#PMARSHONAU: Sunday reflections from Auburn and beyond

[aubiefifty 17,313]

#PMARSHONAU: Sunday reflections from Auburn and beyond

ByPhillip Marshall

10-12 minutes

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Auburn AD Allen Green on importance of new Football Only Facility

 

Thirteen days before the season-opener, I don’t believe I have ever had less of a feel for an Auburn football team.

In normal times, you get a feel through conversations with coaches and players. Even at SEC Media Days, players talked from the podium. The last time reporters had face-to-face conversations with players was after the Outback Bowl at the end of the 2019 season. First-year coach Bryan Harsin has been available via Zoom twice since the start of preseason camp. Players have been frequently made available standing at a podium, also on Zoom.

I’m not being critical here. No one asked for this. It’s the same most everywhere and has been since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. But you don’t have conversations in those settings. You have question and answers sessions. Harsin gives extremely long answers and, as a result, usually only takes a half-dozen or so questions. Players, typically, are not comfortable at a podium. There is no give and take, few followup questions and nothing resembling conversations in which it might be possible to get at what makes a young man tick.

Add to that both preseason scrimmages have been closed to reporters. We’ve managed to talk to people who were allowed in, but those people didn’t know what was supposed to happen or what the purpose of a particular series of plays was or why a play worked or didn’t. Add all that together and it makes for a difficult situation.

SOME THOUGHTS FROM AFAR

--The pandemic has taken Harsin away for at least 10 days and has taken some players off the field and out of meeting rooms. That is not only a distraction, but a real problem in trying to get a team with new systems on both sides of the ball ready to play.

--It is particularly a problem for the offensive line, considering the need for the five starters to work together and establish the chemistry it takes to work in unison.

--I have heard about Bo Nix throwing good passes. I have heard about him throwing bad passes. Which means the most? I don’t know.

--I have heard similar comments on transfer T.J. Finley and redshirt freshman Dematrius Davis. Who were they playing against? I’m not sure.

--The defense has been terrific. Is that because the defense really is terrific or is it a sign of struggles on offense? Probably somewhere in between, but I don’t know.

One thing I know is that this Auburn football team will not be operating at peak efficiency in the opener against Akron, which could and probably will lead to a victory that is not particularly satisfying.

We will know where this team stands after a trip to Penn State in the third game of the season, but even then, we won’t know where’s going.

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP LIMIT TO RISE?

Sports Illustrated reports that NCAA officials are moving closer to an immediate expansion of the annual 25-player signing limit as a way for coaches to replace players lost to the transfer portal. The NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee is finalizing a proposal that would change the signing limit this cycle in a one-year waiver of relief until a permanent policy is created.

According to the report, the annual limit could grow to 30, 32 or 35. There AFCA has proposed a policy that would allow only those players who enter the portal before the first day of the February signing period can be replaced.

This could get really interesting.

FOOTBALL FACILITY WILL BE A REALITY

Finally, the completion of Auburn’s football-only facility is in sight. Athletics director Allen Greene said Saturday at ground-breaking ceremonies that the “Football Performance Center” should open in 12-15 months. Though long overdue, it will be a boon for Auburn players and for recruiting.

Ironically, it could have happened much earlier. After going 12-2 and playing for the national championship in 2013, Gus Malzahn told Auburn officials that he did not consider a football-only facility a priority. He changed his opinion later, but an opportunity was lost. Meanwhile, ever bigger fancier building programs sprouted on campuses across the SEC.

Greene deserves credit for raising enough money to get the project off the ground. The Board of Trustees deserves credit for outright ordering former president Steven Leath, who apparently did not think the time was right, to get out of the way. A week or so later, Leath was fired.

CAN AUBURN COMMIT PLAY TWO SPORTS?

Auburn commitment Tre Donaldson wants to play both football and basketball. He’s a big-time prospect in both, but can he pull it off? It will be extremely difficult.

Wide receiver Clifton Robinson and offensive lineman Kendall Mack played for a time for Cliff Ellis and tight end Benny Anthony for Sonny Smith, but it’s a big ask considering the overlap of the two seasons. Former Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell also wanted to play both sports. He, too, was a big-time prospect in both. Somewhere, there is a photo of the 2000 Auburn team with Campbell in it. But he never actually took the court. To be fair, it is even more difficult for a quarterback.

Maybe Donaldson, who is in town today for Bruce Pearl’s elite camp, can pull it off, but it will be very difficult. The big question is, if he decides he can’t do both, which one will he choose?

SEC, THE BIG 12 AND THE SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

In 1991, the SEC snatched Arkansas away from the Southwest Conference. In 1994, the Southwest Conference collapsed and the Big 12 was formed with teams from the Big Eight and the SWC. In 2011, the SEC grabbed Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12. And now, it has taken away Texas and Oklahoma. That means that, when Oklahoma and Texas start to play in the SEC, the league will include five programs from the SWC or Big 12.

It’s easy to see why SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t the most popular guy in that part of the country.

NEWKIRK FINDS HAPPINESS AT FLORIDA

Former Auburn defensive tackle Daquan Newkirk, from Orlando, seems to be delighted with his new home at Florida. He looks to be an important part of the Gators’ defensive line. At Auburn, there was not any question about Newkirk’s talent, but he was rarely fully healthy.

