Good news: Three Auburn recruits receive honors at the Alabama Mr. Football gala

Three Auburn signees won awards at the 2023 Alabama Mr. Football awards presented on Tuesday in Montgomery.

Five-star wide receiver recruit Cam Coleman out of Central-Phenix City was named the Class 7A Back of the Year, four-star linebacker recruit Joe Phillips out of Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee was named the Class 4A Lineman of the Year and three-star linebacker recruit DJ Barber out of Clay-Chalkville was named the Class 6A Lineman of the Year.

Auburn signees Perry Thompson and Malik Blocton were nominated as well but did not win their categories. Thompson lost to Coleman and Blocton lost to Barber.

Alabama commit and five-star receiver Ryan Williams from Saraland was named the state’s overall Mr. Football. He made history as the first-ever two-time winner of the award.

Coleman was the last of the three winners to be announced.

“War eagle,” Coleman said as he walked off the stage in the front of the ballroom at the Rennaissance hotel in downtown Montgomery.

When he walked up on stage, Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis, who was in the crowd, smiled in his seat

Davis led the way to Auburn signing the best wide receiver class in program history with Coleman, Thompson, four-star receiver Bryce Cain and four-star receiver Malcolm Simmons.

“First off, it takes a village with the help of Coach Freeze and the rest of the staff,” Davis told AL.com after the awards ceremony. “It takes a village to get those guys. You’ve got a couple guys that’s the best in the state that want to compete and get better. That’s a big part of it as well. It’s a testament to those guys and what they want to build as players.”

Davis wasn’t able to talk explicitly about Auburn’s recruiting goals ahead of the Feb. 7 National Signing Day, especially after Williams re-committed to Alabama last week. He said the plan at this point is to “finish strong.”

“You’ll see as you go,” Davis said.

Coleman is currently on campus going through workouts at Auburn. Thompson hasn’t arrived yet. Davis said Coleman has gotten better throughout winter workouts and gotten acclimated to college since his January arrival.

“That’s going to be fun,” Davis said of when he can get all his receivers on campus. “It’s a process. Those guys are going through this process right now. We’re looking forward to it with them.”