We all remember Dameyune Craig from the Bowden days. We all remember him running and passing the ball all over place, and pretty much being the entire Auburn offense during the years following Patrick Nix.
You may also realize that he has never returned to Auburn for a big game, celebration, etc. since then. Why not? I don’t know. Some say that he didn’t exactly enjoy his time at Auburn or that a few people at Auburn rubbed him the wrong way. Most of those people are probably long gone, so it doesn’t completely make sense that he would still have some beef with Auburn. Either way, he hasn’t exactly been an ambassador of the school. In his defense, he has pretty much been playing or coaching football since he left the Plains.
Regardless, watch Dameyune in this video from Seminoles.com, following Ronald Darby’s National Signing Day announcement that he would be attending Florida State instead of Auburn. He’s wearing a red hat. I’ll let you finish before I tell you what I think I see.
Ok, so did you see/hear that? To me it appears that once the celebration begins to die down, Dameyune turns his hat around, attempts to chest bump another coach, and pretends to wave a towel above his head. I think I even hear a “Troop!” in there. It’s pretty obvious he’s gloating over the fact that he beat out Auburn, and more importantly Trooper Taylor, in a recruiting battle to get Darby.
Message boarders will tell you that he has been badmouthing Auburn as a recruiting tactic for the past two years as Florida State’s quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. That’s obviously tough for some fans to swallow. I can understand being a cutthroat recruiter, but not when it involves telling recruits about the “bad things” you experienced at your former school, especially when nobody on this current staff had anything to do with your time at Auburn. I’m not saying it happens, but this video does make it seem more likely.
It’s not the celebrating that bothers me – he should celebrate since Trooper was once again named one of the nation’s top recruiters. This is his job, and his work obviously paid off in this situation. At some point, especially in coaching, your past loyalties have to take a back seat to doing what you’re paid to do. He doesn’t see Trooper as an enemy because he’s an Auburn coach. He sees him as a competitor that’s trying to get the same thing he wants.
But when I see him acting that way on top of the fact that it seems like he wants nothing to do with Auburn, it doesn’t sit well with me, and it’s hard to look at him the same. So, think what you want. We may know something for sure about what he thinks about Auburn in the future. Until then, tell me what you think…
18 comments
Ya know – he won 11 games his senior year and took us to our first SEC title game (which if the son of a certain FSU legend had been half the coach his ego thought he was, and minus a phantom whistle in Baton Rouge, and first half no show in Little Rock – we would have, should have gone in 1995) – If Dameyune wants to bad-mouth Auburn fine…if he has a beef with ANYONE, it should be Terry Bowden for refusing to recruit BIG/STRONG/FAST running backs (a la Stephen Davis). If he had anything resembling a running game in 1996 and 1997…who knows.
I do know that as soon as the Heisman talk began…he folded like a deck of cards (usually against the Florida Gators, both years). And managed to get us shut out by Mississippi State in Jordan-Hare, which was the worst performance at home by AU – I’ve ever seen (that includes the 2001 Iron Bowl and 2003 USC game).
Let’s just go ahead start letter writing/email campaign to get the Seminoles in a HOME and HOME (preferably a HOME, HOME, and Neutral site like we’ve done with Clemson). The time has come to shut those ACC blow-hards up. The ‘Noles have atleast 4 coaches that spent time on the Plains (Trickett, Gran, Craig, and even Jimbo), with Eddie Gran actually spending 3 years on the same staff as Chizik. So, when they bad mouth AU – they can sound like they’ve got some credibility. Never mind the fact that Trickett & Jimbo were part of the staff that changed AU’s identity in the 1990’s, made us FSU-lite, and led to the worst season at AU since Doug Barfield walked the sidelines (1998, 3-8 – my FR year at AU…yeah f*** those guys, not to mention the fact that we had to go half the season with the BAMA grad as head coach that betrayed Coach Jordan and took our playbooks to Tuscaloosa in 1971).
