1.9.24 Football Articles

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247sports.com

 

Texas DT transfer Trill Carter commits to Auburn

Nathan King

3–4 minutes

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Auburn adds its second D-line transfer

Auburn is adding some size and Power Five experience to its defensive line.

Texas defensive tackle transfer Trill Carter has committed to Auburn, he announced on social media Monday, after visiting over the weekend.

Auburn's coaching staff has been looking for at least a couple more defensive linemen through the portal to help offset the loss of three-year starter Marcus Harris to the NFL draft. Carter is the second pickup so far, joining Kansas transfer Gage Keys.

A veteran defender from the 2019 class, Carter has played in 46 games in his college career between stops at Minnesota and Texas. Carter started 33 games at Minnesota, where he signed as a 3-star recruit from Leesburg, Georgia, about two hours from Auburn. He then transferred to Texas and appeared in every game during the team's run to a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff berth.

At 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds, Carter played 65.7 percent of his snaps this season as a 3-tech defensive tackle, and the rest at nose tackle.

In his career, Carter has 10 tackles for loss, five sacks and an interception. He had double-digit QB pressures during the 2021 and 2022 seasons at Minnesota from his defensive tackle spot.

Carter becomes Auburn's sixth transfer addition this cycle, joining Keys, Maryland tight end Rico Walker, Georgia State receiver Robert Lewis, Cal quarterback-turned-receiver Sam Jackson V, and Duke linebacker Dorian Mausi.

 

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Auburn lands Maryland TE transfer Rico Walker

JD McCarthy

1–2 minutes

Auburn has addressed a key need in the tight end room with the addition of rico walker, who announced his commitment to the Tigers Monday on social media.

Walker spent one season at Maryland before entering the transfer portal. He appeared in eight games, catching four passes for 28 yards.

Walker’s father Ricardo played defensive line an Auburn in 1990’s but Auburn was never a serious contender for Walker as a high school recruit under the previous staff.

A great athlete at 6-foot-4 and 248 pounds, Walker has three seasons of eligibility left and is a developmental project for tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua.

With Ricardo Fairweather and luke deal both out of eligibility after the 2024 season, Walker gives the Tigers another promising young player to go with Micah Riley.

WDE 🟠🔵 #committed pic.twitter.com/PPdauVk5s2

— 6’4”specimen (@Ricowalker15) January 8, 2024

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15

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si.com

 

Florida Gators Hiring Auburn’s Ron Roberts as Co-defensive Coordinator, Linebackers Coach

Lance Dawe

~2 minutes

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The Tigers are losing their defensive coordinator to Florida.

The Tigers are losing their defensive coordinator to Florida.

Ron Roberts, who spent one season on the Plains, has been hired by the Gators as executive head coach for defense, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, per Matt Zenitz of 247Sports.

Roberts, who came over with Dave Aranda when Aranda was hired by Baylor in early 2020, served as DC for two seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. Aranda previously served under Roberts when the latter was the head coach at Delta State in 2007.

His defense at Baylor led the Big 12 in run defense in 2021 and led the conference in turnovers gained. The Bears finished 52nd, 28th, and 55th nationally in yards per play during his three years. Roberts also has experience as a head coach, going a combined 89-45 in 11 seasons with Delta State and Southeastern Louisiana. This will be his second Power Five job.

In his lone season at Auburn, Roberts' fielded a defense that was average by league standards. The Tigers finished No. 8 in total defense, No. 10 in yards per play, No. 11 in rush defense and No. 3 in pass defense.

Auburn thrived in the turnover department, snagging the second-most takeaways of any SEC team (18).

As of now, there are no known candidates to replace Roberts as defensive coordinator.

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saturdaydownsouth.com

 

Auburn lands legacy transfer, former top recruit for Big Ten program

Grant Bricker | 20 hours ago

~2 minutes

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Auburn is keeping things in the family after adding the transfer commitment of Rico Walker.

Rico is the son of former Auburn defensive tackle Ricardo Walker, who played for the program in the 1990s. Walker played in 8 games this season for Maryland, totaling 27 yards on 4 receptions. Walker took a visit to Auburn recently on Thursday.

