Gus Malzahn using interesting method to get recruits to commit early

Gus Malzahn and Auburn are one of LSU football’s biggest rivals in the SEC.

LSU football recruits as well as any program in the nation these days, which has opposing coaches, like Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, looking for ways to get players to commit early.

Auburn and LSU are both pursuing 2021 four-star defensive end Jeremiah Williams, the No. 5 player in the state of Alabama.

Williams recently discussed his recruitment with 247Sports and he had some interesting comments.

The Alabama native said Malzahn has told him that committing before the season would be wise.

“I was on the phone with coach Gus and he brought up that if you sign (commit) before the season, you’ve got like a warranty in the season, if you get hurt. You still got a scholarship offer so I was thinking about committing before the season”, explained Williams.

Now, this may seem harmless to some. And it’s not like Malzahn is doing wrong by any recruits. Quite the opposite — he’s promising to keep a scholarship spot open for a player if they get hurt.

But Malzahn also benefits from this. It’s kind of like collecting money up front. The more players Auburn has committed early, they more attractive the program looks to other potential recruits.

Is this what Malzahn is going for? There’s no way to know for sure, but it certainly feels that way.

Recruiting is ultimately the same thing as selling. And Malzahn has to work extra hard to sell Auburn — at least when he’s going after the same recruits as Ed Orgeron and LSU.

There’s not a more attractive program in the country right now than LSU, so it’s understandable that Malzahn has to get creative in his recruiting efforts.