the transfer board or whatever I called
21:13
it today. Like there's no one. There's
21:16
Malik Audrey and Jordan Crawford. That's
21:18
it. Like you are at priority level 10 in
21:20
the portal in my opinion for O line,
21:23
Dline, and corner. Those are really
21:25
important positions. And quarterback.
21:27
Those are really, really important
21:29
positions. You're not going to get all
21:30
the guys in the world that you want at
21:31
every single one of those spots, but you
21:33
are going to get a lot of guys. This is
21:34
going to be a huge portal class. Um, and
21:37
when they start getting those additions,
21:38
like Christian was saying, when they
21:40
start bringing in those guys, it'll feel
21:42
a little bit better. But I just I I
21:45
caution people
21:47
because Alex Gullish was hired this
21:49
month, hired on December 1st. I caution
21:52
people to against judging and
21:56
ultimately, you know, putting a putting
21:58
a negative mark on the goalish era
22:00
already in the month of December. This
22:03
was going to happen. You were going to
22:04
lose a bunch of guys. Yes, it sucks that
22:06
you lose Cam Coleman. I'm gonna sit here
22:08
and say you'll probably lose somebody
22:10
else here in the next few days that
22:11
you're going to be like, "Oof, really
22:12
didn't want to lose that guy." But
22:15
again, you had to have known this was
22:17
coming with a coaching change. Even
22:18
without a coaching change, it probably
22:19
would have happened. And also, it's just
22:21
the unfortunate part of it. You know,
22:23
modern college football, we kind of
22:24
talked about it with Malik Blockton.
22:26
That guy was Mr. Auburn, but that's just
22:28
how that's just how modern college
22:30
football is. like guys are going to go
22:33
where the money is and they're not tied
22:35
down by anything more than a one-year
22:36
contract at a time. So, until something
22:39
changes, this is what we're going to see
22:42
every single offseason. And Auburn's in
22:43
an interesting uh situation, too,
22:45
because of what Christian mentioned
22:46
about a new staff walking in, seeing
22:49
some front-loaded contracts, telling
22:52
guys, "Hey, we can't we can't pay you
22:54
that much. We have to hold some money to
22:56
be able to get a roster together." And
22:58
guys not wanting to take a pay cut,
22:59
which is also understandable. Um, and
23:01
then there is the final caveat and the
23:03
final note that I continue to make to
23:04
people and that is look as as much as
23:06
that all this stuff kind of hurts. Um, I
23:09
don't really think it can get worse.
23:11
Like these guys, this staff, this
23:14
program, they don't win. They just don't
23:16
they don't win any games. They they they
23:17
just all they do is lose all the time.
23:20
So, something has to change. And if
23:22
Golish is making some of these decisions
23:24
and kind of cutting money for some of
23:26
these guys because he thinks that's
23:27
what's best for the future, you hired
23:29
him as a coach and you got to try to see
23:30
that through.
23:32
>> Yeah. And this is not to Cam Coleman.
23:34
This is kind of a separate point, but
23:36
what you were just talking about,
23:38
there's never been, in my opinion,
23:39
better evidence of a new age college
23:41
football than Robert Woodyard in his
23:43
departure. A guy who waited his turn for
23:45
so long, got his turn, played really,
23:48
really well. But then now you're looking
23:50
at the linebacker room from Auburn's
23:52
perspective and you invest in Xavier
23:55
Atkins who's your guy, the leader there,
23:57
and then at the mic spot where Robert
23:59
Woodard was. Do you want to pay him a
24:01
bunch of money and risk Elijah Melendez
24:04
leaving or would you rather pay your SEC
24:06
all freshman team Mike linebacker and
24:09
Elijah Melendez who's here for
24:11
theoretically at least two more years
24:14
and build up the youth of that room with
24:15
him and Bryce Diaz and Demarcus Riddick
24:17
and then your true freshman coming in
24:19
and let Woodard walk
24:22
you there there have to be tough
24:24
decisions and tough conversations now
24:27
because there's not unlimited money you
24:30
you can go over the the cap somewhat,
24:32
but you can't go over it all the way.
24:34
And so Woodard is kind of that example
24:36
of an instate guy who played really
24:39
well, but you have to make a tough
24:41
decision and a tough call. And you know,
24:44
sometimes it will be for the youth and,
24:47
you know, going for those guys in that
24:49
room. Sometimes it will be prioritizing
24:52
the Woodyard type guys.
24:54
That's just that's where we're at with
24:56
college football.
24:58
>> Yep. and we'll we'll see what else this
25:00
looks like. Of course, it's it's not
25:02
even going to be done January 2nd. It it
25:04
will only get crazier January 2nd. This
25:06
thing isn't going to be done till
25:08
January 15th or excuse me, January 17th
25:10
when the 15-day window closes. Um, so
25:14
we're going to have a lot more. This
25:16
roster is going to look really, really
25:17
different once the portal opens. I can't
25:19
imagine we're going to hop on here too,
25:21
too often. Maybe talk about a guy like
25:23
Byron Brown, but we're going to be uh uh
25:26
drowning. Yeah, we won't be here because
25:29
this is more of a secondary. We will be
25:30
at auburn undercover.com. We will be
25:32
feeding intel on the message boards
25:34
there. Yeah,
25:35
>> in our different stories there, we have
25:36
a million different stories,
25:38
>> as I'm sure most of the people that are
25:40
listening to this know, that's where all
25:42
of the stuff is going to be first.
25:43
That's where it always is first. So,
25:45
while the the podcast and the YouTube
25:47
content might suffer a little bit from
25:49
us, it will all be at auburnover.com.
25:52
And look, we've still had other podcasts
25:54
and content that will still keep coming
25:56
out throughout that period as well.
25:57
Terry Bowen show, Coach's Corner, some
25:59
of those things that Ronnie's been doing
26:00
with different guests as well. So, there
26:02
will still be content on here, don't
26:04
worry. But the main content will be over
26:07
at auburn undercoat.com
26:09
>> for sure. Going to be crazy. Going to be
26:12
insane. Um, there'll be lots of coffee
26:15
that will be consumed and maybe not much
26:17
sleep, but it's going to be crazy. Um,
26:19
well, thank you guys so much for joining
26:20
us on this edition of the Auburn
26:22
Undercover podcast. We hope everybody
26:24
has a happy new year and a safe new year
26:26
and we'll talk to you'all soon.
26:29
[Music]