Linebacker Reuben Foster is the top high school prospect at his position, and one of the best in the country. This summer, he had already rescinded his verbal commitment to the University of Alabama and committed to Auburn University thanks to some recruiting by assistant coach Trooper Taylor—the equivalent of jilting the University of North Carolina for Duke.
Breaking verbal commitments is not uncommon in recruiting at all, but here's why it's so noteworthy: after Foster announced he'd be committing to Auburn, he had the Auburn logo tattooed on his forearm. Cool. But now, with Auburn's new head coach Gus Malzahn requiring all assistant coaches to re-apply for their jobs, Foster's ink on his arm could end up looking really, really stupid.
For Foster, it simply depends on where Taylor, the coach who recruited him, goes. From Matt Scalici of AL.com:
In an interview with ESPN earlier this week, Foster said "If Trooper Taylor stays at Auburn, I am all in. If he goes, I will see where he goes too. I just need to see where he ends up. If he goes to another school, I will go there. Hopefully that school will want me too because I would love to follow him."
Foster said that he'll still consider Auburn as a destination, so for his sake, we should hope that Taylor gets his old job back.
UPDATE: It seems that Foster will keep the AU tattoo regardless of where he goes.
[AL.com]
H/t to Joey.
Photo via.