Tag: Cadillac Williams

Auburn’s SEC Network takeover to take place on Monday, July 3

Cadillac Williams’ first win as Auburn’s interim head coach headlines a full day of coverage dedicated to Auburn athletics

Football season is getting closer, as SEC Media Days are upon us.

Leading up to the preseason event that kicks off July 17 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Nashville, SEC Network will showcase each SEC program’s best events during the 2022-23 academic season.

Auburn’s turn on the SEC Takeover will take place on July 3.

Several moments that will be featured include Volleyball’s historic NCAA Tournament win over Creighton, Equestrian’s fifth-straight SEC championship, and [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag]’ first win as Auburn’s interim head coach.

Men’s basketball, baseball, and softball will also be represented during the takeover.

Here is a look at Auburn’s SEC Network takeover schedule, so that you will not miss out on re-living your favorite moments from last season.

Auburn offers 4-star RB and Louisville commit Duke Watson

Auburn is looking to add a second running back to its 2024 recruiting class.

[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] and the rest of Auburn’s staff are not afraid to attempt and flip a recruit who is committed elsewhere.

On Friday [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] extended an offer to four-star running back [autotag]Duke Watson[/autotag], who committed to Louisville on June 11.

Williams has already landed one of his top targets in four-star running back [autotag]J’Marion Burnette[/autotag] but the Tigers are looking for a second running back to pair with him and Watson fits the bill.

Checking in at 6-feet-1 and 180-pounds, he would be the speed back while Burnetter is a bruiser.

Watson is the No. 443 overall player and No. 35 running back in the 247Sports Recruiting ranking. The Forsyth, Georgia native is also the No. 50 player from the Peach State.

He rushed for 3,385 yards and 39 touchdowns over the past two seasons for Mary Persons High School. He averaged 7.9 yards per carry and rushed for over 100 yards in 17 of his 22 games.

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Jordan-Hare Stadium among top environments for 2023 season

Auburn will host Alabama and Georgia this season, which will make for a great setting at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Jordan-Hare Stadium has always been viewed as a challenging place to play. Ahead of the 2023 season, the venue is considered to be one of the toughest atmospheres.

Auburn football ended the home slate on a high note last season by defeating Texas A&M and Western Kentucky, which gave interim head coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] a perfect 2-0 record at home. Auburn looks to ride that momentum this season into what hopes to be a successful slate.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently ranked his top 10 environments for the 2023 season and has placed Jordan-Hare Stadium at the No. 8 slot. Crawford says that Auburn’s home draw, which includes Alabama and Georgia, should be a fun place to catch a game this season.

How loud will Jordan-Hare get for matchups with GeorgiaĀ andĀ Alabama? No team in the country has two home battles quite as challenging as that. If the Tigers are a threat under first-year coach Hugh Freeze, those environments have a chance to be scary for the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide.Ā If you’ve ever experienced field level on the Plains, you’ll notice the visiting locker room is one of the smallest in college football. This makes for an uneasy setting for the opposition. Remember “Kick Six” against Alabama? That was Jordan-Hare pandemonium at its finest hour.

Outside of hosting Alabama and Georgia, the Tigers welcome UMass, Samford, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and New Mexico State to Jordan-Hare Stadium this season.

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2024 RB Caden Durham picks up Auburn offer

Durham is the No. 10 RB of the 2024 class according to 247Sports.

[autotag]Hugh FreezeĀ [/autotag] has not been messing around on the recruiting trail since taking over the Auburn Football program.

Auburn has offered 2024 running back [autotag]Caden Durham[/autotag], a four-star recruit from Duncanville, Texas.

According to 247Sports, Durham is the No. 98 ranked player nationally, the No. 10 ranked running back and the No. 19 ranked player in the state of Texas. He has a 0.9540 composite rating.

[autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] has earned a reputation as one of the best running backs coaches in all of college football and is an effective recruiter at the position.

Other notable offers held by Durham include Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.

