Recruiting battles are nothing new for the Auburn football program. Every single year the Tigers are in competition with powerhouse rival Alabama and next-door neighbor Georgia when it comes to getting the southeast region’s top talent.
So far, the Tigers have offered 13 edge prospects for the recruiting class of 2023, including in-state 4-star Jaquavious Russaw. He is currently ranked as the #39 recruit and the #4 edge in the class of 2023 as well as the #6 recruit out of the state of Alabama.
Continuing with head coach Bryan Harsin’s back-yard recruiting strategy, Auburn football would like to keep this talent in the state, and preferably in the south-central part rather than the northwest.
Although the Crimson Tide is considered to be the favorite over Auburn for Russaw, a key connection could help sway the edge towards the Plains. Both Jaquavious Russaw and Auburn football associate head coach Zac Etheridge are natives of Troy, AL.
Etheridge has been lauded as one of the top 25 recruiters in the cycle of 2022, and that trend is sure to continue through to the cycle of 2023. According to Phillip Dukes of Auburn Undercover, the Tigers are not giving up on trying to land the #6 player in the state:
"Auburn is not conceding ground in the recruitment of 4-star edge target Jaquavious Russaw and is still pushing hard. Russaw, from Troy, is considered an Alabama lean at this point, but I spoke with someone close to the situation and that person feels Auburn has a shot because of assistant head coach and secondary coach Zac Etheridge, also a Troy native."
On3 Sports reports that as a junior at Carver High School, Russaw racked up 130 tackles and over 27 tackles for loss on the season and was a finalist for the State 6A lineman of the year award. After what we saw with Robert Woodyard, we know now that flipping a recruit from the Tide is not out of the question for Bryan Harsin and his staff.