From the Mouth of Terry Henley

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Terry Henley spoke at my Auburn Club's banquet last night. He's a really great speaker... very funny and personable. Here's what he had to say about this year's team.

The O-line will be a big strength. They are talented and deep.

Tre and Cam will be a scary 1-2 punch.

Nick Marshall wasn't recruited to sit on the bench.

Sammy Coates is going to be a superstar and surprise a lot of our opponents.

You are going to see a transition in the linebacker corps from small and fast to huge and fast. He says Ladarius Owens is a monster (though I think there is a little bias there because of his deep friendship with his uncle James).

Watching practice was like watching an aerobics class. It was fast and non-stop and no one was standing around.

Russell has the reputation of someone you don't want to talk to. He's all business and don't get in his way.

Johnson, Craig, and Garner were all great hires, but Harbison was our best coaching hire.

Craig owns Mobile.

He said that there are maybe 3 or 4 teams on our schedule this year that are hands down more talented than we are, but that he truly believes that we can beat all of them, because it takes more than talent to win. He said The Amazins weren't a bunch of highly sought after, talented guys. In fact, he said Randy Walls couldn't throw the ball more than 15 yards and even then he was lucky to hit his target, but he said he's never, even in our championship seasons, seen a tougher bunch of guys. They won with heart, guts, and determination.

On a less happy note, he said that Terry Beasley is not doing well at all, though he is home now.

[DThriftWarEagle 3]

War Eagle. Coming from a younger guy, I enjoy to hear Terry Henley. I agree, our OL should be a strength this year. I'm really hoping for Coats to be our go to receiver.

[JFDTiger80 791]

Thanks for the post. Nice to hear.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

Interesting that he says that Harbison was our best hire, that makes me feel a lot better going into game 1 against Leach's air-raid.

Having our OL as a strength is huge. Coming from a former lineman, every big play starts with the OL, whether it is running or passing.

Also, I hope that Marshall is great, I really do. But even if he isn't, I feel like Rhett and Gus can use the personnel we currently have at QB more effectively than they were used last year.

[gAUlf 1]

Good post. Regardless of who our QB is, I feel we have a shot for a really good season because of the strength of our running game.

[AUenginerd 16]

All positive insight. Here's to hoping it all pans out as described. Thoughts go out to Terry Beasley. WDE!

[augolf1716 21,646]

Terry Henley spoke at my Auburn Club's banquet last night. He's a really great speaker... very funny and personable. Here's what he had to say about this year's team.

The O-line will be a big strength. They are talented and deep.

Tre and Cam will be a scary 1-2 punch.

Nick Marshall wasn't recruited to sit on the bench.

Sammy Coates is going to be a superstar and surprise a lot of our opponents.

You are going to see a transition in the linebacker corps from small and fast to huge and fast. He says Ladarius Owens is a monster (though I think there is a little bias there because of his deep friendship with his uncle James).

Watching practice was like watching an aerobics class. It was fast and non-stop and no one was standing around.

Russell has the reputation of someone you don't want to talk to. He's all business and don't get in his way.

Johnson, Craig, and Garner were all great hires, but Harbison was our best coaching hire.

Craig owns Mobile.

He said that there are maybe 3 or 4 teams on our schedule this year that are hands down more talented than we are, but that he truly believes that we can beat all of them, because it takes more than talent to win. He said The Amazins weren't a bunch of highly sought after, talented guys. In fact, he said Randy Walls couldn't throw the ball more than 15 yards and even then he was lucky to hit his target, but he said he's never, even in our championship seasons, seen a tougher bunch of guys. They won with heart, guts, and determination.

On a less happy note, he said that Terry Beasley is not doing well at all, though he is home now.

I can back that statement up as well as being the absolute slowest person I have ever seen in my life. He would be lucky to hit 7 seconds on a 40.

But he is one heck of a golfer...

[austudnt23 1,432]

He has one thing for sure Marshall will play. Coaching wise Harbison was a great hire and he is a great recruiter. I would have to say Garner was our best hire though when you look at everything. Oline will rival bammer for best in SEC. Tre and Cam are both going to be solid this year. Sammie Coates is a stud but needs to cut down on the drops. I am pretty much alone in saying this besides coaches but I think Trovon breaks out this year at wr. He is taylor made for this offense,

[DThriftWarEagle 3]

He has one thing for sure Marshall will play. Coaching wise Harbison was a great hire and he is a great recruiter. I would have to say Garner was our best hire though when you look at everything. Oline will rival bammer for best in SEC. Tre and Cam are both going to be solid this year. Sammie Coates is a stud but needs to cut down on the drops. I am pretty much alone in saying this besides coaches but I think Trovon breaks out this year at wr. He is taylor made for this offense,

I agree. Do you see Reed breaking out in the slot, or other receiver positions?

[SphyNxXx 98]

Agree that Tre and Cam are a good mix but I think Grant is getting overlooked too. He adds that homerun hitter element that can be a defensive coordinator's nightmare when added alongside the other 2.

[yngwie1995 2,238]

Thanks for the post. I love hearing stuff like this.

Let's hope Marshall clicks with the team and earns their respect. Would love to see him LEAD this team to a great season. He's relatively quiet on twitter (IMO), but I hope he's working his a$$ off right now (and over the last several months).

[NCTiger 0]

If we can just get strong leadership from one of our QBs even if just a game manager I think we shock some people. All the beat downs over the last two years should be ENOUGH motivation for every member on this team with any pride left to work their asses off all summer long. On RBs I like what Henley has to say about CAM and Mason. I would like to see Grant have success because of his work ethic alone. From what little I have seen of him he requires more space than Omac to get it going and I am not sure if he has many moves in the open field. If he has good hands he might be a good option on wheel routes like Carl Stewart did for Borges. As mentioned above I would like to see Reed finally break out and Coats to stop dropping balls, but I am more interested in seeing how Ricardo comes along. The kid has size, speed, moves and just seems like physical playmaker.

War Eagle !

[AURaptor 1,137]

I felt there was talent on the OL, though it was a bit young. I still expected more from it last year, but youth, + inexperience @ the qb position, was a toxic combo. Glad to hear things are moving in the right direction.

[milehighfan 1,240]

I talked with my brother who went to the A-day game and he said Cam is going to be some kind of stud. I believe the O-Line will be a strength but I am hoping to see great strides made by the defense and in paticular, the D-Line.