Spring Practice Updates…

[woodford 3,655]

On 2/7/2023 at 12:30 PM, augolf1716 said:

That is so true

1975 A Day

1970 Cliff Hare Stadium

That is awesome. Thanks for posting. Isn’t there a thread for old Auburn pictures? Or maybe I’m thinking of something else. 

[weagl1 1,781]

23 hours ago, DAG said:

I would bet anything T.J. will leave this spring as QB #1. Wil that affect his potential departure? We will see.

If he performs that resurrection we better sign Danny Hugh to a lifetime contract because he has worked his first miracle.

[DAG 33,955]

1 hour ago, weagl1 said:

If he performs that resurrection we better sign Danny Hugh to a lifetime contract because he has worked his first miracle.

I still think we need a transfer..I would not feel at all confident with who we have. 

[Mikey 16,545]

1 hour ago, weagl1 said:

If he performs that resurrection we better sign Danny Hugh to a lifetime contract because he has worked his first miracle.

I think the only way Finley is #1 after spring practice is if both Geriner and Ashford are very, very disappointing. In other words, Finley will have finished at QB1 by default.

[aubiefifty 16,695]

10 hours ago, Mikey said:

I think the only way Finley is #1 after spring practice is if both Geriner and Ashford are very, very disappointing. In other words, Finley will have finished at QB1 by default.

i agree. with robby not playing for a couple of years and then barely losing to finley is not a great look for him.i would be shocked if robby did not pass finley at least now he has some seasoning. and before anyone starts i do not care who the QB is i just want a winner who will give us a chance every single game.

[aubiefifty 16,695]

Auburn football: 2023 Tigers’ spring practice primer

Caleb Williams

5–6 minutes

---

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve almost made it. In five days, the inaugural version of Hugh Freeze’s Auburn football team will begin spring practice. During what has been, to put it kindly, a very back-and-forth basketball season, and with baseball season just now starting, football has taken a back seat.

That all changes next Monday. We will finally get to hear some news on football. And while basketball season is far from over, and the baseball team is expecting to overachieve on their preseason predictions, football is king in this state.

Let’s talk about the storylines we’re gonna be facing this spring and summer.

The quarterback battle for Auburn football

This is probably the biggest storyline for Auburn football this season. Who will win the job of starting QB in year one under Hugh Freeze and Philip Montgomery? As the roster stands now, the odds favor incumbent Robby Ashford.

Robby flashed excellence at times last season but also showed inconsistency with his accuracy and decision-making. He’s also the QB on the roster who has the most upside. He likely runs in the 4.4s, if not faster, and has ample arm strength to hit the deep shot. It’s gonna be his throws to the field and the boundary that make or break him this fall.

If it’s not Robby, it’s likely Holden Geriner or a post-spring transfer. I won’t speculate as to who that transfer could be, but there are guys out there who won’t win the starting job and don’t want to kill their eligibility riding the pine at their current school.

My early prediction is that Robby takes enough of a step forward passing the ball to take a soft hold on the job until summer and fall camp starts, where the final battle will be decided leading into opening weekend.

Who catches those passes?

Auburn lost their three best pass catchers prior to Bryan Harsin’s arrival in 2021. Seth Williams, Anthony Schwartz, and Eli Stove were all instrumental in the mild successes of both Jarrett Stidham and Bo Nix. In their place rose Kobe Hudson and Shedrick Jackson. Neither remains. In steps some of the rawest talent we’ve seen at Auburn in a while.

Camden Brown? 6’3”. Landen King? 6’5”. Brandon Frazier? 6’7”. Rivaldo Fairweather? 6’5”. Malcolm Johnson Jr.? 6’1”. Omari Kelly? 6’0”. Micah Riley-Ducker? 6’5”. Vertical threats are everywhere on this roster. And in Freeze’s offense, which has always taken the top off of defenses, that’s huge. The only problem? That group of players has caught 81 combined passes.

