changing the offense

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How Chip Lindsey is changing Auburn's offense this spring

James Crepea | jcrepea@al.com

Spring practice will be the first indicator as to how much Auburn's offense will change under new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.

The passing game is going to see the most drastic changes, which in part is due as much to the addition of Jarrett Stidham as it is Lindsey, whose background was in an Air Raid style passing attack.

"He's just going to add some bells and whistles and some flair to what we're doing," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "I really expect our offense to start taking on his personality, but at the same time he knows we have to run the football effectively, so we're going to keep what we've done very well and he's going to add to it.

"The passing game is really, he's a quarterback developer. Our goal is to be more balanced and we needed that the last two years. We'll work very hard in the spring to do that."

Lindsey didn't utilize an H-back much and tight ends have been far more involved in his offenses.

With that said, Chandler Cox isn't expecting a radically different role in Lindsey's offense and he was lined up in his standard position during Tuesday's practice.

"It's going to be very similar," Cox said. "There's some new things that coach Lindsey is going to do (differently) passing wise but for the most part, it's going to be similar to what I've been doing - a lot of blocking and going out for some passes. Hopefully down the line maybe give me the ball a little bit, I don't know."

During the early portion of Tuesday's practice, Lindsey was working closely with the team's six quarterbacks, though Sean White was limited.

Senior offensive lineman Braden Smith said Lindsey has been "easy going" as he installs new aspects to the offense.

"He's trying to get everybody knowing the system better," Smith said. "It's a little bit different with the terminology. It's a little bit different with the wrinkles that are going in. He's trying to get that all installed. I think he's going to do really good things for the program."

Coming off the least productive passing season for Auburn since the disastrous 2012 season and the second-worst in Malzahn's 11 years at the collegiate level, boosting the aerial attack is the top priority.

 

 

Malzahn harps on "balance" and the Tigers ran over 100 more yards per game than they passed last season.

He cites a young receiving corps, which will be without its two most productive returning players until after spring break, as reason to believe those trends will shift in the fall.

"We've got to be more balanced and we're going to do that," Malzahn said. "The great thing is we're in a good spot to do that with the fact that we've got young receivers. Most of the receivers that played last year were freshmen or redshirt-freshmen and they've got a year under their belt. We're really just hoping to take that next step in the spring in the passing game. We've had one of the better running games in our league and we want to keep our strengths."