Auburn Must Learn from Colorado's Courtship of Julian "Ju Ju" Lewis

"Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze can learn a from what the Deion Sanders and Colorado brought to their recruitment of Julian 'Ju Ju' Lewis

Auburn Tigers target Julian Lewis is one of the top quarterback prospects in the country. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Looking well into the future is the essential bread and butter of any college program, especially one that's genuinely looking for long term success. 

While Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze has been busy talking up what he's got in starting incumbent quarterback Payton Thorne, getting a shot at his eventual replacement is one of his constantly spinning plates.

Consensus 5-star quarterback Julian "Ju Ju" Lewis is a name that's constantly rolling off the tongues of Tigers fans just recently, and the good news is that landing him is not just a pipe dream.

Fact is however, if the Tigers are indeed serious about prying him away from Lincoln Riley at USC and a host of other suitors - they better get well acquainted with the other runners and riders in the forthcoming race for Lewis.

Principally, up in the Rocky Mountains, coach Deion Sanders brings the kind of neon bling that will be pretty hard to match. Furthermore, Sanders and his offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur are bringing a distinct type of NFL superiority complex to the table.

If you chose to deal in brutal reality, it's a brand of straight shooting which apparently appeals more than a little bit to Lewis.

Could it be “Perfect Timing” ?@DeionSanders @ShedeurSanders @CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/iON38GdCEi

— Julian "Ju Ju" Lewis QB (@JuJuLewis10) June 23, 2024

"Coach Prime isn't the kind of person to tell you what you want to hear," Lewis told Brain Howell of BuffZone. "Coach Pat (Shurmur) isn't a recruiter, either. He comes from the NFL, so that's probably the biggest difference."

In fairness, Freeze knows very well that any attempt to hang a gold chain around the neck of his recruitment strategy will look quite frankly - absolutely ridiculous. 

That being said, Auburn's power play toward Lewis can't merely occupy the territory of only serving up some hearty down home cooking. Auburn is geographically the closest of Lewis's suitors.

Getting a handle on what type of person Lewis actually is, surely dictates that Freeze will need to sell the quarterback prodigy on a much broader vision - one which will inevitably include building his profile on a national platform.

That inherently dictates putting together a bona fide winning program, because only then will Lewis get delivered into the pro ranks in a position where he really understands what's expected of him.

Just maybe, staying firmly in the lane of using the college experience to facilitate a strong grounding is perhaps where the Auburn recruitment team need to position themselves in the coming weeks.

Detailing the extent of the potential future riches in the pro ranks will probably remain the domain of Sanders up in Boulder, but so be it.

In the final analysis, Freeze might indeed be at a serious disadvantage when it comes to the levels of razzmatazz and NFL gravitas he can muster. However, he can beat Coach Prime in the trenches and let a superior offensive line do the recruiting for him.