Auburn Football: DE Byron Cowart's Frustration Indicates His Importance

It's late August, and players in programs around the country are likely tired of hitting one another and getting earfuls from the same coaches over and over.

In the case of Auburn freshman defensive end and former 5-star prospect Byron Cowart, the frustration temporarily boiled over to the social media world.

Cowart voiced his frustration with the weight his 5-star status carries Saturday night, sending out several tweets that were quickly deleted, according to Brandon Marcello of AL.com.

"Being penalized because I was No. 1 player but I'm struggling i don't care about the stars," Cowart wrote, according to Marcello. "So why when I struggle it's thrown in my face? How about help me huh? I came in humble ready to learn man not bragging and flashy. I just wanna learn."

Cowart then tweeted an apology of sorts after the initial tweets went viral.

"Lesson learned," he tweeted. "Nothing is wrong with me. I love my team, I love Auburn, I just made a freshman mistake. #WDE Mental mistake."

It's not a jump to assume his frustration stems from coaches riding him during fall camp as they try to get him prepared for a season in which the Tigers are expected to compete for a berth in the College Football Playoff and Cowart is expected to be a big piece of that puzzle.

It's not hard to connect the dots and figure out what's going on. Cowart is being de-recruited, which is something defensive line coach Rodney Garner commented on in an all-access piece from ESPN.com's Chris Low.

"Hey, there's the No. 1 player in the country right there," Garner said, according to Low. "At least, he's supposed to be. He's getting coached like everybody else. I guarantee you that. He's being talked to like he never has been before. Gotta decruit. Most important thing you do."

De-recruiting high-profile prospects is the default response for any staff, especially those recruits who are being counted on to be early impact players. The fact that Cowart is being de-recruited so heavily is a sign of just how important he is to the 2015 Tigers.

Auburn finished last season with just 21 sacks—the fourth-worst mark in the conference. The return of stud redshirt sophomore Carl Lawson will help after Lawson missed the 2014 season with a torn ACL, as will the presence of first-year defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Add a healthy Lawson to the mix, and that will serve as a fuel additive to an Auburn defense that's going to churn at a much higher level in 2015.

It's not lip service when Cowart says he's eager to learn.

I saw it firsthand in the limited practice viewing Auburn had earlier in August. He was on the hip of Lawson learning the ropes, talking to all of Auburn's defensive assistants and in the ears of former players who were at practice.

Despite that, the coaching staff feels obligated to bring prospects back down to Earth before their first games because things won't be easy once toe meets leather. That is especially true for true freshmen who are vital to the success of their teams. What they hear in practice is PG-rated compared to what they hear across the line of scrimmage when the lights come on.

The fact of the matter is the staff has been counting on Cowart for quite some time.

"I think [Cowart] could have a big impact," head coach Gus Malzahn said in May prior to his Tiger Trek stop in Atlanta. "It’s going to be up to him. He’s going to have an opportunity. Carl Lawson made a big impact as a freshman, and I see a lot of similarities not only ability-wise but also mindset-wise."

Consider Cowart's tweets exactly what he said they were—freshmen mistakes. 

The coaching staff knows how important he is and is pulling out all the stops to get him ready to contribute right away for a team that was predicted to win the SEC at media days in July.

 

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com.Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83.

Follow Barrett on Twitter: @BarrettSallee.

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