Everything Harsin said about 2nd scrimmage

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Everything Bryan Harsin said about Auburn football’s 2nd spring scrimmage

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

34-43 minutes

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Auburn was scheduled to scrimmage Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in front of students and university staffers, but the inclement weather moving through the area forced a change of plans.

Instead, Bryan Harsin and his team relocated practice to the athletics complex, holding the Tigers’ second spring scrimmage on the practice fields out back and closing it to the public. Harsin met with the media afterward to discuss the scrimmage and his team’s overall progress in his first spring, with the A-Day spring game one week away.

Here’s a look at everything Harsin had to say Saturday, from needing “new mistakes,” to J.J. Pegues’ position change, to the development of quarterback Bo Nix this spring:

BRYAN HARSIN

On the innjuries of Shedrick Jackson, Marco Domio and Zion Puckett...

“Yeah, all three of those guys are still limited. Now they are getting in some work. They’re not getting in any work at this point as far as any one-on-one or 11-on-11 stuff, or even group work. They’re doing some individual, on the side, when guys are getting into their group work or teamwork, but those guys are out there. They’re getting in a few drills, some non-contact, so we’re bringing those guys along. I think our training staff’s done a really good job. In spring especially when guys come back from injuries, you want to be smart, you want to get guys completely healthy before you get them out there.

“Sometimes in the season you’re trying to get guys back and you still want them healthy, but there’s going to be times where they’re back out in the mix getting ready for that game that week. These guys, they’re coming back, it’s not really anything to do with them. I think their progress has been good, it’s just a matter of making sure these guys are healthy before we get them out there. I think this next week they’ll get to do some more. They might get a chance to do some one-on-one and do a little bit of competitive drills, we’ll see how that leads into any of the 11-on-11. We have guys out there, we know who the guys are with the designated jerseys as far as non-contact guys where they can get work and not get hit so we can keep them healthy. All three of those guys are in that same position that you mentioned as far as just coming back.

“The overall team I think is good. A little things here and there — some ankles, shoulders, but guys, they’re just little things at this point and I know that it starts to accumulate over time in the practices. But so far the training staff’s done a good job. I think that the strength staff has done a good job of getting these guys in the weight room and continuing that strength development throughout this camp and that will have to continue this next week as we finish up. We’re going to finish strong, we want to get everybody out there, we want to stay healthy in the spring as best we can and not have any injuries and hopefully these guys over today are resting today and tomorrow. They can recover, come back on Monday and then those off-days in between this next week we setup recover times and be ready to go on Saturday.

On details about the scrimmage and any big plays that occurred...

“Oh, oh, there were a few on both sides. Don’t have the stats in front of me. I’ll start with overall. Defensively, there were several turnovers today. I think there were three or four. There might have been a fumble. I know there were some interceptions in there as well. Two touchdowns from the defense. We weren’t live today with the formate. Let me back up a little bit. The format of today’s scrimmage was meant to be live. We were going to work some red zone, some goal line and a little bit of two-minute situations. We were able to do that in our practice. We didn’t go live. We were in the indoor. Part of that decision-making last night just with the weather. How long were we planning on waiting? We just decided to stay with our schedule in the morning and allow our players to get up and go like we planned.

“When we were in the indoor, we did not go live. Just spacing, we’re not going to do that. What we did today, we did some open-field drives early on. We did some special teams components in there as far as drills and then some overall work with our punt team and kickoff return team. None of that was live. Then we got back to some red zone work today. We did some high red zone, some low red zone to see how that worked. We were able to work some two-minute in there as well. There was some good things. I thought defensively overall had a really good day. They were flying around. They were getting to the ball carrier. They were attacking. There were multiple players involved. It was good to see. It was good to see our guys on the defensive side making plays, getting to the ball. There were a couple of tipped balls that our defense came down with. I think that’s got to be the case if you’re hustling, get to the ball, good things happen. There’s production at the ball. There were some tips. We were able to get them.

“Some of the red zone, I thought the offense moved the ball well in the red zone. They were given a shorter field but they executed well, made some plays. Getting some runs at the end there. Not live so a little bit difficult for the defense in those situations. But some of those guys did a good job of just punching it in, being physical, being downhill in the running game. At the end we had our two-minute drive. Defense did a good job of just making plays early in those situations. So that’s difficult for the offense to get behind. Overall, special teams today, I thought Anders Carlson did a really good job. We had a lot of different moments in there. We had the field goal unit out there and I think we had 9-10 kicks in there today, different areas, extra points. That unit did well.

