Auburn football: Recruiting budget numbers far below Bama’s

The recruiting budget numbers are in, and the numbers of the Auburn football program do not come close to comparing to those at the University of Alabama.

The numbers are pretty staggering. And yes, Auburn and Alabama are two different institutions with two different financial backgrounds and stakeholders, but still…Auburn’s recruiting expenses don’t even hit one million, and Alabama’s soars above two million. According to Josh Vitale, this information comes from the NCAA Membership Financial Report filed by each school.

Now, when it comes to football, there is no denying–as much as I want to with every fiber in my being–that Alabama is the Crème de la crème in the SEC, and in college football at large.

They should have an exorbitant budget…how else could you possibly explain winning national championships in five of the last ten years?

Greatness doesn’t come cheap, and Alabama has been nabbing the top recruits since Nick Saban came aboard in 2009. How they do it, Fly War Eagle is unsure…but we sure as hell don’t trust it given the recruiting violations that programs have been getting hit with left and right (we are so looking at your silly McDonalds bags situation on Rocky Top, Tennessee).

The true problem when looking at these numbers is wondering what Auburn football is spending their money on, if not actively trying to recruit the best talent available.

Actually, I’ll answer my own question: everything else.

Between a new state-of-the-art football performance center, and new salaries for all of Bryan Harsin’s coaching staff–not to mention the buyouts for Gus Malzahn and those laid off from his coaching carousel–the actual players wearing blue and orange are not being prioritized enough.

The beauty of the Plains and the togetherness of the Auburn family should be more than enough to lure top recruits to the 334.

Instead, we are seeing tweets like this push us down even further after another Crimson Tide national championship.

In Harsin, we trust. Let’s hope these numbers change this time next year…and let’s hope the good guys in Alabama prevail on the gridiron.