FSU has always been loud-mouths, and they’ve always played dirty. I’ve always considered them a bit of a Bama-Panhandle. It’s time we renew our rivalry with them, and shut those dirt-bags up once an for all.
His past helped him get to where he is and if you hold that kind of hold on you then it will always hold on to your chance at reaching your full potential. Good luck Mr Craig & WDE!
craig is one of auburns greatest qbs. dont really think that was a insult of trooper aka top recruiter… but he works for fsu.. so he has to do what he has too.
I think it was a stab at Troop. Whether it was jokingly or not, only they know.
I would like to know what Jimbo is referencing with his “8th Grade” comment. He said it at least twice, and one time, he looked directly at Craig, and said “8th Grade” emphatically.
He said, “8 straight,” a reference to the number of commits on signing day (or near that day) that they’d garnered, maybe even a reference to how many top recruits Craig was responsible for.
He actually says “8 for 8.” I’m not sure what he’s referring to, though. Maybe he meant they got their top 8 targets. He could mean that they went 8 for 8 against Auburn, but I don’t think there were that many head to head battles.
He remains one of my favorite players. This kinda sucks, though.
He is also one of my favorite players. For awhile there, it seems he was the whole team, carrying it on his back. He was the epitome of Auburn spirit, carrying on amidst bad circumstances. He was always a bright light for me during that time. Maybe WarBlogle should get his address at FSU and we start a campaign to send him thank you cards. It is possible that he has no idea how much he meant to the Auburn family. It only takes a handful of assholes to ruin someone’s experiences. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was this case for him.
I think college football is big business and it is Craig’s livelihood. Sad to see but that’s the way it is.
There’s no doubt that he’s mocking Trooper… i don’t know that i really care that much. i see it as a compliment to how great Trooper is @ recruiting… here’s hoping Troop pulls in one more with Diggs.
As far as Craig, i don’t know the facts about him regarding negative recruiting. As far as i am concerned, they are just rumors. i’ve also heard rumors that he, in fact, loves Auburn and has a house there… i don’t know the truth of either; i just think he’s just doing his job.
We have our fair share of coaches that attended college @ other big name universities. i think your allegiance is with the team paying your bills.
Was he ever recruited by Trooper?
Personally I have always thought of him as my favorite QB. His last year when we had like 6 different starting centers was great.
I don’t have an issue with him taunting Trooper either. Trooper is one of the best recruiters in the nation. Hands down. Of course if you want to compete on that level you are going to go head to head with Trooper and you are going to critize/compete with him. It is the nature of competition.
I see some apparant mocking towards my boy Troop. How about we place FSU on the schedule next season and see who is the better team!
AUBURN SUCK’S PITIFUL
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[…] Florida State also beat out Auburn and Alabama for a pair five-stars from the D.C. area in consecutive years, for cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. When Darby signed over Auburn on ESPN, Craig turned his hat around and looked to wave an imaginary towel above his head while chest-bumping — apparently mocking then-Auburn assistant and ace recruiter Trooper Taylor. […]
[…] Florida State also beat out Auburn and Alabama for a pair five-stars from the D.C. area in consecutive years, for cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. When Darby signed over Auburn on ESPN, Craig turned his hat around and looked to wave an imaginary towel above his head while chest-bumping — apparently mocking then-Auburn assistant and ace recruiter Trooper Taylor. […]
[…] Florida State also beat out Auburn and Alabama for a pair five-stars from the D.C. area in consecutive years, for cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. When Darby signed over Auburn on ESPN, Craig turned his hat around and looked to wave an imaginary towel above his head while chest-bumping — apparently mocking then-Auburn assistant and ace recruiter Trooper Taylor. […]
[…] Florida State also beat out Auburn and Alabama for a pair five-stars from the D.C. area in consecutive years, for cornerback Ronald Darby and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. When Darby signed over Auburn on ESPN, Craig turned his hat around and looked to wave an imaginary towel above his head while chest-bumping — apparently mocking then-Auburn assistant and ace recruiter Trooper Taylor. […]