Gene Chizik speaks, 6/9

Hey everyone. Your Head Coach took some time before the big Montgomery Auburn Club shindig tonight to speak with a few beat hacks about a variety of issues.

Here is a glace at the topics du jour.

Is Tyrik Rollison going to qualify? (submitted by Jet)
"Right now, we feel really good where everybody is, where Tyrik is. Until they get there, we're not going to make any statements about it. We feel really good on all those spots."

Some have said you take a cavalier approach toward recruiting rules and that you push the envelope. Is that true?
"I'm not at liberty to talk about recruiting or things of that nature. (NOTE: He's talking about possible secondary violations.) We're trying to recruit and do things the right way. We do things a little bit outside the box, if you will. That's what we're trying to do. We'll continue to do that. As far as being cavalier, I don't see that at all. We're just trying to do our job and work hard."

Do you feel like a renegade?
"Absolutely not. That's not who we are."

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive asked that coaches stop with the name-calling. Did his plea sink in across the league?
"Everybody is an individual. I know that it was a heart-felt talk and I respected very much what the commissioner said. I can't speak for everyone else; I can only speak for me."

Franklin said there was a lot of paranoia among the staff last season? Is that happening now?
"Everything at Auburn right now is great. What happened in the past or what people say -- I have no control over that. I had no control over it. This is a whole new deal. I don't know what that meant. I've got bigger fish to fry right now at Auburn. I don't pay attention to all that outside stuff."

It seems like head coaches have become rock stars in the recruiting world by taking a more prominent role. Is that accurate?
"I've always thought the head coaches are the central part of the recruiting process. The people who recruit well -- you can usually point to their head coach. That's been throughout time. I haven't noticed that it's swinging in that direction now. I feel like it's been that way for a long time."

Why has recruiting become such a big deal lately?
"It's the open exposure with the internet, the exposure with all the publications. It's the nature of technology. There are no secrets out there anymore. There's information everywhere. That obviously opens things up and there's a lot of attention."

Years ago, you'd hear coaches say they could 'sneak a recruit by'. Can you still do that?
"Not with you guys (around). I just think there are very few secrets these days. There's so much communication between recruits and other recruits, recruits and all the different publications out there. It would be tough."