The most returning receptions on the roster belong to Ja’Varrius Johnson, who is talented and speedy, but not very sizable.

Freeze, Montgomery, WRs coach Marcus Davis, and TEs coach Ben Aigamaua will have to find a steady group of pass catchers to fit the demands of this almost exclusively 10 and 11-personnel offense.

Who’s blocking?

The offensive line has been a question mark since the beginning of 2018, and it hasn’t shown much improvement. While there was some improvement shown after Harsin’s ouster last fall, that won’t be enough to stem the tide of sacks and negative runs that this position group allowed.

Insert Jake Thornton. Thornton coached one of the best offensive lines in the SEC in Ole Miss. He and Freeze signed NINE offensive linemen between each signing day. The group is no longer being ignored for skill players. If they improve, this offense should hum early and often.

So about that secondary?

Crime Dawg is back, alongside Zac Etheridge. With Ron Roberts running a mostly true nickel defense, gone are the days of playing cover 1 and hoping the blitz gets home. Two high will be very common in order to cap the vertical nature of offenses days.

Ole Miss and Arkansas both run versions of the veer and shoot, Texas A&M will move to a power spread under Bobby Petrino, Tennessee probably takes more deep shots than anyone in college football, and Georgia is still expected to run an attacking pro-style spread under new/old/new again offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Keeping teams underneath and forcing them to grind out drives will be key.

The Carlson legacy is over

Daniel Carlson left as the SEC’s all-time leading scorer. Anders Carlson struggled to live up to that standard but was still a pretty good kicker (minus trying to recover from a torn ACL before our very eyes). In steps redshirt freshman Alex McPherson. If you’re new to Auburn football and recognize the name, his brother is Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson.

Alex played in three games to conclude the season as Anders was unable to hardly walk with his leg not cooperating. 9/9 on extra point attempts and 6/7 on field goal attempts is a pretty solid audition. But can he keep it up over a full season? We’ll find out.

Conclusion for Auburn football

There is much to be excited about this spring. While the Hugh Freeze hire did not excite all, it is certainly a more exciting hire than the previous one, and certainly a much easier football decision to defend than bringing in a coach who was being criticized by his own fans.

Let’s have some fun with it. There’s nothing else to do. War Eagle!

[toddc 13,194]

Freeze gives quarterbacks mixed reviews on opening day of spring drills

16 hours ago

AUBURN, Alabama–Following the opening day of spring football practice at Auburn on Monday the quarterbacks received mixed reviewal from their new head coach, Hugh Freeze.

‘I thought our quarterbacks threw some decent balls, at times, and other times where our mechanics were really bad, but I kind of expected that,” Freeze said.

“I thought T.J. (Finley), I thought Robby (Ashford) and Holden (Geriner), I think they are hungry,” said Freeze, who is helping coach the position along with Offensive Coordinator Philip Montgomery and staff member Kent Austin.

“They want to learn a different way, they want to learn a different system,” Freeze pointed out. “I think they all have been like a sponge in saying, ‘Just help me, Coach. I want to get better. I want to be the guy.’

“They are all a little different, and we have to figure out how to play to the strengths of those guys,” the coach noted. “At some point all three are going to have to be the guy to lead the football team–and lead not only on the field, but off the field, in the locker room, decision making, accuracy, taking care of the ball. All of those things.

“To this point the thing I have really liked is, man, if the meeting is at 2:30, they are there at 2:15 saying, 'Can we start early? Can we go?' They are wanting to learn.”

 

Robby Ashford throws a pass on Monday, the first full squad practice at Auburn's new football complex that opened in December. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, 247Sports)

Finley, a 6-7, 260 junior transfer from LSU, and Ashford, a 6-3, 212 redshirt sophomore transfer from Oregon, both have starting experience at Auburn.