“Overall, I wouldn’t say one guy in particular necessarily but there were some big plays on both sides. I thought the defense overall today really played consistently well and had the better day just overall as far as the plays made, opportunities they had, understanding the situations of really being locked in and being lined up properly and doing the things that you need to do as far as just operation. So we had overall a good day that way. A few penalties on that side that we’ve got to correct. Felt good about that on the defensive side.

“Offensively, a little bit of a slow start. Picked it up in the middle there and then we needed to finish faster, in my opinion, at the end. I think the overall theme for everybody, offense and defense in particular, is just being able to sustain that effort and that focus throughout practice and scrimmage. We had spurts of it but I don’t think we did a good enough job of it overall in that area of just sustaining and effort and focus throughout practice through the different moments and different situations we were in. In order to keep improving, we’ve got to be able to move forward with those same mistakes we’ve been making and we’ve got to make new ones. We’ve got to correct the ones we’ve made, we’ve got to learn from it and we’ve got to start making new mistakes. I think we’re making too many of the same mistakes over the last few practices and it’s time for our player and coaches, we’ve got to move. There’s got to be new mistakes being made. We’ve got to get the ones we’ve already had coached up and corrected and we’ve got to move forward and start working. We’ve made progress but I think we can make more progress if we do that and we focus on that. That was the message to the team at the end of the day. I appreciate their effort. I appreciate as far as the team goes, these guys as a team have connected and come together much better than they did in the early part of spring. So the was good. It was good to see.

“As far as the mistakes and the overall attention to detail and the little things that need to be done, we got to move forward. We’ve got to move on. We’ve got to correct those mistakes. We’ve got to build on some things that we need to be doing this last week as far as install goes. We’ve got to be able to progress through this next week and get these plays in that we’ve been waiting to install. And that’s going to come with just making new mistakes and correcting the old ones.”

On the progress of the offensive line...

“Consistency. There are flashes when all five guys are working together. All five guys are coming off the ball. All five guys are on the same page. All five guys are in the right slide and set when it comes to pass protection. There’s flashes of that in those segmented team period when you have four plays and go to the next. Where we have to improve is when we get in game situations when you’re calling plays. It’s not just the four set plays, the ball is on the hash, it’s left middle and it’s right and it’s being moved every 10 yards. I think we’ve done a decent job in those periods in practice, it’s when we get out there and play. We get out there and play and it goes from what happens on the first play to the next play and the next play, and you’re really playing the game. You’ve got different snap counts at times. Different protections at times. Different run plays at times. You don’t know what’s coming because it’s not right there on the script. You’ve got to get the play call and go out there and execute your play.

“To me, that’s where we have to take the next step. It’s just playing the game together, all five guys. You have a bust in protection and cut a guy on the edge loose or you’re supposed to go right and you go left and that guy comes free, that’s a problem. There’s nobody for that guy. The guy that has to take him is the quarterback. We had a few of those busts today. You’re expecting that guy on the edge is going to be blocked and you will have protection. You’re expecting that guy coming off the edge, you’re going to work to him in the run game. If you’re going to cut guys loose and don’t do your job on the O-Line there’s nobody for them. They guys that have to take them are the quarterbacks and running backs, and that’s not what you want. Those guys aren’t responsible. We’ve got to play the game better and do it when we’re actually in a scrimmage-type situation like we were today. That’s where it shows up.

“Those guys are working hard. They are better. Their technique is improved. Coach Friend has done a good job with those guys of working the fundamentals of the game. Now it has to translate when we get to the game situations. It has to translate when we get into a drive. You might be play seven and you had a good drive going. It’s second down and two on play seven and we have a miscommunication. Now you’re back to third and nine. That’s the importance of that group and being able to do that over and over. I have seen flashes of it, but the consistency of that group has got to improve. I know those guys are working on it. They have come a long ways for what they have achieved up to this point from where we started. Now the expectation is still a lot higher than where we are right now. The expectation is ‘we need to get here.’ We can’t lower our standards, we have to raise our expectations. We have to raise the level of our execution in order to get there and we’ve got four practices left to do that. I think the challenge for those guys this next week is exactly that.

