Meet the Kid Who Broke Ryan Williams' High School Receiving Record
Auburn freshman Deshawn Spencer is having a good spring.
If they can't use an Auburn man for the job they should shut the damn place down.
- Shug Jordan, former football coach
When current Alabama wide receiver Ryan (Coleman) Williams set the receiving record at Yellowhammer state powerhouse Saraland High, I imagine he probably thought that record would stand for at least the duration of his collegiate career. Furthermore—in the unlikely event that someone else would come along and break the record held by the first ever back-to-back Alabama Mr. Football—I’d imagine he didn’t think it would be a RB who would do it.
Incoming Auburn freshman Deshawn Spencer is fresh off his 2025 senior campaign with Saraland, where he produced 1709 receiving yards, passing Williams’ previous mark of 1641. Not only that, but he did this in just his second season ever playing the wide receiver position, and in one less game than Williams had.
Here is what 247 Sports writer Hudson Standish had to say about Spencer coming out of high school:
Former running back who made the switch to slot receiver and blossomed into one of Alabama's top pass catchers as a junior. Verified around 5-foot-10, 160 pounds with a good top-end gear and impressive short-area quickness.
Named a top performer at the loaded Under Armour Atlanta regional camp after a one-on-one session that saw him create separation at all three levels against some of the Deep South's top defensive backs. Smooth mover who can accelerate and decelerate with ease before and after the catch. Can struggle at times when jammed off the line of scrimmage, which could be a result of the recent move to wideout.
Profiles as a versatile offensive skill player who can move around the formation and factor into both the rushing and receiving attack. Should be viewed as a high-floor slot receiver with a unique skillset and the athletic tools to merit NFL Draft consideration.
Understandably, Spencer was highly coveted around the country, including the former USF staff. And given that Spencer hails from the state of Alabama, retaining the relationship was a no-brainer once the staff made their way over to Auburn:
When Kodi Burns knew he was making the move from USF to Auburn with Alex Golesh, one of the first things he did was get on the phone with speedy wide receiver Deshawn Spencer from Saraland (Alabama) High. A talented player that put up huge numbers as a senior for coach Jeff Kelly, Spencer was being recruited by the Bulls to come to South Florida but was headed to Duke before Auburn came calling.
“I thought he was always one of the better slots in the country,” Burns said earlier in the spring. “I had an authentic relationship with him and his whole family. We thought we had a real chance. And we honestly did, at the end, at USF. Obviously, just the timing of everything where we get the job Sunday, right before Signing Day — and he’s here, and it makes sense, right?
“Because he wanted to be in this system that we run, this offense, but it’s obviously hard to turn down the SEC. Super excited to be able to work with him. Uber-talented. Comes from an incredible program at Saraland that just puts players out. Long time ago, we had Velus Jones at Tennessee, who I coached for a year and then he went in the third round. They’re all kind of that same mold.”
Burns’ resolve to bring Spencer into his WR room may be paying dividends sooner than expected, as the former Saraland product appears to be transitioning to college fairly seamlessly:
Making the flip and signing with the Tigers, Spencer is someone that came into the program prepared to play and it has shown up on the practice field this spring. On Thursday night he backed up that play in the first spring scrimmage for the Tigers and Golesh said he’s earning the right to get more reps as they work towards the A-Day game in two weeks.
As a senior he caught 94 passes for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also added 489 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 54 carries. Those numbers in a college system at Saraland prepared him for the moment. Golesh said he hasn't backed away from his opportunity.
“A name that has really stood out that I really didn’t know what to expect, I would say Deshawn Spencer,” Golesh said. “He’s a natural football player. Really smart, tough. He’s put on 10 pounds since he’s been here. Obviously he comes from a great program. He’s been coached extremely well. It’s not really surprising, but I guess I didn’t really know if it would translate this quickly. He has taken it and run with it.”
Something CFFers should immediately be making a note of is that Spencer is tabbed as a slot receiver in this program (not surprising given his physical profile), which as we’ll see in the next section is important.