He was a former 4-star athlete in the 2023 class out of Hickory (N.C.) High School. The 247Sports Composite rated him as the No. 10 athlete and No.7 prospect in the state. It was hard to for Walker to see the field much behind the likes of Corey Dyches and Preston Howard with the Terps.

 

Hugh Freeze has been busy in the transfer portal. Transfer portal additions for Auburn include Sam Jackson V (Cal), Dorian Mausi (Duke), Robert Lewis (Georgia State), and Gage Keys (Kansas).

Auburn went to the Music City Bowl in the 1st season under Freeze. The Tigers lost to Maryland to end the year with a 6-7 record.

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Grant Bricker

Grant Bricker was a former freelancer for The News TN in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. He now freelances for Saturday Football. Follow on Twitter @GrantBricker.

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Florida expected to add Auburn DC Ron Roberts to coaching staff

Graham Hall

3–4 minutes

Florida is expected to hire Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts as executive head coach for defense, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, sources have told Swamp247. 247Sports' Matt Zenitz was the first to report the Gators had zeroed-in on the addition of Roberts. 

Roberts, a 31-year coaching veteran, including more than a decade at the collegiate level, spent the previous year at Auburn under coach Hugh Freeze.

Prior to his debut in the Southeastern Conference with the Tigers, Roberts spent three years at Baylor, including the most successful season for the Bears in the modern era in 2021, when Baylor captured its third conference title and its first New Year's Six Bowl victory, a 21-7 win over Ole Miss. 

In 2021, Roberts' defensive unit in Waco, Texas led the conference in interceptions (19), turnovers gained (27), turnover margin (0.93) and defensive touchdowns (3).

Upon his arrival at Baylor, Roberts' impact was almost immediate.

During the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign, his first overseeing Baylor's defense, Roberts' unit finished second in the Big 12 Conference, allowing only 203.0 passing yards per game and ranked third with 17 forced turnovers. The Bears were also ranked second in the league with 12 interceptions.

Before his arrival at Baylor, Roberts worked at Louisiana with Napier from 2018 until his departure at the conclusion of the 2019 season.

During his time with the Ragin' Cajuns, Roberts helped lead a unit which ranked 18th nationally in scoring defense in 2019 by allowing just 19.7 ppg – an improvement of 87 spots in the rankings from the season prior to his arrival in Lafayette.

In his final year with the program, The program secured two consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship game appearances and won a school-record 11 games in 2019, including a 27-17 bowl victory over Miami (Ohio).

The expected hiring of Roberts would mark the third addition to Florida's coaching staff after the Gators parted ways with secondary coach Corey Raymond and Sean Spencer, while Jay Bateman opted to accept an offer to join Mike Elko's coaching staff at Texas A&M as the Aggies' defensive coordinator.

Florida hired Will Harris from the Los Angeles Charges to coach the secondary before hiring Gerald Chatman away from Tulane to coach the defensive line.

“My family and I are excited to join the University of Florida,” Chatman said via press release. “I look forward to relentlessly working with coach Napier, the staff, and players to uphold the standard of the historic Gators football program. I embrace the challenge.”

Chatman has experienced a variety of roles over the last several years, most recently as defensive line coach at Tulane where he helped the Green Wave limit opposing FBS teams to just 3.2 yards per carry (ranked No. 10 nationally) and record sacks on 6.98 percent of their total defensive plays, the No. 49 mark nationally. Chatman's lone season as defensive line coach with Tulane came after he spent the spring at LSU as the interim defensive line coach.

Tulane’s defensive line group totaled 52.5 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, 15 quarterback hurries, five forced fumbles and four pass breakups in 2023.

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al.com

A late night in a hotel lobby and advice from Bo Nix: Inside Walker White's recruitment

Published: Jan. 08, 2024, 6:00 a.m.

10–12 minutes

All through the night Saturday, a third-row SUV at max capacity was burning rubber on a drive from San Antonio to Little Rock, Ark.

Inside was Auburn quarterback signee Walker White, his parents, two of his brothers, his younger sister, one other family friend and all their luggage, including Walker’s football helmet from the All-American Bowl he played in the day prior.

At one point, Walker’s mother, Amy White, posted a video to her social media showing her backseat passengers playing a game of Spades on a suitcase suspended between the armrests of the middle row seats.

“Making lemonade out of lemons,” she wrote.

