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Written by Joshua Ethridge, Staff Writer
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Thursday, 15 July 2010 10:30 |
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It is widely known that high school coaches can have an impact on which school their players end up inking with on Signing Day. Auburn’s 2010 recruiting class included at least two players who were allegedly pressured away from Auburn and towards another school.
For the class of 2011, Auburn’s fortunes appear to be swinging in the opposite direction.
Mike Bliss, the head coach of Edwardsville High School (Ill), knows of Auburn very well. Bliss and Coach Gus Malzahn have had a good relationship for a long time. He knows that Auburn could be the best fit for his starting running back, Rodney Coe.
"Coach Malzahn is a good friend of mine. We've known each other for a long, long time,” said Bliss. "I told him (Coe) he couldn't go wrong (choosing Auburn).
“That 150 million they are investing in the University to upgrade their facilities, you couldn't beat that place."
Edwardsville has seen much of their success as a result of their offensive playbook. Bliss uses an offensive scheme much like the one Malzahn has developed over the years.
“I know he (Malzahn) is a tremendous coach and we do a lot of the same concepts offensively,” Bliss said. “When you get some of Rodney's highlight films you'll see we run a lot of the same stuff Auburn runs."
Bliss’ endorsement of Malzahn appears to be having an effect on Coe’s recruitment. When the 6-3 230 pound back returned home from Big Cat weekend he had some positive things to say to his coach about Auburn.
"He thought very highly of Coach Malzahn, because of our friendship,” said Bliss. “He also thinks a lot about Coach (Curtis) Luper and Coach Trooper (Taylor)."
Bliss shares the same positive attitude as many Auburn fans have. He believes that everything is moving in the right direction for the Tigers. After another good recruiting class they will be back where they belong, on top.
“I think they picked the right man for the job (Coach Gene Chizik) and he surrounded himself with unbelievable coaches,” Bliss said. “Once they get the right recruits in there it's going to be fun to watch Auburn.
“They'll be back on top again and people are going to be looking up to them instead of looking down.”
Coach Bliss acknowledges that it is Coe’s decision to make. He says that Coe is working on narrowing his list to five teams, but you have to like Auburn’s chances come Signing Day. |