As a junior in 2022, Durham rushed for 1,960 yards and 36 touchdowns off of 210 carries while also catching nine passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Durham has not set a commitment date yet.

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CBS Sports projects Auburn football’s 2023 record

According to a projection by CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee, the Tigers will exceed last season’s win total.

Despite the frustrations that Auburn football endured in 2022, interim head coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] led the Tigers to a 2-2 finish, which resulted in a 5-7 final record.

Auburn missed going to a bowl by one game last season and, on paper, has made the necessary adjustments to exceed that win total. CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee also feels that the Tigers will improve from last season. Caesar’s Sportsbook gives Auburn an over/under of 7.0 wins, and Sallee feels that the Tigers can push those odds.

Hugh Freeze has his work cut out for him considering the state of the roster Bryan Harsin left behind. Games against Georgia and Alabama are at home (as is the case on odd-numbered years), but upsets in either of those is highly unlikely. A nonconference game at California is manageable, and the Tigers drew Vanderbilt as their rotating cross-division road game. Freeze should be able to orchestrate a two-game improvement from last season and hit the Las Vegas win total. The Tigers are capable of springing some upsets, but also susceptible to a few slip-ups.

Which games will Auburn win? Sallee feels that Auburn can beat UMass, Cal, Samford, both Mississippi programs, Vanderbilt, and New Mexico State.

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Auburn becomes favorite for 4-star in-state running back target

The Tigers are surging for elite in-state running back Alvin Henderson.

The 2024 recruiting cycle is in full swing, but that hasn’t stopped Auburn’s coaching staff from putting in the work with some 2025 targets.

One of those targets is four-star running back [autotag]Alvin Henderson[/autotag], who is from Elba, Alabama. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder spent this past week in Auburn on an unofficial visit for a basketball camp but spent plenty of time with the football coaches.

Auburn running back coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] has focused on Henderson, and it appears his work will pay off. Christian Clemente of Auburn Undercover cast a crystal ball on Monday for Henderson to commit to Auburn, and he isn’t the only one.

Cole Pinkston of On3 also predicted Henderson to Auburn on Monday. His prediction gives Henderson a 79.2% chance to commit to Auburn according to the recruiting prediction machine.

Henderson is the No. 73 overall player and No. 5 running back on the 247Sports composite. He is also the No. 9 player from Alabama.

It’s pretty easy to see why Williams has made Henderson his top target. He has more than 40 scholarship offers ahead of his junior season and has done nothing but produce for Elba High School.

He rushed for 1,115 yards and 24 touchdowns as a freshman to break onto the scene and took another step as a sophomore. He went for 2,636 yards and 47 touchdowns on 13.5 yards per carry.

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Four-star athlete Daniel Hill puts Auburn in top 8

The Tigers are one of six SEC schools to make the cut.

Auburn is one of several SEC schools pursuing four-star athlete [autotag]Daniel Hill[/autotag] and on Sunday he announced his top eight schools and the Tigers made the cut.

The Meridian, Mississippi native also included South Carolina, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.

Auburn is recruiting him as a running back with [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] leading the charge.Ā The Tigers already have one running back in four-star [autotag]J’Marion Burnette[/autotag] but they are looking to land two running backs in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

Hills is the No. 196 overall player and No. 16 athlete in the 247Sports Composite ranking. He is also the No. 7 player from Mississippi.

Despite including Auburn, Hill has never visited the Plains and the Tigers will need to change that if they have any hope of catching South Carolina. They are the heavy favorite with three crystal balls in their favor at 247Sports.

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College Sports Wire includes Brian Battie in top running backs of college football list

Could Battie turn into one of the top backs in the Power Five?

With many new additions to the roster, plus a new coaching staff, it is hard to predict exactly how successful Auburn football will be in 2023.

What seems to be certain, however, is that the running back unit will be one of the best in the SEC or even the country.

The return of coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] will bring the most out of [autotag]Damari Alston[/autotag] and USF transfer [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag], which will lead to another successful season of running the football.