Ashford played in a dozen games last season for the Tigers. He completed 123-250 passes for 1,613 yards and seven touchdowns plus seven interceptions. Ashford finished second on the team in rushing with 710 yards. He averaged 4.6 yards per rush and ran for seven scores.

Finley played in four games before being out with an injury.  He completed 33-54 passes for 431 yards and one touchdown with four interceptions. Finley finished the 2023 season with 33 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries.

Geriner is a 6-3, 212 redshirt freshman who led his high school team to a Georgia state championship as a senior. The only other quarterback on the roster this spring is 6-1, 228 sophomore walk-on Sawyer Pate.

13COMMENTS

The Tigers will practice again on Wednesday and Friday before taking a week off for the university’s spring break. The team will put on the full pads after the break and Freeze said the coaches will probably put the team through its first scrimmage of the spring for practice six.

[toddc 13,194]

There is no depth chart:' Freeze aims for equal reps in Auburn spring practices

16 hours ago

AUBURN, Alabama — Hugh Freeze wanted to make one thing clear to his players before the first practices of the spring.

In the team meeting Monday, before the Tigers took the field inside their new, $92 million Woltosz Football Performance Center — and the competition began for the first time in Freeze’s tenure as Auburn’s head coach — he reiterated the point he’s held since being hired: that the entire team, position by position, is receiving a blank slate from the new coaching staff.

In short, as he shared with the Tigers, “there is no depth chart” this spring.

“We won't narrow down the reps in spring,” Freeze said Monday evening. “We will in fall. We have to. But in spring we won't.”

“Everybody got the same number of reps” on Day 1 of Auburn spring practices Monday, and that will continue to be the case over the next 14 practices — from the microscope on the quarterbacks to backups on the defensive line.

Naturally, positional hierarchy from last season, with previous starters and veterans, was in play Monday, and there weren’t necessarily a ton of surprises in terms of who were the first players up to the plate for drills in their respective group. 

But Freeze wants to base his impressions on what he’s seeing on the field, not what he saw on tape with his coaching staff over the past couple months.

“I don't care what group you trot out with on the field right now; I don't have in my mind that this is a first-team, a second-team, a third-team guy,” Freeze said.

That includes the quarterback race, where Robby Ashford, T.J. Finley and Holden Geriner worked with new offensive coordinator and QBs coach Philip Montgomery for the first time on the field Monday. Ashford and Finley were the first up in passing drills, and Ashford later in the media’s practice window took snaps from Avery Jones, the first-team center.

The Tigers’ quarterback coaching braintrust of Freeze, Montgomery and senior analyst Kent Austin will soon throw even a young player like Geriner some chances to work with the top offensive players, too. 

“At some point, all three are going to have to be the guy to lead the football team,” Freeze said. “And lead not only on the field, but off the field, in the locker room, decision making, accuracy, taking care of the ball. All of those things.”

Auburn practices twice more this week — Wednesday and Friday — before a week off during the university’s spring break. The Tigers are set to practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the following four weeks leading up to the A-Day spring game. Freeze said the first scrimmage is slated for the sixth practice day, which would be March 17.

Those scrimmage settings provide more key details for the coaching staff to pore over in elongated offense-versus-defense reps, but they won’t be used to determine separation on the roster until months from now in the preseason. 

“You're going to get the reps, and we're going to rotate different people in with this group that runs out there and grade every single rep of it and kind of figure out where we are after spring,” Freeze said. “But I really just believe that everybody's going to get equal reps in the spring and develop some depth, at least, before we decide where everybody is in the pecking order of depth charts.”

[toddc 13,194]

Hugh Freeze offers new format for Auburn's spring game

16 hours ago

AUBURN, Alabama — The first spring game of the Hugh Freeze era might look a bit different than some of the program's recent iterations of A-Day.

Auburn's end-of-spring, glorified scrimmage inside Jordan-Hare Stadium is still 40 days away. But Freeze already has some ideas about how the format could possibly look — and why it would benefit his players.