“When we get into that Saturday scrimmage environment and we’re calling plays and we get a chance to move around and the ball is 50 yards or it might be three yards here. They’ve got to be able to communicate and make adjustments and go out there and execute their assignments. That’s O-Line play. A lot of responsibility on those guys. They’ve got to be very consistent. They’ve got to do their jobs every single time otherwise you’ve got guys running around in the backfield and that’s not a good thing.”

On how often the team is testing for COVID-19 this spring...

“We go once, twice a week. It depends a little bit on where it falls. And, knock on wood here, we’ve been good. I think our training staff, Dr. Goodlett, our players have done a good job. I really do, and I want to say this, too: Dr. Goodlett and our training staff here, they’ve been very focused on that. They’ve kept the players very focused on it. The coaches have done a good job of it. We’ve had a few here and there. I told the players today, I reminded them that there’s a lot of things we’ve got to work on, but we didn’t have spring football last year. There are guys on this team that didn’t get any of these reps this last season. And we’re learning a lot, we’re developing, we’ve got a long ways to go. However, our medical staff, our trainers, people here that have been focused on this even prior to when I got here have done a really good job of helping us to get through the practices, get our players to these practices, get our coaches to these practices.

“We’re not through; it’s still a focus. But at the same time we’re getting a bunch of things we didn’t get a chance to do last year. That’s all a credit to our medical staff, the people here making sure we’re sanitizing, making sure we do whatever we need to do to stay healthy, stay focused on the things away from the field. That’s a credit to our players being disciplined to put themselves in the right situations so we get back here and we can practice. The goal, I told the team this, the goal is to make sure this next week we get a chance to finish out those four practices, and have a great Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and finish out Saturday at A-Day.

“That’s the focus; that’s the focus for everyone. So that takes a lot of self-discipline, not putting yourself in a bad spot. It also takes everyone putting the team first; guys have to do that. This group understands putting the team first and prioritizing the team. Let’s make that the focus. It’s not just about ourselves so that we can finish out and maximize the remaining reps that we get -- because we need them. We need them. Every guy on this team needs them.”

On the wide receivers, particularly Kobe Hudson, and how they handled the 2-minute offense…

“Well, I think Kobe’s coming along. His effort in practice has improved; I think that’s come with just knowledge of the system, knowing where to line up. It really just starts there—how to line up, how to get in position and then just go play. He’s made some plays now, and other guys in that room as well.

“The 2-minute’s fast-paced, 2 minutes get up, save time, knowing the rules as far as just what your 2-minute situations are, what you need to do. There’s a lot of thinking that goes on there; you got to make great decisions in critical moments. That group’s been good. Those guys have made some plays. I think they’ve made some good decisions in those moments as well, getting first downs and getting out of bounds or being in the right spot to make a catch in an open-window area. So, the wide receiver group, they’re making progress. There’s a lot—and receivers always tell me this, too, those guys run more than anybody in practice. They’re always running, they’re always getting from one side to the next. They got to know the plays.

“I think we need to get through the play and the alignments and getting ourselves ready to get the play started faster. We got to process, we got to play faster pre-snap is what we need to do. We just need to make sure we’re in the right positions. We’re moving guys; that’s one of the things. It’s not just lining up in their role. We’re lining up and we’re moving guys across the formation, back across. We’re doing different things, so there’s some nuances in there at that position that you really got to be detailed on. That starts in meetings. That’s just how we coach it, the way that we walk through it on the field and the way we introduce that to our guys. We’ve been there, and I think we’ve done a good job. Now it just takes a lot of little moments of just doing it at practice, doing it right, doing it consistently, studying what it is we do at the wide receiver position, because that might be the biggest hang-up.