Initially, Walker and his entourage were set to fly home. But instead, a late-night flight cancelation sent them scrambling and eventually settling on driving through the night – an eight-hour trek that would put them back in Little Rock at around 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

Once home, they’d spend the day packing a pair of cars full of Walker’s things before piling back into the cars early Monday morning, when they’d make the eight-hour drive to Auburn, where they’d move Walker into his freshman dorm.

Thanks to Saturday night’s surprise from the airline, the White family might not be as rested as they’d like when they get to the Plains on Monday, but for them and the Auburn football program, it marks the end of Walker’s long journey to Auburn.

Unfamiliar territory and a long January away from home

For touted high school quarterbacks, navigating the recruiting process comes with a bit more pressure.

When it came time for the four-star quarterback to seriously begin diving into his recruitment, he and his family learned that pressure firsthand.

Walker’s parents, David and Amy White, weren’t new to helping their children transition from high school sports to college sports. Their two oldest sons played sports at Arkansas, just three hours away from their Little Rock home.

But with Walker, it was a bit different.

The Whites’ oldest sons weren’t touted prospects. Instead, John David White walked on with Arkansas’ football team as a receiver, while Zac White walked on with Arkansas’ baseball team as a fielder.

With Walker, it was the family’s first go ‘round with a coveted prospect, let alone a coveted quarterback.

“We just didn’t have anyone really leading us,” Amy White said of navigating Walker’s recruitment. “We were pretty much told as a quarterback, he needed to commit earlier rather than later.”

The reason behind such a thought process is that surrounding offensive pieces will be more likely to commit to a team already knowing who their quarterback might be.

That said, Walker set his own timeline, hoping to announce his commitment by February of 2023 – eight months before the early signing period.

And so the White family hit the ground running, driving and flying as Walker paid visits to interested programs.

“I remember I was only home like 11 days last January because we were gone so much,” Amy White said in an interview with AL.com.

Walker White had scheduled visits with Arkansas, Baylor and Clemson – all between Jan. 21 and Jan. 28.

Meanwhile, head coach Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers, who had extended an offer to Walker White on Dec. 20, were hoping the White family could find a bit of room in their busy month of January to pencil in a visit to the Plains.

The Whites made the time on Jan. 16, 2023 – an open Monday in which Auburn had no other visits scheduled.

“They just wanted to meet Walker and I think that we wanted them to meet Walker because I think Walker was wanting to, that February, commit and we had to get all in,” Amy White said. “It was just a perfect, perfect day. And he had, you a one-on-one talk with coach (Freeze) and I think that was really good. And Walker, I think, just felt an immediate connection there.”

A day at Clemson and an evening in a hotel lobby

Walker White participated in Clemson’s Junior Day on Jan. 28, 2023 – a visit he and his family figured would probably be his last before making his decision in early February.

Unlike at Auburn, the Whites were surrounded by the families of other Clemson prospects – something Amy White, a self-proclaimed people person, and her husband David enjoyed.

Meanwhile, head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers’ recruiting staff “put on the dog” for Walker.

“We were like, if he does not choose Clemson and chooses something else over this, we know that he’s serious,” Amy White said. “Because Clemson was awesome.”

When the White family arrived back at their hotel room that evening, they gathered to get Walker’s thoughts.

“He just didn’t even hesitate,” Amy White recalls. “He just said, ‘Well, are y’all gonna be upset if I say Auburn?’”

Of course, they weren’t going to be upset. It was just the timing of it – having just finished up a great visit at Clemson that day – that caught David and Amy White off guard.

Shortly after the conversation, Walker made his way down to the hotel lobby to be alone with his thoughts, a pen and his journal. If he was going to publicly make his decision in the coming days, he was going to be sure of it.

At about 1:00 in the morning, while still journaling in the hotel lobby, Walker’s older brother Zac gave him a call to help him sort out his thoughts.

The conclusion of the conversation? If God was really pushing Walker toward Auburn, he should listen.

“He was like, ‘It’s. Auburn.’ And he never looked back,” Amy White said. “We committed on February, like 2nd or 3rd of last year and he’s never looked back.”

Walker White: Recruit turned recruiter

Walker White had a mentor throughout his commitment.

Ironically, that mentor was former Auburn and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.