The best and most competitive spring game Freeze has been a part of was true offense-versus-defense, with a clear score goal for the offense to strive for, and the defense to attempt to prevent, over the course of a couple hours of scrimmaging.

"You walk in the stadium and on the scoreboard is defense 24, offense 0," Freeze said after Auburn's first day of 2023 spring practices Monday. "And offense, your job is to score more than 24 and win. And defense, hold them to under 24 and win. That's the most, probably, creative and exciting and competitive."

Freeze said he isn't the biggest fan of putting players further down in their respective rotations against top talent on the other side of the ball simply to put points on the board. Auburn has, in recent seasons, run several drives of first-team offense against second-team defense during A-Day.

"I don't like all the formats where, alright, you get a first down, that's a point," Freeze said. "I don't like, alright, we'll go with the 1 offense against the 3 defense and put up a bunch of points and make everybody feel excited. I think that's a false sense of where we really are."

Of course, it requires a healthy roster. Last spring, Auburn's only had a few drives of starting offense against starting defense, as the Tigers were banged up on both sides of the ball.

"I hope we're healthy enough to just go out there and compete," Freeze said. "I'll tell the defensive staff, 'You roll out whoever you want.' But your job is to keep the offense under whatever point spread we agree upon."

Auburn returns to practice Wednesday and Friday this week before a week off during the university's spring break.

This year's A-Day game is set for April 8. Time and TV details have not yet been announced.

[ScotsAU 1,311]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:26 PM, Mikey said:

I think the only way Finley is #1 after spring practice is if both Geriner and Ashford are very, very disappointing. In other words, Finley will have finished at QB1 by default.

A new scheme and/or better coaching can change everything. Remember when everyone was disappointed about Chris Todd winning over Caudle and KB in 2009? Todd went on to break passing records for AU. Was he a world beater at QB? Of course not. But he was efficient, and did mostly what he needed to do in that system to be successful.

TJ winning doesn’t necessarily mean everyone else was that bad. Maybe in this offense and with this staff, the light comes on for him. Whomever wins the competition, don’t blow them off until we see them in the first game or two. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by ScotsAU

[GreenTiger 1,000]

Lights magically going off for players with already having a couple years under their belts is a rarity. Could happen but highly unlikely. 

[AUBwins 10,064]

Whoa.  seeing where people are typing now.  Cool!

[AUnCullman 601]

2 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

Lights magically going off for players with already having a couple years under their belts is a rarity. Could happen but highly unlikely. 

Its true. Kind of like marriage. I've been married for almost 30 years and my wife still hasn't changed. I'm holding out hope though....

[TexasTiger 12,800]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:30 AM, augolf1716 said:

 

 

 

It was easy to sneak in this end zone during stadium practices and watch back in the day.

[TexasTiger 12,800]

2 hours ago, toddc said:

Freeze gives quarterbacks mixed reviews on opening day of spring drills

16 hours ago

AUBURN, Alabama–Following the opening day of spring football practice at Auburn on Monday the quarterbacks received mixed reviewal from their new head coach, Hugh Freeze.

‘I thought our quarterbacks threw some decent balls, at times, and other times where our mechanics were really bad, but I kind of expected that,” Freeze said.

“I thought T.J. (Finley), I thought Robby (Ashford) and Holden (Geriner), I think they are hungry,” said Freeze, who is helping coach the position along with Offensive Coordinator Philip Montgomery and staff member Kent Austin.

“They want to learn a different way, they want to learn a different system,” Freeze pointed out. “I think they all have been like a sponge in saying, ‘Just help me, Coach. I want to get better. I want to be the guy.’

“They are all a little different, and we have to figure out how to play to the strengths of those guys,” the coach noted. “At some point all three are going to have to be the guy to lead the football team–and lead not only on the field, but off the field, in the locker room, decision making, accuracy, taking care of the ball. All of those things.

“To this point the thing I have really liked is, man, if the meeting is at 2:30, they are there at 2:15 saying, 'Can we start early? Can we go?' They are wanting to learn.”

