aubiefifty

al.com How does playing at home help Auburn basketball? Simply put, ‘The Jungle is The Jungle’ Published: Feb. 16, 2024, 6:30 a.m. 6–8 minutes Auburn junior Chad Baker-Mazara had trouble sleeping Halloween night knowing the next day he’d make his debut in an Auburn uniform in an exhibition matchup against Auburn University-Montgomery from Auburn’s Neville Arena. “To be honest, I was really excited the whole day. Even last night, I couldn’t fall asleep, to be honest,” Baker-Mazara said after the exhibition game on Nov. 1. “Just really excited because all the older guys were telling me about how The Jungle is crazy.” Before coming to Auburn, Baker-Mazara spent a season at Duquesne, a season at San Diego State and a season at Northwest Florida State College. Needless to say, Baker-Mazara had never found himself in a position to play in front of a home crowd quite like Auburn’s. But now that Baker-Mazara has had the opportunity to play in 13 games within the walls of Neville Arena, he’s learned why Auburn’s returning players made it a point to emphasize the intensity of The Jungle, which is the nickname for Auburn’s student section. Meanwhile, the coaches of opposing teams that have waltzed into the Neville Arena – some as first-timers and others as returners – have consistently sang in the same tune when talking about Auburn’s playing environment. On Nov. 29, Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young came into the Hokies’ meeting with the Tigers having previously visited Auburn three times during his stint as Wofford’s head coach in 2002, 2004 and 2006. It’s worth noting all three of those games were played at the Tigers’ former home in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. Nonetheless, Young remembers it being nothing like what he experienced in November. “Those three crowds wouldn’t come close to equaling that out there. What he’s done is quite remarkable,” Young said of Auburn’s home crowd and head coach Bruce Pearl. The Tigers went on to beat the Hokies 74-57 that night as Auburn held good on its end of the bargain in this season’s ACC/SEC Challenge. Following Auburn’s win over Virginia Tech was a road game at Appalachian State and a pair of neutral site matchups against Indiana and UNC-Asheville. When the Tigers finally returned home to Neville Arena on Dec. 17, it was for a highly anticipated matchup against Andy Enfield and the USC Trojans – or better yet Bronny James and the USC Trojans. Tickets to Auburn’s game against USC were steep in price and hard to come by. Yet still, hours before tipoff, fans wrapped around Neville Arena in a showing Yahoo! Sports chalked up as the “Bronny effect.” However, as Auburn fans sarcastically pointed out on social media, if that were the case, it must mean Bronny James plays on every team that’s come into Neville Arena this season – including Texas A&M, which visited Auburn on Jan. 9 in what was the 47th consecutive sellout at Neville Arena. “I think the environment is like all that you want college basketball to be,” Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams said after Auburn beat Texas A&M 66-55 in the Tigers’ SEC home opener. “Everybody’s hollering at me and mad at the officials and as far as you can see people are standing up there. They’re here as soon as we get here.” In some cases, Auburn fans are there well before the opponents – just ask the hundreds of students who camped outside of Neville Arena for more than 24 hours ahead of Auburn’s rematch against Alabama in the second game of the Iron Bowl of Basketball on Feb. 7. For Alabama head coach Nate Oats, who has paid Neville Arena yearly visits since taking the helm of the Alabama program ahead of the 2020 season, he knew what kind of environment he and his team were walking into. “I think it’s what makes college basketball college basketball — having the student section, you know, they’re rowdy, they get after it, they’re loud and they’re right on top of you,” Oats said ahead of Alabama’s visit to Auburn. “It’s hard to hear yourself even think, to get play calls called, it’s hard for the players to communicate on defense. It’s loud.” Whether or not the lack of being able to communicate was to blame, the Crimson Tide’s defense surely struggled against the Tigers in Neville Arena as Auburn went on to blast Alabama 99-81 as the Tigers shot 42.2% from the field and went 40-for-50 from the free throw line. Auburn’s win over Alabama on Feb. 7 the made for a tight race at the top of the SEC standings with Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee all fighting for the driver’s seat. And after Auburn stumbled on the road and coughed up a loss to Florida, Pearl and the Tigers found themselves in a “must-win” situation when Lamont Paris and the South Carolina Gamecocks came to town Wednesday. Coming into the game, South Carolina was tied for top of the SEC and was No. 1 in the conference in scoring defense having only allowed an average of 65 points per game. However, that all proved no problem for the Tigers, who went on to pick apart the Gamecocks in a convincing 101-61 win, which ballooned Auburn’s margin of victory when playing at home to 22 points. Read that again. While Auburn has gone 13-0 from Neville Arena this season, the Tigers have beaten opponents by an average of 22 points. And when dealing with a statistic like that, the words of Auburn junior Johni Broome might sum it up best. “The Jungle is The Jungle,” Broome said after Auburn’s lopsided win over South Carolina. “I think it’s the best home court advantage in the country.” The craziest part? We likely haven’t seen it at full force this season, but will come Saturday night when the 22nd-ranked Kentucky Wildcats and ESPN’s College Gameday come to town. Auburn students started camping out ahead of Saturday’s game immediately following Wednesday’s win over South Carolina. You read that right – the line of campers outside the student entrance of Neville Arena started forming more than 60 hours before Kentucky and Auburn tip off. “When you got people, students, willing to camp out and watch us play that gives us confidence knowing that they’ve been waiting for us to come out and play well,” Broome added. “So we have to reward them in a way.” Hopefully no one tells Chad Baker-Mazara because Auburn needs him getting sleep the night before. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