Nix, a legacy quarterback when he was at Auburn, helped Walker when he was grappling with the thought of not playing football at Arkansas. After all, his dad was a golfer for the Hogs, while his two older brothers played their respective sports in Fayetteville.

Having experienced a similar situation in transferring away from Auburn, where his father played quarterback for the Tigers, Nix told Walker he should listen to what his heart was telling him.

“If you want to go somewhere else, go somewhere else,” said Amy White, echoing what Nix told her son. “And I think that kind of pushed Walker a bit.”

And Nix’s advice didn’t stop there.

In an interview with The Athletic, Walker White said Nix was quick to remind him that “you’re only as good as the guys around you.”

So Walker quickly set out to help Auburn’s recruiting efforts.

On Nov. 25, during his visit to Auburn as the Tigers hosted the Alabama Crimson Tide, Walker sported a navy hoodie with the last names of eight Auburn prospects plastered down the back of it. It was Walkers’ wish list.

“He’s just been so consistent in trying to continue to recruit his team. That’s what you need. You need a couple of those,” said Freeze during his National Signing Day press conference on Dec. 20. “But Walker took the ownership and the leadership of, ‘Hey, let’s put together a top-10 class. That’s what we’ve said we’ve wanted.’ He certainly jumped in and tried every way in the world to help us do that.”

Mission accomplished.

With December’s early signing period come and gone, the Tigers sit with the seventh-best 2024 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

And with another signing period approaching in February, it’s unlikely the Tigers are quite finished.

The most notable target left on Auburn’s board is 5-star wide receiver and Alabama commit Ryan Williams, who stands as the missing piece in what folks call the “Freeze 5″ — referring to Auburn’s stellar class of wide receivers.

So far, the Tigers have four on board. And considering Walker’s efforts to this point, it’s a safe bet he’s working tirelessly on the final piece.

Arriving to The Plains ready to work

Walker White will move into his Auburn dorm room Monday – 339 days after making his commitment to the Tigers.

In those 339 days, Walker has visited Auburn six times on unofficial visits and was on site for the Tigers’ games against Georgia and Alabama.

And apart from going to Arkansas on Nov. 11 to watch Auburn pick apart the Razorbacks, Walker hasn’t visited or entertained any other program since his commitment 11 months ago – a rarity in today’s college football landscape.

“He did not want to be somebody that commits and then de-commits and then commits and then de-commits,” Amy White said. “The thought of him de-committing from Auburn would have never crossed his mind because he didn’t want to make that be part of his character.”

When Walker arrives at Auburn, he’ll be just two days removed from an appearance in the All-American Bowl, where he played as one of three quarterbacks for Team West.

In Walker’s first pass of the game, he connected with Georgia running back signee Nate Frazier for a 51-yard touchdown, giving those watching a glimpse at why Freeze and the Tigers quickly pursued Walker.

Truth be told, it was recently fired offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery who put Freeze on Walker as Montgomery was one of the first coaches to offer Walker while he was the head coach at Tulsa.

“I think Walker has a really, really bright future,” Montgomery said in a press conference ahead of the Music City Bowl. “He’s a guy that can do both. He can run with it. He can throw with it. But he’s got an electric-type arm. You see the ball just kind of really take off out of his hands. He can flick it and make every throw you want him to make.”

In an interview with 247 Sports’ Christian Clemente, Walker admitted to being upset by the news of Montgomery’s firing, but said he trusted Freeze and is excited about his vision for the Auburn offense moving forward.

And there’s no question Freeze is excited about having Walker on board, too.

“Walker White, I think, is going to be a star. I think he’s got all the attributes of what a quarterback should (look) like,” Freeze said. “I think he’s a true Auburn man.”

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al.com

3 names to know as Auburn looks for its next defensive coordinator

Published: Jan. 08, 2024, 5:46 p.m.

4–5 minutes

4/8/22 MFB Alabama Alabama Associate Defensive Coordinator / Safeties Charles Kelly Photo by Rodger ChampionCrimson Tide Photos / UA Athleti

Former Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is expected to move to Florida in a similar role as the “executive head coach of the defense,” according to a report from 247Sports.