 

Robby Ashford throws a pass on Monday, the first full squad practice at Auburn's new football complex that opened in December. (Photo: Jason Caldwell, 247Sports)

Finley, a 6-7, 260 junior transfer from LSU, and Ashford, a 6-3, 212 redshirt sophomore transfer from Oregon, both have starting experience at Auburn.

Ashford played in a dozen games last season for the Tigers. He completed 123-250 passes for 1,613 yards and seven touchdowns plus seven interceptions. Ashford finished second on the team in rushing with 710 yards. He averaged 4.6 yards per rush and ran for seven scores.

Finley played in four games before being out with an injury.  He completed 33-54 passes for 431 yards and one touchdown with four interceptions. Finley finished the 2023 season with 33 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries.

Geriner is a 6-3, 212 redshirt freshman who led his high school team to a Georgia state championship as a senior. The only other quarterback on the roster this spring is 6-1, 228 sophomore walk-on Sawyer Pate.

13COMMENTS

The Tigers will practice again on Wednesday and Friday before taking a week off for the university’s spring break. The team will put on the full pads after the break and Freeze said the coaches will probably put the team through its first scrimmage of the spring for practice six.

Sawyer Pate shocks the world.

[abw0004 10,104]

 

[abw0004 10,104]

10 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

Whoa.  seeing where people are typing now.  Cool!

You could see it before where their name would be in italics at the bottom of the page where it showed what members are in the thread.  The new way is a lot more modern.  Just another example how Red really keeps this forum at the cutting edge.  Other university forums look like they run on Windows 95.

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

I have an On3 membership and know that as a Pay site we can't talk about things they said.  They had a section with Pictures of players at Practice.  you can't tell a lot from pictures but I especially looked at pictures of some of our what will probably be our back O-linemen. Garner Langlo has some guns and just looks good, Cord Bradley looks like a player as does Tate Johnson and EJ Harris.  Same for some of the new freshman like Wedin and Lew look the part. 

Again this is from still pictures which doesn't mean they are good or bad players it just means it looks like they worked hard and look the part.

[CottonCitySlim 4]

3 hours ago, GreenTiger said:

Lights magically going off for players with already having a couple years under their belts is a rarity. Could happen but highly unlikely. 

Hendon Hooker

[Sizzle 3,909]

3 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I have an On3 membership and know that as a Pay site we can't talk about things they said.  They had a section with Pictures of players at Practice.  you can't tell a lot from pictures but I especially looked at pictures of some of our what will probably be our back O-linemen. Garner Langlo has some guns and just looks good, Cord Bradley looks like a player as does Tate Johnson and EJ Harris.  Same for some of the new freshman like Wedin and Lew look the part. 

Again this is from still pictures which doesn't mean they are good or bad players it just means it looks like they worked hard and look the part.

Tbh I think you can talk about things they said but you can’t copy and paste or screenshot. But you can paraphrase 

[JuscAUse! 1,386]

1 hour ago, CottonCitySlim said:

Hendon Hooker

Jason Campbell

 

[toddc 13,194]

Jaylin Simpson sticks at safety, where 'he can be a Sunday player'

4 hours ago

 

AUBURN, Alabama — Jaylin Simpson may have found a permanent home in Auburn’s secondary, and it’s a role the coaching staff has good reason to believe he’ll thrive in. 

The redshirt senior worked with the safeties on Day 1 of Auburn spring practice Monday, and defensive backs coach Zac Etheridgeconfirmed during a chat with reporters the next day that Simpson, who was a starting cornerback early last season, is now working solely at safety after playing the position late in the year in 2022 due to injuries.

And Etheridge is extremely high on the type of player Simpson could be on the back end of Auburn’s defense.

