The world of college football recruiting seems to be getting more and more off the wall every year. This latest example is an odd story that could have ended much differently if not for the class of Auburn offensive line coach Herb Hand.

This story begins with 6-foot-3, 325-pound Miami lineman Taurrian Stafford. The south Florida native currently holds an offer from Florida A&M but was recently brought to tears after receiving a call from someone claiming to be Hand. The reason for the tears was pure joy, as Stafford told Keith Niebuhr of Auburn Undercover that the caller offered him a scholarship to play for the Tigers.

Stafford’s joy quickly turned to agony, as it was discovered that the call did not actually come from Hand, nor anyone from Auburn for that matter, and that no such offer from the Tigers had ever been extended. Apparently, this was someone’s idea of a prank. The caller has yet to be identified.

Stafford sent out this tweet soon after discovering the truth regarding the call.

https://twitter.com/teedo56/status/847557139958771712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fauburn.247sports.com%2FArticle%2FAfter-being-pranked-into-thinking-he-had-an-Auburn-scholarship-o-52071434

Clearly, the Auburn coach doesn’t appreciate anyone using his identity to fool a prospect, as Hand recently called out the imposter online.

Only a true scumbag would 'prank' a HS athlete w/a false scholarship offer-If that's you, you should reevaluate the priorities in your life. — Herb Hand (@CoachHand) March 31, 2017

https://twitter.com/teedo56/status/847801732700745728

According to Niebuhr, Hand has pledged to make the trip down to south Florida to evaluate Stafford this spring, at the very least giving him something to strive for out of this awful experience. If nothing else, Stafford now has extra motivation to go out and prove his value to a Power 5 school in the face of this adversity.

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