This year’s crowning achievement by former UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was flipping one of the state’s top defensive linemen from the Bulldogs to his current employers – the Auburn Tigers.
The defensive lineman was Dontavius Russell, the 4-star recruit from Carrollton High School who committed to UGA last spring but backed off the pledge after witnessing Auburn’s miracle upset over Alabama.
Garner also had some help in flipping Russell to Auburn. He was teammates at Auburn with Russell’s uncle, Dennis Wallace, who played safety for the Tigers.
In an interview with AuburnSports.com's Jay G. Tate, Garner reflected on this year's recruiting efforts, and had some interesting comments about hauling in Russell. Garner didn't specifically name UGA (or anybody) but made it clear that Auburn had to overcome some "negative recruiting."
“I knew that kid loved Auburn — because that’s the way he was raised,” Garner told the website. “Auburn was coming off a 3-9 season. There were people who were throwing all kinds of innuendos that Auburn was going to get into trouble … this and that. They got into the kid’s mind and clouded it. They took a kid who always wanted to be at Auburn and made him question that.”
Garner also commended Russell for being “man enough to change him mind.”
Last year, Garner had a dominating presence on the recruiting trail, including convincing Carl Lawson to sign with the Tigers even though Garner passed on the 5-star recruit while at UGA. Garner also signed Montravius Adams, who didn’t even make a final decision to visit Auburn until less than a week before signing day.
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