“I think Simp has found himself a home,” Etheridge said. “I think he's an elite player — that if he holds onto everything that goes in football off the field, he can be a Sunday player. Just seeing his range, his athleticism, his ability to play man-to-man in the slot, the things that he can do, he can tackle well. So, his upside at that position is through the roof if he embraces it and studies the game like he should, I think he'll be a Sunday pick.”

After injuries in Auburn’s final month of the 2022 season to Zion Puckett, then Donovan Kaufman, Simpson slid back from his cornerback spot and started the final four games of the season for Auburn at safety. He shined in that role, with two interceptions and four pass breakups during that stretch.

He had become Auburn’s No. 3 cornerback, after Oregon transfer D.J. James emerged into one of the best coverage players in the SEC over the course of the year. But when a void needed to be filled, Simpson approached it with a positive mindset, Etheridge said, and was rewarded with a productive finish to his fourth year in the program.

“I think the one thing, any time you change positions it's always a little anxiety on what's my role?” Etheridge said. “... For him it was just a veteran move for him. The biggest thing is buy-in. He bought into what the team needed him at that position and he took it and ran with it. You can see that as the season went on he got better and better, and now I think he found himself that home that he can come out every day and control the defense.”

It certainly seems Simpson is one of, if not Auburn’s top choice at safety, even with Puckett and Kaufman being returning starters. Etheridge said Kaufman will be competing at the nickel spot, also known as “star” in new coordinator Ron Roberts’ defense, along with returning starter Keionte Scott.

The spot isn’t a new one for Simpson, who was recruited to play safety as a 4-star athlete from Saint Simons Island, Georgia, in the 2019 class. He also was a state championship-winning quarterback, which Etheridge said can be helpful experience for being a safety.

“He was a quarterback in high school and now he's coming in at a position where he has to make the checks on the back end,” Etheridge said. “Which way are we rotating? Who's getting lined up? Where are the guys going? So I think it just made him more comfortable in being able to take control of the defense.”

Etheridge is coaching Auburn’s safeties and nickels, while new assistant Wesley McGriff— on his third stint with the program — oversees cornerbacks.

Auburn returns to the practice field Wednesday.

[toddc 13,194]

Intelligent' and 'tough' Johnson catching the eye of new OL coach Jake Thornton early in spring

5 hours ago

 

 

AUBURN, Alabama—A player that put in the work behind the scenes his first two years on the Auburn campus, Tate Johnson finally got his shot to shine last season following the retirement of Nick Brahms. Winning the starting center job for the Tigers, the redshirt sophomore played in the first three games of the season before injuring his elbow in a win over Missouri in game four.

Coming back from surgery, Johnson has continued to grind in the weight room and it’s already paying dividends after just one spring practice under Hugh Freeze and new OL coach Jake Thornton. Working at guard on the first day, the 6-4, 295 junior earned praise from his new position coach for his attitude, effort and the work he put in on Monday.

“Tate is doing a great job,” Thornton said. “I thought yesterday he was one of the better ones on our team in practice. In the walk-throughs that we have talked about and had, he had played some right guard and played left guard yesterday. He’s got to know how to play all three of those middle spots.

“He’s intelligent. He’s tough. I believe he’s an Auburn man. He’s been through a lot of lows and a lot of highs here and come out on the other side. He had a really good day yesterday and I’m excited to watch him.”

Where he winds up playing is anyone’s guess at the moment. With Thornton wanting all of his offensive linemen to learn every position along the front, that means plenty of mixing and matching for guys throughout the spring. While Johnson isn’t the type of guy that is going to play tackle, he is going to have an opportunity to earn a starting job at one of the three interior positions as the competition heats up throughout the spring and carries over into August.

Thornton said so far the fourth-year junior is off to a good start as he looks to pick up where he left off last season.

“He’s a technician,” Thornton said. “He knows how to use his body. He’s not the biggest guy, but he uses his strengths and he capitalizes on what he’s good at. That’s something that’s fun to watch and he certainly adds a huge element to us right there in the middle of our O-line. Excited about his progression over the next 14 days and going into the season.”

