Debatable, and unprovable. I recall many more recruits saying, I want to go there and play early...instead of, I want to go to ________ and sit for two years.
If every recruit's number one concern was going to a team who has done poorly where they will get to play early, then we wouldn't see five stars going to traditional powerhouses with media attention. Instead, we'd see far more than just a handful of five stars going to shitty schools.
Don't get me wrong; I know that players often do go to teams where they can play immediately and help out. But not every recruit is of that opinion. And we can't definitively say that all of the recruits that Auburn is targeting should be flocking to Auburn because they need help on defense; recruits base their decisions on a variety of factors.
However, my main point is that if we're trying to figure out possible reasons as to why X, Y, or Z recruit decided not to go to Auburn, then you have to look at everything. You can't point the entirety of the blame elsewhere by fingering the media when there were obviously faults with Auburn this season.
Not really. If you are on the bottom, the only way you can move is up.
Sure, but this is not a selling point for every recruit. If it were, then Florida Atlantic would have a better recruiting class than Auburn.
The reason why a recruit chooses or doesn't choose a school is multi-faceted. You continue to point to specific reasons that
may cause
some recruits to consider Auburn. All I keep pointing out is that a mediocre season (8-5) with less than mediocre statistical rankings (78th in defense, 104th in offense) is
a (not the) reason that
some (not all) recruits may not be choosing Auburn. The absence of a DC and OC, and the uncertainty of who will be replacing them, are
some reasons (not the reason) to consider when questioning why certain recruits didn't choose Auburn. You can't place blame solely with the media when you look at this season's results; there are too many factors at play.