“They’ll slow you down with those because they got to get wide, they got to be inside, they got to get across formations, so those guys just have to know a ton and they got to spend a lot of time preparing themselves daily, knowing what’s coming and then really visualizing, alright, where do I start, where do I finish, how am I going to set up on this motion, where’s my alignment set? Our alignments off hashes, they all change, so there’s little details that those wide receivers just have to consistently be on. And our guys, I’ll say they’ve been solid. They’ve been solid at it. We’re not where we want to be, but they’ve been solid. They want to do it well, it just takes time. It takes time to rep at it. We’re running out of time, so like I said, it’ll go back to what I said at the beginning—those mistakes that we’ve made, we’ve got to make new ones. We’re making some of the same mistakes, and that needs to change. That comes from preparation. That comes from teaching it properly, and that’s a matter of us as a staff and our players making sure that we’re working together to correct that, and know the intention that we’re trying to move forward with those mistakes to get on to new ones.”

On how well Bo Nix is picking up the new offensive system...

“Bo’s smart. Bo picks it up. All of those quarterbacks, they’ve picked it up.

“Now, as you pick up the base, the DNA of it, the foundation of it — now you’re getting into details of it. Now you’re getting into what adjustments you can make. So you introduce it, and you don’t introduce every single adjustment that’s a possibility. Now, it’s a little adjustment off of this, a little adjustment off of that, a little check off of here, a little bit of ‘what’s the defense doing?’ So you’re able to do several things in this system, once you understand what the base is. But you’ve got to be good at the base. I think, sometimes, we all just want to know, like, what are all the options that I have? Let’s start, and let’s get really good at the base. You’ve got to force yourself to just say ‘this is what we’re doing here.’ We’re going to keep doing it until we get better at it. Then once we understand that this is a disadvantage, let’s make it an advantage by doing this. So you know what you’re changing and why you’re changing it.

“I think those guys are getting to know the ‘why’ at this point. We know what we’re supposed to do and how to execute it. The fundamentals are there. Now, it’s why would we do this, rather than just coming right out there and doing it. Sometimes, I think quarterbacks, they all want to show you what they know. So the first time you give them an option, they do it. And it’s probably not even the right time to do it. They just do it. They just do it to show you, ‘I know there’s an option, let me show you I can do it.’ It’s not even the right time. So you’ve got to make sure that you can do it at the right time and that you can teach it properly.

“But Bo’s picked it up. Always at that position, to me, the quarterback position is about decision-making. It’s about decision-making. I think the best players that you see play that position at the next level, in college and in high school, the reason why they’re good players is because they make great decisions. Quarterback is about making decisions. You’ve got to be accurate. You’ve got to have the physical traits to go out there and play that position. Bo’s got those things.

“To me, every quarterback that I’ve coached — the guys that I have had a chance to get out there and be a part of their development — have made great decisions. You’ve got to make decisions. You’ve got to make sure that, alright, when we go out there, we want every drive to end in a kick. We want drives where we keep the ball in our hand. We want to move the ball. We want to make good plays. We want to make good decisions. That’s where the quarterback position is at now. We’re starting to finetune a lot of the little things that we do offensively. You understand the adjustment, now it’s about making great decisions.

“Defense is going to get you. They’re gonna get you sometimes. They’re gonna have the right call, they’re gonna cut somebody loose. There’s going to be something that the defense does that you as a quarterback now, what is your plan? What is your immediate reaction? What are you going to do? And sometimes, you throw it away. And that’s probably one of the hardest things. I tell the quarterbacks, sometimes there are a lot of those ‘boo’ plays. Nobody knows the reason why, right? Everybody just starts booing and all that. But it was probably the right decision. You threw it away. Everybody was covered. The guy was coming. You don’t want to take a sack in that situation. You throw it away. That’s where, at that position, where the maturity and toughness have to come in. You have to be a tough dude, now. You’ve got to have that mental toughness. You have to have thick skin. There might be two bad play calls and both of them were throwaways. But that’s the right thing.

“You go back and study the position. You see a guy like Aaron Rodgers. When Aaron Rodgers throws the ball away, everybody’s like — it doesn’t matter if it was good or not — ‘good decision!’ Because everybody knows that Aaron Rodgers knows what he’s doing. We’ve given Aaron Rodgers all the credit that says, hey, whatever he does, he knows what he’s doing. Tom Brady. He throws it away, he knows what he’s doing. Those guys have earned that.

“So I think for younger quarterbacks, you have to have a lot of maturity and a lot of toughness — a lot of mental toughness to make that decision. And I’m not talking about throwing the ball well or on time but making good decisions — pulling it down to run, getting us in the right play. Just doing what’s required of you on that play. Sometimes, when you’re behind or when you’re pressing, you want to push too far and try to do too much. All you’ve got to do is do your job at your position like everybody else. Execute your assignment.