Johnson was one of a big group of offensive lineman that stood out on day one, Thornton said. Having to learn a new offensive system, how to work with each other with eight new players on campus, and with a new position coach, he said the entire offensive line has done the right things to this point and that has him excited about their potential.

“I think everybody, collectively, had a good day effort-wise,” he said. “Everybody showed up for practice and they worked. They have been working really hard in the meetings. I can go through the entire 16 guys and I can point out something good they did. They have all been in and watched extra film on their own. Last night there were about eight of them that called me between eight and 11 o’clock and asked me questions. They were watching it on their computers. 

4COMMENTS

“They are excited about coming in for meetings. I can point out a bunch of different things that happened, but I believe all of them are in the right direction. As long as we have that mentality of getting better and stacking days, I think we’ll come out of spring; nobody in the country is going to where they want to be at the end of spring but I think we’ll be on our way to where we want to be after this spring practice is over with.”

Auburn returns to the practice field on Wednesday afternoon with the second of 15 scheduled practice days this spring.

[toddc 13,194]

Jake Thornton preaching 'positive energy' and 'confidence' in rebuilding the offensive line

Justin Hokanson

Jake Thornton (Photo by Matt Rudolph/Auburn Live)

AUBURN – If there’s a position group on Auburn’s football team that could benefit the most from a boost of confidence, it might be the offensive line. The group has been much maligned the last few years, and there’s legitimate reasons behind that.

For new offensive line coach Jake Thornton, that boost in confidence needs to start with the coaches.

“We have to bring that positive energy. The past is the past. For us to sit here and think about the past is detrimental to our growth,” Thornton said after day one of spring camp. “But also sitting here and thinking about the tomorrows that haven’t happened is also detrimental. We have to live right now and find a way to get better today. We have to find a way in a couple of hours to get better and get ready for these meetings.”

JOIN AUBURN LIVE FOR $29.99 AND RECEIVE ACCESS UNTIL AUGUST 31

Auburn only topped 200 yards rushing three times last season entering the last four games, and two of those were against Mercer and San Jose State. The switch flipped after the coaching change, as the Tigers rushed for over 252 yards and five yards per carry in each of the last four games, three of those being conference games. Positive momentum was gained, but then the season ended, new coaches were hired, and new players were brought to campus.

Entering spring camp, it’s a new-look group with transfers Dillon Wade, Avery Jones and Gunner Britton, along with JUCO transfer Izavion Miller, all joining returners Tate Johnson, Kameron Stutts, Jeremiah Wright, Colby Smith, Garner Langlo, E.J. Harris and others. 

“I’m challenging my guys to take it rep by rep, day by day, meeting by meeting and stack it all up,” Thornton said. “For them, I tell them everyday, and I believe our team, is taking pride that they are an Auburn Tiger. They get to walk in this building everyday, they get to walk past the national championship trophies and walk past the Heisman trophy winners and they get to wear the AU on their chest. That gives them that confidence and as long as we are confident in them.”

Football is supposed to be fun, and Thornton is making sure that’s not lost on his unit.

“We are coaching them hard, now. When we use the word fun, that is part of this. You are not supposed to miserable out there,” Thornton said. 

“Now you have to work hard and we are going to challenge you and there will be tough times. But if we have that relationship and we build trust in each other as players and coaches and working together we will be able to get through those tough times and get on the other side of it.”

Auburn will return to the practice fields on Wednesday.

The Tigers will practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the most part leading into the April 8 spring game inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. Here’s the schedule of practices: February 27, March 1, 3, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, April 3, 5, 7 and 8. Auburn will take the week of March 5-11 off for spring break.

[aucanucktiger 1,789]

Geriner's catching a lot of ill will for somebody who threw a whopping 3 passes in a RS season and has had all of 2 spring practice days in a new system.

Edited March 1, 2023 by aucanucktiger