Nick Coe

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How Auburn's Nick Coe earned his peculiar nickname

Wesley Sinor | wsinor@al.com

As far as Kevin Steele is concerned, Nick Coe's name is "Pickle."

During his press conference Tuesday night, the Auburn defensive coordinator was asked about Coe, the redshirt freshman defensive end who is battling for a starting job this spring.

At first, Steele didn't know which player the reporter was asking about. He's grown more accustomed to calling Coe, a native of Asheboro, N.C., by his nickname.

"His nickname is Pickle," Steele said. "He came from a school that he said that had a water hose at break. And of course now you know they give them Gatorade and popsicles, it's like a smorgasbord out there. Break in fall camp. I mean, it's like, geez. You know, they give them pickles for obvious reasons."

Pickles are often eaten by athletes to help replenish their bodies and fight dehydration. As it turns out, Coe's a big fan.

"He was so taken aback by the fact that he wasn't drinking out of a water hose, that they actually had Gatorade, they had pickles and they had popsicles," Steele said. "I think he ate about eight pickles one break and he enjoyed them very good, and everybody was watching him eat them. And so from then on his name was pickle. So you kind of threw me off when you said Nick, I didn't know who you were talking about."

Steele said during his redshirt season Coe  (6-foot-6, 270 pounds) practiced with the second-team defense and came "very close" to playing. His progress this spring has been praised by coaches and teammates alike.

"I think the biggest thing is just getting out there and playing in an environment where we tackle sometime and there is a result to the play," Steele said. "Not a scout where you thud or you're tagging off, which is not football. Where you actually get in situations where you tackle and run to the football and it means something. I think you can see he's got a skill set. He's got a good skill set."