“And I think that’s where the quarterbacks are going now with Coach Bobo. We know some of the other things. Now it’s time that our decision-making, as we get through the next week, we’ve got to at least get to the point where we understand what we want to do and we carry that into this offseason, through the summer and into fall camp.

On the makeup of his coaching staff...

“Yeah, yeah, that was, yeah, we got them all, right? We got them all. You named them right there. I think there’s a whole story just in that.

“Let me say this. It started with the type of people. And the hiring process for me, there was the backgrounds, right? What they’ve done. Their resumes on tape. A lot of these guys, yes they were head coaches. We’ve got guys from Boise. We’ve got guys I haven’t worked with. We’ve got Bert Watts who I played against at Fresno State. And did a great job. One of the toughest teams we ever played, and I thought the defense was fantastic. And so this opportunity created the ability to go out there and be able to hire some of these guys to be a part of this staff.

“But it started with people. It started with getting to know these guys. And I’ve known most of them. Or I’ve known of them. And just, man, what kind of person are we getting here and are they going to come in here and believe in what we’re doing? Are they going to be able to connect with the players and are they going to be able to recruit? And then also develop our guys when they get here. And then, what is their philosophy? What do they believe in? Because the philosophies-- we all have different ways of doing things. We’re obviously going to pick the ones that we want, we believe. And this is the things that we’re going to work on. But they’re going to bring different things to the table that way. But as far as just getting great people and getting people that are motivated and people that want to be the best at what they do, that’s really what you want to do. You want to get people in here that are motivated. They understand. They’re confident. They know how to coach the position. They’re good people. And then let’s point them in the right direction. Let’s say here’s where we’re going. This is what we want to do. Now go do your job. And then come back. And just keep back and forth with it.

“These guys, so far, with all these different backgrounds, I would say, at this point -- we haven’t played a game -- but there’s low ego, high output from this group. So that’s good. When you can sit in there and have a real conversation, especially after a scrimmage like today, you have a real conversation, say that was a bad idea. That was a good idea. We could do better here or change this up. And nobody gets upset about it. Guys can sit there and go ok, we’re all trying to just work to get better. And you can go back and forth and have those conversation, I think you can make progress. It’s when you can’t have those. It’s when you’ve got somebody on your staff that just continues to put up a wall, and it’s my way or the highway. And that’s not really what you want. You don’t want to be a part of that. I’ve been fortunate, over my time, the guys I’ve worked with, they’ve all-- we’ve all been flexible as far as just ideas and better ways of doing things. And that’s what this staff has shown. They work with each other.

“Our two head coaches, coach Bobo and coach Mason. Those guys have been there. They’re great resources to sit down and ask “Well, how did you do this? How did you do that?” They’ve been through it. So sometimes as a head coach, it’s nice to go bounce some ideas off guys that have been there. And at the same time, still knowing that that’s the role that they’re in here. This is the role -- I’ve got a role, and they’ve got a role, and everybody on our staff’s got a role. And now let’s say, you know your role. Go star in that. I think guys are doing it.

“But so far I’ve been really pleased. I enjoy this staff. I enjoy coming to work. I don’t feel like we’ve got anybody in these hallways that you just you want to duck or avoid. Because you want to be able to have a conversation. If we can keep that as a staff. If we can keep that under pressure, when there’s more of that as the season comes on, whatever that is for guys, if we just stay focused on what we’re doing, if we keep working toward the goals we set for ourselves, we’ll be in good shape.”

On what he has seen from running back Shaun Shivers...

“I like Shaun. You know, when I first got here, Shaun and I, we sat down and had a conversation. I think it was an important one, too. He wanted to know, ‘How do you see me in this offense? How do you see what I’m capable of doing and fitting with what schemes we’re going to run.’ He didn’t know. I had watched Shaun. I’d seen the clip, you know, him covering around the corner and run sweep, and I’ve seen the helmet pop off. I’ve seen the physicality. You know, you see what he’s able to do. I got a chance to watch some of these guys before we got the staff hired, and so you get into evaluating the team.