al.com Auburn football contracts: How much is each assistant coach getting paid? Published: Feb. 15, 2024, 9:40 a.m. 4–5 minutes Auburn Football How much will Auburn pay its full football coaching staff in 2024? Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA football game against Georgia on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)AP With the promotion of Vontrell King-Williams to defensive tackles coach, Auburn appears to have finalized its on-field staff for the 2024 season. Auburn has five new faces on the coaching staff after several departures from the 2023 season due to firings, resignations or acceptance of a new job. Below is Auburn’s set coaching staff as of Feb. 14. Head coach: Hugh Freeze Offensive coordinator/running backs coach: Derrick Nix Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach: D.J. Durkin Co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach: Charles Kelly Quarterbacks coach: Kent Austin Wide receivers coach: Marcus Davis Tight ends coach: Ben Aigamaua Offensive line coach: Jake Thornton Defensive tackles coach: Vontrell King-Williams. Edge rushers coach: Josh Aldridge Cornerbacks coach: Wesley McGriff The total amount Auburn will pay its assistant coaches is down from 2023. Auburn will pay its assistant coaches $6.425 million in 2024 after paying $6.91 million in 2023. That’s a $485,000 decrease. The decline in cost, in part, comes from the departure of Auburn’s four most expensive assistant coaches in 2023: defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, running backs coach Cadillac Williams and safeties coach Zac Etheridge. Auburn paid both Roberts and Montgomery at least $1 million last season and $900,000 to Williams. Auburn now only has one assistant coach making more than $1 million and no other coach’s salary reaches the $900,000 owed to Williams. Several of Auburn’s retained assistant coaches had raises added this winter as addendums to their previous contracts. Those totals are reflected below. Below is the 2024 salary for each coach. Hugh Freeze: $6.5 million D.J. Durkin: $1.2 million Charles Kelly: $875,000 Derrick Nix: $800,000 Wesley McGriff: $650,000 Jake Thornton: $600,000 Josh Aldridge: $500,000 Aldridge had a raise structure added to his contract which will give him a $50,000 raise on Feb. 1, 2025, should he remain employed by Auburn. Aldridge received a one-year contract extension Vontrell King-Williams: $500,000 Marcus Davis: $450,000 Davis received a $25,000 raise effective Feb. 1, 2024. He had a raise structure added to his contract to receive another $50,000 raise should he remain employed on Feb. 1, 2025. Davis received a one-year contract extension Ben Aigamaua: $450,000 Aigamaua received a $25,000 raise effective Feb. 1, 2024. He had a raise structure added to his contract to receive another $50,000 raise should he remain employed on Feb. 1, 2025. Aigauma received a one-year contract extension Kent Austin: $400,000 All of Auburn’s assistant coaches have identical performance bonus structures, which are as follows. A bonus equal to 25% of their current salary should Auburn win the national championship A bonus equal to 20% of their current salary should Auburn finish as the national runner-up A bonus equal to 16% of their current salary should Auburn make a national semifinal game A bonus equal to 12% of their current salary should Auburn make the 12-team College Football Playoff A bonus equal to 8% of their current salary should Auburn make the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, ReliaQuest Bowl or Citrus Bowl A bonus equal to 6% of their current salary should Auburn make the Music City Bowl, Texas Bowl or the Mayo/Las Vegas Bowl A bonus equal to 4% of their current salary should Auburn make the Birmingham Bowl, Liberty Bowl or Independence Bowl A $30,000 bonus should Auburn win the SEC Championship Game A $15,000 bonus should Auburn play in, but lose the SEC Championship Game Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

there were some almost or blatant racial type stuff posted about him in some threads is why he said something. as an aside you should read bo's bio that came out last year. the man plays ping pong sometimes with his genitals. i sir now stand in awe of you! can you teach this old dog new tricks?

i do not believe in my heart that was malice but i have been wrong before. i love that video. i have watched it half a dozen times. i did not know mr sanders was that funny. i have never had a problem with him except that pass interference that was not called against auburn............

this is laugh out loud funny..............

man some golf courses do not play............

good lord look at bo's chain..........

porter and company beat the crap out of bama and i believe both years we just killed their behinds. there used to be video of it but i cannot find it. barkley is my favorite of all time but chris is up there close. he was so much fun to watch.............

and the heart breaking ending.............

i finally got a call for the surgical people monday.now i am absolutely nervous. but i am ready to put all this behind me. wish me good thoughts folks. i am more nervous now than when they told me i have cancer. i guess when you get older things seem very different than they did when i was a young man. i started to reschedule but i am pushing ahead. i think it will be fine. it something bad happens i fear for my dogs but i think i have it covered. ok my rambling is over.

i have seen articles on yahoo's home page the dems are looking at other candidates as a possible replacement. they are normally fairly straight but i guess we will see.

i swear i love i am alive but having ask things i normal would realize is tough. thanks!

i never heard that. i am old so i have to ask if you are joking? just curious............that young man is a warrior.