Cam Riley is a historically large linebacker for Auburn football. His starting chance is here
AUBURN — The full extent of Cam Riley's development came into focus last week for his high school coach.
Clinton Smith, now an assistant at Tuskegee, was touring Auburn football's facility Aug. 12. The Tigers were opening their indoor practice field for the FCS program to scrimmage the next day.
Smith stopped to study the chart where Auburn players' daily weigh-ins are recorded, curious about offensive line weight management during the heat of summer. Then he thought of his pupil.
"Where's Cam Riley?" Smith asked. He looked at the back side of the board, where defenders were listed, and traced his fingers along Riley's row.
"I was like, OK, I know they're in camp. You'll usually see guys lose 10 pounds, gain eight back, because all the running and water weight," Smith said.
But Riley?
235, 234, 232, 235...
"Holy crap," Smith said out loud. Then he texted Riley: "You're 235?"
Auburn has a long history of undersized, over-performing linebackers. Zakoby McClain's last two seasons were a perfect example: At 6-foot and 219 pounds, he built an NFL case for himself.
Riley is not that. In fact, the junior is Auburn's largest linebacker in almost 20 years, as The Auburn Observer's Justin Ferguson noted. The most recent comparison to Riley's 6-5, 235-pound frame was Karlos Dansby in 2003. He was an All-American who proceeded to a 14-year NFL career.
The next thing Smith told Riley after seeing the weight chart? "All you've got to do is make some plays this year, and you've got the next level written all over you, man," Smith said.
Riley will have opportunities to make those plays. He has emerged as Auburn's most consistent first-team inside linebacker alongside senior Owen Pappoe during preseason practices, and he has hinted that he has already been named a starter.
"I feel more beefy, and I'm able to sock O-linemen as hard as I can," Riley said. "I just feel good."
AUBURN LINEBACKERS: Using NIL deal, Auburn football player wants to convince teammates to try anti-concussion collar
RILEY'S PREDECESSOR: How Auburn NFL Draft prospect Zakoby McClain's football career began with Princess the puppy
"If you look at Cam Riley from the time I walked in until now," defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding said, "you’d barely recognize him."
Riley always had the length and speed. But he was about 170 pounds when he arrived at Hillcrest High School as a freshman safety in 2016. In the small town of Evergreen, Alabama, it was a rarity for athletes to play high-level college football. So the coaches tried to forecast futures.
"We were trying to get kids set up for what we thought they were maybe going to play in college," Smith said. Riley moved to linebacker behind a three-man front as he quickly started to grow, adding 1 ½ inches and 15 pounds in a year. As a sophomore, he helped Hillcrest win its first state championship with seven tackles, two sacks and an interception in the title game.
Suddenly colleges coaches were knocking on Hillcrest's door.
Alabama State first, then Troy. Then the SEC and other major programs got involved: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn.
"When Gus Malzahn walked on our campus, you would have thought it was Jesus Christ himself," Smith said. "It was something that the town and the school had never seen before. They see recruiters come on campus, the coordinators or assistants or GA's. But for a kid to get a head coach to walk around to classes and take pictures with people? That was big for us."
The weight gain continued. Riley tried playing basketball as a senior, but he decided he was losing too much weight. So he quit and got back to lifting. He arrived at Auburn weighing 205 pounds. He was 6-3.
He waited two years, playing 66 snaps as a freshman and 94 as a sophomore.
"It was a little discouraging for him at times," Smith said. "I've got a lot of guys that play college ball. They'll call and say, 'Do you think I need to leave? Do you think I need to stay?' I'm like, 'Dude, you're the next guy.'"
"I feel like it helped me out in the long run, being behind Zakoby," Riley said. "He's a legend here."
After Smith got the job at Tuskegee, his family moved into a rental house in February while waiting to have a home built. Smith enlisted Riley to help move a few boxes. The linebacker was in the 220-pound range. He had grown two inches. Even Smith, who had forecasted growth years ago, was startled.
He was downright shocked six months later to see Auburn's weight chart.
"That's crazy," he said. "For a kid to be with me in ninth grade and he's 170 pounds, then all of a sudden you're 235? That's crazy."
Whenever he moves into that new house, he knows he'll have a reliable mover.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Cam Riley, Auburn football's biggest linebacker in years, gets his shot
