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Auburn Football: The Three Most Important Members of the 2015 Recruiting Class are Muschamp, Williams & Robinson

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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Here at Fly War Eagle, we talk a lot about recruiting, and for good reason. It’s the lifeblood of the Auburn football program.

But the most important recruits of 2015 may surprise you because they aren’t five-star studs, or even junior college man-children. They are Will Muschamp, Duuuuuuke Williams and Travaris Robinson.

Following the Tigers 55-44 loss to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, head coach Gus Malzahn made a difficult and very important decision. He fired defensive Ellis Johnson, who has a reputation as one of the best defensive minds in the game.

Apr 19, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers receiver D’haquille Williams. USA TODAY

Unfortunately, Johnson couldn’t quite get things going for the Tigers, who won the SEC Championship and played for the national title in 2013, his first season. Auburn finished ninth in the SEC in scoring defense (24.7 points per game), tenth in rushing defense (162.1 rushing yards per game), 12th in total defense (420.7 yards per game) and 13th out of 14 Southeastern Conference teams in passing defense (258.6 yards per contest).

In 2014, the Tigers weren’t much better.

Auburn finished the regular season ranked tenth in the league in scoring defense (26.1 points per game), ninth in total defense (388.7 yards per game), eighth in rushing defense (149.1 yards per game), and once again finished next to last in pass defense (239.2 yards per game).

Overall, the Tigers allowed 5.6 yards per play in the first 12 games of the 2014 season with Johnson in charge. Even worse, Auburn allowed 31 points in six consecutive conference games, four of which were losses.

So Malzahn did what he had to do by letting the veteran DC go. And then he went recruiting.

For two weeks, we watched and waited, and finally, Malzahn landed the most important recruit of 2015: Will Muschamp.

“We just hired the best defensive coach in college football,” Malzahn said following the Outback Bowl, a 34-31 overtime loss to Wisconsin. “And he’s going to get our defense going 100 percent.” 

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Muschamp has guided top flight defenses during his career as a defensive coordinator at LSU, Auburn and Texas, and again as the head coach of the Florida Gators. Over the last 12 years, ten of Muschamp’s defenses have finished among the nation’s top ten defensively.

“He’s the best and we’ve got some players,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got some good players coming and we expect us to be very good on defense.”

“Those players” include All-SEC second team cornerback Jonathan Jones, ultra-talented defensive tackle Montravius Adams, and the return of sophomore defensive end Carl Lawson, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL. If junior linebackers Kris Frost and Casanova McKinzy come back to school instead of entering the NFL Draft, Muschamp will have a total of nine players with starting experience returning.

And speaking of players returning, the offense will have the benefit of D’haquille Williams. The junior wideout, who was suspended for the Outback Bowl for an unspecified violation of team rules, has expressed his intention to return to the Tigers in 2015.

“I’m 100 percent coming back,” Williams said. “I feel like we have some unfinished business.” 

With the departure of senior quarterback and two-year starter Nick Marshall, the SEC’s leading rusher Cameron Artis-Payne, All-American center Reese Dismukes, junior playmaker Sammie Coates and others, having Williams – considered a likely first or second round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft – back is a huge boost to the Auburn offense.

Nov 1, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Florida Gators defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson against the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Field. Florida Gators defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In his only season at Auburn following two years in junior college, Williams led the Tigers with 45 receptions and five touchdown catches in 2014. His 730 yards were just 11 behind Coates, despite the fact Williams missed three games this year.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds (though appearing much larger), Williams is a matchup nightmare for defenses. He’s bigger and stronger than nearly all cornerbacks and safeties, and faster than the majority of linebackers that may be matched up with him.

Simply put, Williams has an opportunity to put up huge numbers as one of the most experienced players back on offense in 2015, especially with rocket-armed quarterback Jeremy Johnson taking over for Marshall.

Then Saturday, the third piece of the recruiting trifecta fell into place.

Shortly following Florida’s 28-20 victory over East Carolina, the Gators’ defensive backs coach was announced as the new secondary coach at Auburn.

“I’m very excited about returning to Auburn where I played, received my degree, and was a graduate assistant,” Robinson said in a statement. “Auburn has provided me so many opportunities and I’m excited to be able to give back to a place that has meant so much to me. I have a lot of respect for Coach Malzahn and I’m looking forward to working for him. My family and I are glad to be back home.”

Robinson recruited and coached All-American Vernon Hargreaves III and Freshman All-American Jalen Tabor this season at Florida, where he was a member of Muschamp’s staff.

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    • Overall, the 2014 Gators ranked in the nation’s top ten in total defense (311 total yards per game). The previous season, the Florida secondary was seventh in the country in pass defense (171.8 yards per game), eighth overall in passing efficiency defense (107.18) and the defense was eighth in the nation in total defense (314.3 yards per game). In 2012, the Gators were even better in pass efficiency defense (95.55, good for second in the nation), and allowed only seven touchdown passes the entire season.

    “Travaris is one of the nation’s best young coaches and recruiters, who is very familiar with Auburn and the Southeastern Conference,” Malzahn said. “He was an outstanding player at Auburn and will be a tremendous asset for our staff and players. We’re excited to have Travaris back at Auburn.”

    As Malzahn said, Robinson is a terrific recruiter. In fact, ESPN.com named him the best in the country in June 2014.

    He’ll play a major role over the next four weeks helping the Tigers lure some of the most talented high school players in the nation for the 2015 Auburn football recruiting class. Undecided players like Byron Cowart, Jeff Holland and Martez Ivey, all of whom have been considering the Gators and the Tigers, may now take an even longer look at Auburn University as their college football destination.

    Whether or not those three hot shot high schoolers – or any of the other big-name prospects in the 2015 class – choose Auburn, you must be impressed with Malzahn’s recruiting ability with two huge coaching hires and a potential first round pick choosing to be part of the Auburn football program in 2015.

    Next: Football: What Went Wrong For Auburn in 2014?

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