Auburn assistants Trooper Taylor and Curtis Luper, the pair who reeled in a number of the signees in Auburn’s consensus top-five class, were named Top 25 recruiters by Rivals.com on Monday.

Taylor and Luper had a hand in signing at least 10 of Auburn’s 32 signees, including all three five-star players and four of Auburn’s 13 four-stars. All but one of their signees (Springville wide receiver Jeremy Richardson) was recruited out-of-state.

The Web site called Luper, Auburn’s recruiting coordinator, the “primary mastermind” behind “Tiger Walk” and “Big Cat Weekend,” which “helped create a great buzz for Auburn.”

Taylor, who also made the list during his Tennessee days, was personally handicapped by the six secondary violations leveled on Auburn following “Big Cat Weekend.”

Taylor was not allowed to engage in off-campus recruiting from July 31 to Nov. 30 after video showed him leading the group of high-profile prospects to
Toomer’s Corner and then leading cheers, both of which were considered violations. He was the only coach Auburn originally reprimanded when it self-reported the violations in a June 30 letter to the SEC.

Still, Taylor played a major role in securing an early commitment from offensive lineman Shon Coleman (Olive Branch, Miss.) and helped reel in four-star defensive end Corey Lemonier (Hialeah, Fla.) on signing day.

Auburn was one of three schools to have more than one representative on the list. Florida State (James Coley, Lawrence Dawsey) and Texas (Bobby Kennedy, Will Muschamp) were the others.

Taylor and Luper both coached together at Oklahoma State before coming to Auburn.

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