Derick Hall is Mr. Consistency

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Derick Hall is ‘Mr. Consistency’ for Auburn off the edge this spring

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

4-5 minutes

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Auburn edge defender Derick Hall (right) goes head to head with offensive tackle Brodarious Hamm during spring practice on Monday, April 12, 2021 in Auburn, Ala. Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Derick Hall has made a name for himself this spring.

The junior edge defender has been a steady and reliable presence in practices and team meetings for Auburn’s defense as it adapts to a new coaching staff and defensive coordinator Derek Mason’s new scheme. That dependability has not gone unnoticed, either.

“He brings the consistency that you need with leadership,” outside linebackers coach Bert Watts said. “And any great leader is going to be consistent. They’re going to do the right things every single day, not just on the field but off the field. They’re going to have a steady mindset, be steady emotionally and not be up and down depending on how the day went or the day before went.

“That’s what Derick is. He’s Mr. Consistency.”

Hall has emerged as a leader in Watts’ position room this spring, doing so while making his own adjustments to a new position. After playing mostly at Buck and defensive end during his first two seasons on the Plains, Hall is now listed at the new edge defender position in Mason’s defense.

“It completely different,” Hall said.

And as the Tigers’ third-leading sack producer last season, the Gulfport, Miss., native figures to be the team’s top edge-rusher heading into the 2021 season.

He appeared in all 11 games last season, making three starts—two at Buck against Kentucky and Arkansas and then at defensive end in the Iron Bowl — while finishing the year with 21 total tackles and 3.5 sacks, which was just behind linebacker Owen Pappoe and defensive lineman Colby Wooden (four apiece) for the team lead.

This offseason, as Hall readied for his positional adjustment in Mason’s system, he added 13 pounds — he is now listed at 6-foot-3 and 251 pounds — in an effort to get bigger, faster and stronger while being asked to do a little more defensively, including more drops into coverage and playing in space than he was accustomed to the last two seasons along the defensive line.

“It wasn’t necessarily I think that was something I needed, but it was just something I wanted,” Hall said. “I think it would benefit me and my aspects and my goals for this upcoming year. So, it was a little bigger, little stronger, little faster, little better.”

That mindset has carried into the spring, with Watts noting last week that he has seen Hall improve some aspect of his game — whether it’s his effort or technique — each day the team has been out on the field. He has done that while also setting an example for the rest of the outside linebackers room with his day-to-day approach, quickly becoming someone that Watts and the rest of the position group have leaned on this spring.

“Every single day, he’s staying on the right level,” Watts said. “He’s calm, cool, collected. He takes the coaching well…. There’s critique involved, so you have to be humble and be able to take it, and he’s a great example of that that the guys have all learned from and gotten better off the bat. I think he can be very good. I think he’s got a great chance to be a great player in this defense.”

For his part, Hall expects his new role as an edge defender — and the overall schematic changes for the Tigers — will be “pretty significant” for the defense this upcoming season. He believes the way Mason’s defense moves guys around up front is “lovely,” and he’s eager to reap the benefits of it come fall.

“Derick is just hungry,” defensive lineman Colby Wooden said. “I couldn’t ask for somebody better to be on my side to set the edge, just to play defense with.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.