COACHING & SYSTEM: We ❤️ Slots
WR1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 14.5 — OC: 13.1 (half ppr)
Former USF head coach Alex Golesh is a disciple of the Josh Heupel coaching tree, serving as his OC at Tennessee in 2021 and 2022. He made his way onto my radar in a big way during the 2022 season when his protégé in the slot, Jalin Hyatt, torched CFB and won the Biletnikoff Award.
His primary OC (and QBs coach), Joel Gordon, joined Golesh’s staff in 2023 after serving as the pass game coordinator and QBs coach at ISU from 2018 to 2022.
Kodi Burns is listed as a co-OC and WRs coach. He was in the same position with USF in 2025, and prior to that the WRs coach at NFL team New Orleans Saints (2022-2024) and Tennessee (2021), so there was a prior relationship there with Golesh. However, this will not be Burns’ first stint on the Plains. He was also the WRs coach (2019-2020) and co-OC (2016-2018) with the Tigers.
I don’t have PPG numbers for Burns, but of the Auburn teams he was associated with when he occupied a play calling title, the highest receiving output was Ryan Davis (5’10, 180) with 84(!) receptions, 815 yards and five scores. The other two seasons were not good statistically.
As can be seen in Table 1 below, the slot receiver position is the preferred option in this system. Between 2022 and 2024, the slot receiver led the team in target share for three straight seasons.
And not captured in the table is Marlon Williams’ 2020 season. Williams finished the shortened COVID campaign with 1039 yards and 10 TDs on 71 receptions from the slot position; and yes, he was UCF’s WR1 by target share.
That being said, we can see via Singleton this past season, and Cedric Tillman in 2021, that the outside guys can get some love too if they’re worthy.
Unsurprisingly, as a Heupel Air Raid disciple, Golesh’s teams move very fast. His average hovers around 20 seconds per play, which means his offences are in the top 5-to-10 FBS programs in regards to pace each season.
The number of plays per game of the teams he’s been associated with never falls below 72, with a career high of 79 plays per game in 2023. That scaled back to only 72 plays per game in 2024, and 73 per game in 2025 (part of the reason for the lower plays this season was the amount of blowouts USF was in).
However, what may surprise the reader is that Golesh’s offences lean more heavily into the run. His average over the last four seasons is a 56/44 split, and a 55/45 split at USF. Even when Jalin Hyatt had his career year in 2022, Tennessee’s split was 55/45 in favour of the ground game.
OUTLOOK FOR 2026: DESHAWN SPENCER
Part of the USF import when Golesh took over included bringing many of his top receivers over from his former program, so there is a bit of a logjam on the depth chart currently.
Golesh’s WR1 last year, Keshaun Singleton (6’3), is also making his presence known within the program this spring and it would be a surprise if he’s not one of the starters. He’ll most certainly be on the boundary, though.
Jeremiah Koger (6’3) is the other one from USF who is likely to occupy a boundary role in the starting rotation.
At slot receiver there are a few names competing; Chas Nimrod was the starter under Golesh at USF last season when healthy. He is who I have pencilled in as the default starter until further notice. Christian Neptune would probably be my expected #2 in the slot behind him.
That being said, there is often two slots on the field in this offence, so both will effectively start, leaving more room for a slot receiver behind them to come in and get reps as the second string (potentially someone like Spencer, for example).
Bryce Cain, who was at Auburn last season, is also back this year and will be competing with the aforementioned names for reps in the slot as well.
All that to say, it’s going to be tough sledding for Spencer to get on the field regularly as a true freshman this year. Encouragingly, however, he is apparently taking reps with the 2s in camp as we speak (as of early April):
“He has taken reps with the twos and has kind of worked his way up,” Golesh said. “Slowly but surely he’s earning reps. He’ll get reps with the ones the next couple of weeks.
Christian Neptune has been out the last couple of practices and it allowed a guy like Deshawn to step up. Last night the moment wasn’t too big for him, which was impressive to watch.”
As suspected, Nimrod and Neptune are the two default starters in the slot, and if one goes down (i.e. Neptune), then Spencer appears to have positioned himself as the next guy up.
That’s encouraging for his longterm outlook, but it is still an unlikely profile to be profitable in CFF this upcoming season.
File this one away as a C2C/Devy/Dynasty asset for now. I don’t think we’re at the point of interest from a pure CFF context yet. ◾
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