The old Kentucky-Auburn football debate that has sparked up in recent times could be gaining an interesting wrinkle soon with the choice of Montgomery Catholic punter Gabe Russo — who could choose AU to be a preferred walk-on over taking a scholarship from UK.
Russo also has a PWO offer from Alabama as well as another scholarship offer from FCS North Alabama. A factor he has talked about was his parents being able to come to see his games and Montgomery is only a 45-minute drive down I85. There could be a match in that regard.
In speaking to his recruitment, Russo praised Tanner Burns — not the former Auburn baseball star but the newly hired special teams off-field assistant on Hugh Freeze’s staff — and the Woltosz Football Performance Center when discussing the possibility of being a PWO on the Plains:
"“It was great. I loved it. The new facility is amazing. I really liked that. Love Coach (Tanner) Burns. Good dude. Definitely see myself here. Right now it’s preferred walk-on. But I have good grades, hopefully get some scholarship money academically and we’ll see.”"
Gabe Russo’s potential Auburn football decision could definitely shut down the Kentucky debate
The transfer of Justin Rogers from Kentucky to Auburn football opened up a debate from exclusively the Big Blue Nation side of the equation about which program is an upgrade over the other:
Best of luck to Justin, but this move is a head scratcher. Auburn in my eyes is no longer an upgrade over Kentucky. 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/1oAyL7fjx4
— McElroy11 (@McelroyCullen) January 12, 2023
That got The War Rapport’s Mike Gittens to fire back by asking the Kentucky faithful to check the (recruiting) scoreboard:
Don’t let recent result on the field fool you. Kentucky is NOT an upgrade over Auburn in football. If anything the recruiting rankings pan that out. Don’t get it twisted. #auburnfootball #justinrogers
— Mike G. (@mikegittens) January 13, 2023
A local player may rather stay local and pay tuition then get a free ride. Perhaps the upgrade is where being a PWO is preferable to a scholarship.