re: Gunner Kiel-Did Momma Know Best?

quote:

---

bellewr

---

quote:

---

Didnt the "Gunner" saga cost us a great lineman who was going to sign this past Jan?

---

Yes and no. The guy he cost us was Patrick Miller, a 4* OL from Florida that was one of the cornerstones of the class.

He is starting at Right Tackle across from Greg Robinson at LT, both as Frosh (G-Rob as a RS) at Auburn this year.

The worst of it is that we made multiple mistakes. Yes, Kiel was an unforeseen one. But after that, we were one spot too heavy and had to ask one of the early enrollees to leave.

So we decided-in our infinite wisdom-to ask Miller to either leave or pay OUT OF STATE tuition for a semester, and decided to keep Trey Granier.

Now I'm not one to dog players out that don the purple & gold, but ask me if they both stay injury free how their careers will end up, and I'll have to say that Miller's going to play in the league, and Granier may make camp with a team.

But beyond that, why not ask Trey to either sit out or pay his own way for one semester? Wait 6 months, or simply take out Pell Grants. As an in-state kid, that cost is WAY cheaper and easier to swallow than it would be to ask an out-of-state player.

To our credit, we went out of our way to find a home for Miller at Auburn. But we handled that entire situation with a stunning lack of common sense for the long-term health of our football program.