Asking freshmen to play in Year 1 is tough, but Cam Coleman is a ‘different cat’ at Auburn

AUBURN — Auburn football freshman Bryce Cain finished the 2024 recruiting cycle as a top-200 prospect in the nation, has been lauded for his speed throughout spring practice and tallied nearly 1,000 yards as a senior at Baker High School last season.

He’s accomplished this all after playing just two years of football, and yet Tigers coach Hugh Freeze isn’t sure how much he’ll see the field in Year 1.

“It’s a process,” Freeze said Tuesday. “Very few people are just ready made and walk in and play in this league, and I want our young men to understand that and that doesn’t mean they’re not really, really good.”

That fact doesn’t just go for Cain. From defensive linemen Amaris Williams and Jamonta Waller to linebackers Joe Phillips and Demarcus Riddick, Auburn’s roster is littered with freshmen vying to get on the field. It’s difficult to do that with so little experience.

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But some players are so talented that they trump rules. They’re not like everyone else. Some do come “ready made” to walk into the SEC and see significant snaps as a freshman.

Enter former five-star prospect Cam Coleman.

“Cam, on the other hand, is a different cat,” Freeze. “He’s going to have to play and he’s proved he can when he knows what to do. He’s very, very good and we’ve got to do a great job of bringing him along and making sure he understands techniques and the system more and more.

“But he’s so coachable that’s going to be easy, and he just continues to make plays. He’s got to go as a freshman.”

Coleman finished his recruiting cycle with a composite rating of .9985 from 247Sports. That’s the best mark of all of Auburn’s 2024 signees, and it’s the highest an…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/asking-freshmen-play-1-tough-190915403.html

Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2024-04-02 19:09:15

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