“I’m here with my brothers now,” Newkirk said in a recent interview. “My family’s only an hour and 30 minutes away. That’s crazy. I think coming here was the best thing I could’ve ever done. And when I got here, I just felt like, ‘Dang, like this is home.’ Like, God has helped me and I was ready to go.” 

EASY SCHEDULE FOR VOLS’ HEUPEL

First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel got a break in his new job. He inherits the SEC’s weakest nonconference schedule. The Vols play Bowling Green, Pitt, Tennessee Tech and South Alabama. Add that to an SEC East schedule, and they should be good enough to play in a bowl game.

Probably the SEC’s most difficult nonconference games will happen early. Georgia opens against Clemson and Alabama against Miami. In the third week of the season, Auburn goes to Penn State.

THREE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN

--In three consecutive seasons, Auburn trailed Tennessee by 12 or more points and won all three, 24-21 in 1961 in Knoxville, 22-21 in 1962 in Birmingham and 23-19 in 1963 in Knoxville. Comebacks like that were rare in those days, much less three of them in a row.

--Before LSU won 10 straight over Auburn in Baton Rouge, Auburn won three of four there. The last one was a stunning 41-7 blowout in 1999, Tommy Tuberville’s first season. Auburn players smoked cigars after game. LSU fans claim to have been highly offended, which was strange, because only a handful of them were left by the time the game was over.

--When Alabama lined up for an ill-fated field goal attempt with one second left in 2013, Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson suggested to Malzahn they should send someone deep in case it was short. Ryan Smith, the safety, dropped back into the end zone. When Alabama called timeout, Johnson had another suggestion. Why not Chris Davis, the SEC’s leading punt returner? Sure enough, Davis dropped back in place of Smith. And you know the rest of the story.

BIG TEN, PAC-12, ACC ARROGANCE

It’s amusing really. The Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 are considering some sort of alliance in response to the SEC grabbing Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12. They are, of course, not including what is left of the Big 12 in their plan, but that isn’t what is amusing.

They claim that a large part of their motivation is academics as if academic people can only talk with people from their own athletic conference or, in this case, alliance. And there is the unspoken message that only those three conferences really care about academics.

They care, of course. So do the universities in the SEC, the Big 12, the MAC, the Mountain West, the American, the Sun Belt, Conference USA, the FCS and Division II. Arrogance is never an attractive thing.

WHERE IS IT EASIEST TO WIN IN THE SEC?

What programs in the SEC have the resources and the recruiting power to be consistent contenders? Here is how I rank the easiest places in the league to win. All the top five except Georgia have won national championships since 2006.

1-Alabama

2-Georgia

3-LSU

4-Florida

5-Auburn

84COMMENTS

6-Texas A&M

7-Tennessee

8-Ole Miss

9-Arkansas

10-Kentucky

11-Missouri

12-Mississippi State

13-South Carolina

14-Vanderbilt

">247Sports

[DAG 34,051]

Just ready for September to finally get here. Thanks for sharing this. Although this guy has mastered saying a whole lot of nothing .

[TigerHorn 1,354]

I'm surprised the ACC-B1G-PAC12 alliance hasn't been a bigger topic of discussion. And he's spot on WRT their arrogance. 

[aubiefifty 17,313]

19 minutes ago, DAG said:

Just ready for September to finally get here. Thanks for sharing this. Although this guy has mastered saying a whole lot of nothing .

he sure does. i think we needed a distraction. the man can barely talk in the videos i have seen.

[Timbeaux38 300]

so the guy that has been around Auburn Football since Christ was a mess cook has no idea what is going on? Is it because his access has been restricted, or does he not know enough about he game to form an actual opinion?   I'm gonna assume it is some of both.

[eaglenest 332]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

Just ready for September to finally get here. Thanks for sharing this. Although this guy has mastered saying a whole lot of nothing .

This was terrible on so many levels, like some have said before, Auburn does it's business on the front porch and Alabama does there on the back. To the media who cover Auburn from 247, rivals, and the podcasters, this is what a real coach looks like sounds like and how a division 1 power 5 school coach should and will conduct his program. the same thing happen in Tuscaloosa prior to Nick Saban arrival and how he runs his program over there is no different, there are threads on the U G A boards right now complaining about the same thing, that Kirby is not allowing much access. lets go back 3 years ago Saban had the tasks of trying to handle the Hurts/tua situation did anybody over there wright spoil brats articals about how Nick was handling there situation? NO! grow up 247 Auburn media rivals as well.

[Win4AU 4,055]

I'd put Texas A&M ahead of Auburn as far as easies to win at.  They seem to have a lot more money and until recently didn't have a lot of competition for Texas players in the SEC.  

[woodford 3,682]

I’ve never understood the “easiest” and “best” jobs argument. There are tons of variables (seen and unseen) but it all comes down to coaching. Why are FSU and Tennessee sucking right now? Coaching. 
 

Southern Cal, Tennessee, FSU, Michigan could all turn into serious contenders over night with the right leadership.