The latter, who was a 1,000-yard rusher at USF last season, was listed as the fourth-best running back in the SEC by Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire last week. Now, in a new list, it seems that Conn sees a bright future for Battie.

In Conn’s top college football running backs list, he lists Battie as the No. 17 overall back.

Battie is a late addition to our rankings following the indefinite suspension of third-year running back Jarquez Hunter. Battie brings speed and big-play ability to the offense. Not to mention, he is a weapon as a kick returner. Provided that Hunter is suspended when the season kicks off, expect a healthy dose of Battie and Damari Alston.

Battie is listed within a good company, as Michigan‘s Blake Corum, Wisconsin‘s Braelon Allen, and Clemson‘s Will Shipley also made the cut.

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Auburn has a top 10 running back room according to On3

The Tigers should be able to lean on their running backs this season.

There are plenty of questions about Auburn’s roster entering [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]’s first season on the Plains but the running back room is one of the best in the country.

The Tigers return [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] and [autotag]Damari Alston[/autotag] and are adding USF transfer [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag] as well as true freshman [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag], the No. 6 running back in last year’s class.

This depth and top-end talent caused On3’s Jesse Simonton to rank Auburn’s room as the 10th best in the country.

Hugh Freeze isnā€™t sure who Auburnā€™s QB will be this fall, but the Tigers, which will have a much improved OL this season, has three tailbacks who all averaged over 6.0 yards per carry in 2022 in Jarquez Hunter, Damari Alston and South Florida transfer Brian Battie, who very quietly had close to 1,200 yards last season.

Hunter is entering his first season as Auburn’s lead back but has already proven what he can do. He ran for 675 yards and seven touchdowns on an impressive 6.5 yards per carry last season.

Battie was the No. 1 running back at USF before entering the portal, he rushed for 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns of his own. A dynamic returner, he adds some big play potential and should be a factor in the return game as well.

Alston appeared in 12 games as a true freshman and showcased his ability in a limited role. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry on 14 touches.

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Auburn football ranks bottom-tier in USA TODAY’s post-spring power rankings

How quickly can Hugh Freeze right the ship at Auburn?

The spring season has come to a close, and now head coaches around the country can begin putting pieces together for the upcoming season that is set to kick off in just over four months.

How much did each SEC team impress Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports this spring? He revealed his picks, as well as each question surrounding each SEC program on Monday.

Auburn has gone through a rough patch over the last several seasons, and this season’s abbreviated A-Day game did not do any favors to the team, who wants to show signs of improvement under new head coach, [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]. Due to recent history, and the lack of performance at A-Day, Myerberg has ranked the Tigers near the bottom of the conference at No. 12.

Here’s a look at Myerberg’s power rankings now that spring practice has concluded around the conference:

  1. Georgia
  2. Alabama
  3. Tennessee
  4. LSU
  5. Texas A&M
  6. Ole Miss
  7. Kentucky
  8. Arkansas
  9. South Carolina
  10. Mississippi State
  11. Florida
  12. Auburn
  13. Missouri
  14. Vanderbilt

When it comes to Myerberg’s one question surrounding Auburn, he looks to offense. Auburn improved its offensive coaching staff by adding [autotag]Philip Montgomery[/autotag] and [autotag]Kent Austin[/autotag] to the staff, as well as keeping [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] on. But the Tigers have not had a top-five offense since 2014. Can [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] push the offense in the right direction?

There’s going to be a learning curve and some growing pains as the Tigers transition to a third coaching staff in four seasons. Unlike the hire of Bryan Harsin, however, Auburn’s decision to tap former Mississippi and Liberty coach Hugh Freeze seems to work on multiple levels. The question this spring is how quickly he can turn around an offense that hasn’t ranked in the top five of the SEC in yards per play since 2014.

Auburn will continue working towards building a successful 2023 campaign, starting on Saturday, Sept. 2 when they host UMass to kickoff the season.

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