Auburn will yet again be replacing its coordinators. The 2024 season will be the fifth consecutive season where Auburn has both a new offensive and defensive coordinator. Auburn will have seven offensive coordinators in the last seven years after it fired Philip Montgomery last week. With Roberts’ departure, Auburn will have its fifth defensive coordinator in the last five years.

Here are three potential names to watch as Auburn looks to fill the defensive position.

Charles Kelly

Current position: Undisclosed role with Auburn

Kelly would appear the overwhelming favorite for the job. An elite recruiter, Auburn reportedly hired Kelly before the Music City Bowl, but his hiring has not been officially announced by the school.

Initial reports did not make it clear exactly what title Kelly would have, but the former Colorado defensive coordinator would be an obvious fit for the role at Auburn.

Kelly played at Auburn from 1986-1989. His coaching career has spanned throughout the SEC and the country as a whole, but his only previous coaching experience at Auburn came as a GA in 1993. He was the assistant defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2019-2022.

Kelly’s experience is as a defensive backs coach, which is an instant fit at Auburn as well after reportedly losing secondaries coach Wesley McGriff to Texas A&M.

Kelly is an elite recruiter, having been listed by 247Sports as the primary recruiter on nine five-star recruits including future top-three NFL draft pick Will Anderson and future Pro Bowl selection Josh Sweat.

Kelly is already reportedly in the building. This is Auburn’s easiest choice.

Zach Arnett

Current position: None

Arnett’s only immediate connection to Auburn comes in the form of Athletic Director John Cohen. Cohen left Mississippi State for Auburn before former Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach passed away and before Arnett was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach.

The Bulldogs struggled during Arnett’s one full season at the helm and he was fired after the 2023 season.

But Arnett led some fantastic defenses during his time as a coordinator. A coach with that type of experience and success in that role within the SEC already is going to be an attractive candidate. A familiarity with Auburn’s administration will be helpful.

Tom Allen

Current position: Penn State defensive coordinator

Allen is the biggest Hugh Freeze connection on the list, but his hire would appear the most unlikely.

After seven full seasons as the head coach at Indiana, Allen was fired in November. It only took a few weeks for Allen to find another job, quickly moving to Penn State to take the defensive coordinator job there in early December. Given the timing of that hire, it may not make sense for Allen to leave head coach James Franklin’s program.

But Allen has strong ties to Freeze.

Allen was the associate head coach for Freeze as Lambuth — Freeze’s first head coaching job — from 2008-2009. Freeze brought Allen in the same role to his Arkansas State stop in the 2011 season, Freeze’s one year as the head coach there.

Allen then followed Freeze to Ole Miss where he coached linebackers and special teams from 2012-2014. Former Indiana offensive line coach Darren Hiller is a good friend with both Freeze and Allen, and Hiller is now in Auburn as an analyst.

The two are still close, but the timing may not be right.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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Auburn linebacker reacts to reports of DC Ron Roberts leaving for similar role at Florida

Published: Jan. 08, 2024, 6:19 p.m.

2–3 minutes

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AUBURN, AL - February 27, 2023 - Auburn Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts during spring practice at the Woltosz Football Performance Center in Auburn, AL. Photo by Austin PerrymanAuburn University Athletics

All signs are pointing to Ron Roberts departing Auburn to take a job at Florida after just one season as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports was the first to report the news of Roberts’ move Monday afternoon, followed by numerous other reporters from both Auburn and Florida’s beats confirming the reports.

And as evident by Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante’s Instagram story, it seems those in Auburn’s locker room have also caught wind of the news.

“Coach Ron Roberts took a LB who (was) deemed not good enough to play by a previous staff and helped him be one of the leading tacklers in the SEC,” Asante wrote. “For y’all to say he ain’t a good coach is stupid and needs to be examined.”

In 2022, prior to Roberts’ arrival, Asante played in just four games and recorded one tackle.

This past season, Asante led Auburn’s tackling efforts with 86 total tackles, making him the seventh-leading tackler in the SEC in 2023.

“Thank you for everything you did for me coach,” Asante continued. “You instilled confidence into me as a player and I will use everything you taught me daily. Good luck at Florida.”

Asante went on to tag Florida linebacker Shemar James in the post, telling James “you got a good one.”

According to reports, Roberts is set to reunite with Billy Napier and serve as Florida’s executive head coach for defense, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Roberts and Napier previously coached together when Napier was the head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.

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