Michael Dyer lands on ‘biggest recruiting busts of all-time’ list
Auburn’s 2010 recruiting class was one of the best in the nation. The Tigers ended with the No. 6 overall class, and it featured several key names such as Trovon Reed, Corey Lemonier, and cody parkey.
This recruiting cycle is best known for Auburn’s hunt for three strong running backs: Michael Dyer, Lache Seastrunk, and Marcus Lattimore. Auburn ended up signing Dyer, who became Auburn’s top signee of the class.
Dyer contributed early by rushing for 1,093 yards and five touchdowns during Auburn’s national championship-winning season in 2010. He followed that season by rushing for 1,242 yards and ten scores in 2011.
However, he was suspended from the 2011 Chick-Fil-A Bowl, which began a downward spiral for the once-prized recruit.
He would leave Auburn following the 2011 season to join Gus Malzahn at Arkansas State but never played a down. He transferred to Arkansas Baptist before ultimately settling at Louisville. Dyer did not enjoy the same success at Louisville as he did with Auburn, as he only rushed for 704 yards on 154 carries over two seasons.
Because of his abnormal college career, 247Sports has placed Dyer on their Biggest recruiting busts of all-time list. 247Sports compiled this list based on input from college football fans across the country and then used a rating system to determine how strong each claim is. 247Sports’ Carter Bahns gives Dyer a three. Bahns says that Dyer’s contributions to Auburn’s 2010 championship season negate most of the claim, but his offseason issues prevented him from having a strong ending to his career.
In a 2015 interview with AL.com, Dyer stated that leaving Auburn was “the lowest point” of his college career.
“To be honest, I ask myself all the time. Even at Auburn, I asked myself (if) I was to stay there three years, then where would I have been? The only answer I can come up with every time (is) I probably wouldn’t even still be there because I didn’t grow up. I didn’t understand exactly about football and everything that comes with football. I came out of high school and I had good talent and a lot of people around me supported me, but never really the structure to understand what it takes to maintain. Going through everything I went through, I understand that now.”
Despite off-field and academic issues, as well as injuries during his time at Louisville, Dyer ended his college career with 3,039 yards on 578 attempts with 22 touchdowns.
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