Tre Williams has not even stepped on the field yet for Auburn, but he is already playing his part in the Tigers’ rivalry with Alabama.
A little more than a week after telling Al.com that Auburn “owned” the Mobile, Ala. area in recruiting, Williams appeared on “Prep Sports Hour” on WNSP. Williams, a Mobile native and 2014 five-star signee who Rivals rated as the second-best inside linebacker in the country, was asked to play some word association in a light-hearted segment.
Williams, who chose Auburn over Alabama, was asked about his high school coach, Auburn wide receivers coach (and Williams’ main recruiter) Dameyune Craig and Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher before Alabama head coach Nick Saban came up.
The first thing that came to Williams’ head when asked about the 5-foot-6 Saban was “little man syndrome.”
Ouch.
When you listen to the segment (the word association segment begins around 20:30), it’s pretty clear that Williams was joking around, but the comment will still draw the ire of Crimson Tide fans.
Williams told Al.com last week that he was raised to like Alabama and that it was difficult to choose Auburn.
“Alabama recruited me so hard. I visited there a lot,” Williams said. “I talked to coach (Lance) Thompson and coach Saban a lot. When I finally made my decision to go to Auburn, they kept coming. I even went up and visited for a couple days while I was committed to Auburn. It was hard. Alabama was always so dominant. I was raised to like Alabama, and to try to separate yourself from your childhood is hard, but it’s something I had to do.”
A quote like that shows that Williams has respect for the Crimson Tide program, but ultimately, Williams decided to play for Auburn.
Oh, and by the way, the Iron Bowl is only 186 days away.
(H/T Saturday Down South)
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
