Pete Thamel: Auburn expected to hire LSU staffer Will Redmond as director of player personnel

The Auburn Tigers are set to hire LSU’s Will Redmond as the director of player personnel, according to a report by Pete Thamel.

Redmond has been with the LSU staff since 2021. There, his primary job has been to identify prospects across the country and maintain the team’s recruiting board. He has also been in charge of evaluating prospects throughout the recruiting cycles.

During that time, the LSU Tigers have put up several incredible recruiting classes. Their current class, in the 2024 cycle, is seventh in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. LSU also had the fifth-ranked class in the 2023 cycle, and the 12th-ranked class in the 2022 cycle.

When LSU head coach Brian Kelly got to Baton Rouge, the Tigers were down to fewer than 40 players on scholarship. Will Redmond became a key piece in finding players and rebuilding that roster to make it competitive in the SEC.

Prior to his time at LSU, Will Redmond worked at Kansas, where he was director of recruiting. Before that, he was at Middle Tennessee, where he was the director of player personnel. Redmond was also briefly the director of player personnel for Western Michigan. He has worked in college athletics since 2011. At that time, he was a student at Tennessee and began working as an intern.

Will Redmond is seen as one of the best directors of player personnel in the country, and leaving LSU for Auburn is seen as a major move that should help Auburn in recruiting. For head coach Hugh Freeze, who is already known for his high school recruiting, it’s a major move that should help that recruiting effort.

Paul Finebaum addresses confusion surrounding Auburn staff

This offseason there have been numerous changes to the on-field coaching staff at Auburn. With that, there’s been a lot of confusion about what’s going on, which Paul Finebaum recently addressed.

“Well, I think the thing that confuses people, Cole, is a lack of explanation. When you have one of the most famous players in your history depart without explanation and then another one who is, I believe a captain and very popular, you have to explain these things, or if you don’t you’re going to lead people to wonder. I don’t need to remind you because you were at the epicenter of the Cadillac Williams thing on national television 14 months ago how popular he was and what an emotional story that is,” Finebaum said.

“I think that’s part of it, I think when you unload your top two coordinators and there’s change and there’s chaos, you really are going to draw the wrath of the crowd. Having said all that, I think some of the changes have been positive. I think Hugh Freeze realized he needed an upgrade and I think he’s got it. I still think the sour taste at the end of the season is pretty hard to deal with, but I would still argue that if you take a deep breath and look forward, Auburn is in very good shape.”