“But I like Shaun. I think Shaun -- you know, Shaun understands, ‘Alright, what is it going to take from me?’ He understands and asks the right questions. ‘What’s it going to take from me? What do I need to do?’ It wasn’t about what are you going to do for me; it was more about, ‘Hey, how do you see me fitting in? What do you think I need to do, and here are some goals that I want to achieve.’ And I like that. I enjoyed that conversation with him.

“I think he’s shown that at practice. I think he’s very purposeful when he comes in every day. He’s got -- he’s intentional. He’s purposeful about what he wants to get done. He’s focused. And I may be wrong -- I don’t remember a lot of reps or really at any at this point where he’s not going hard at practice. And I may have missed one. There might be something. He might have loafed at some point. I’m sure he did. I’m sure Cadillac was on him, but what I’ve seen from him is he goes out there and he practices hard. He runs downhill, he protects, he plays physical, he puts himself in the right positions. I think he studies the plays before he gets out there to practice because he wants to execute it properly. He wants to be one of the guys that are lined up ready to play and knows his assignment.

“So I enjoy that. That’s one of the things that I really appreciate about players is when they’re intentional daily about what it is they want to get done. He’s focused when he’s out there at practice. He’s got a good demeanor, he’s fun to be around, but he is locked in. So far, he’s done a really good job. He’s been a great example for a lot of guys on the team. Tank’s been doing a really good job as well, but I think those two guys have been good examples. They’ve practiced hard, they work harder. That position -- especially at tailback -- that’s one you’ve got to be physical. You’ve got to be a different dude. You’re going to get hit every play, you’ve got to be able to protect the passer, you’ve got to take care of the ball. And so coach Williams has done a good job with those guys. I like that group. I like the way Shaun’s worked. Like I told the team, that really goes for the rest of the guys this next week, let’s finish up, finish strong, move along, make new mistakes, correct the ones that we’ve already made, get that right. But Shaun’s been a guy that, you know, he showed up on special teams, he’s showed up on stuff we’re doing on offense. I think his work ethic has been something that’s stood out to me.”

On how the coaching staff handled the off week...

“I’ll tell you what, that week we had off, a lot of the staff, they left. They went and got their families, they went and did some personal things they’ve been needing to do. There were some phone conversations. I watched film. More importantly, our players, I wouldn’t necessarily call it an off week for them. They lifted, they ran, the did some things, they recovered. We had a chance, just as a team, to have a few meetings in there and get together. I thought that week, as far as our team, we improved. I think there were some things that we were able to discuss and some things we were able to address as a team. To me, that was the most powerful week as far as us, as a team, making progress in coming together.

“So I think -- I don’t think, I know -- it showed from that week. The guys appreciated that time. It gave them a chance to digest what we had done, to go back and re-emphasize the expectations that we have as far as how we prepare ourselves and the things that we do at practice. And that showed up. That showed up in these practices since that last week. If that can continue, if that’s part of where we’ve decided to go as a team, that continues that focus that we had that last week and some of the things that maybe needed to be addressed that should have been addressed earlier got addressed during that week from the players, got addressed from the coaches. Things that we can slow down and say all right, here’s where we are, here’s where we need to go and reevaluate our situation and then reemphasize the vision.

“I think that really helped us. It helped us in practice, our preparation has been better, our focus in meetings has improved. Overall, as a team, we’ve grown closer. We’re able to execute better out at practice. So for me, it was maybe less of what the staff and I was able to do and more of what the team was able to do. I got a chance to be a part of it, which is good. I enjoyed that. Sometimes the staff is out of here and I have time to be with the team. Me and a few other coaches and some of the staff members got to be with the team and we had a little bit, couple times be able to do that.”

On defensive line coach Nick Eason...

”Coach Eason is great, he really is. He is a ball coach, number one, and that is one from a football standpoint, NFL or college, this guy can coach.

”The transition for Coach Eason, I think has been a lot smoother than anybody could anticipate. You think about recruiting and everything, and all of the stuff you have to do, the guy cares about people in the building. He is a people person. He is a guy who is a connector so there is no issue with this guy when it comes to recruiting because he is just that type of person who is going to connect. He is also going to tell you what he thinks and give you true evaluations so to me if you are a D-lineman getting a chance to play for him, he is going to give you a true evaluation. He is going to give you the tools of how to do it.

“Then he is going to go out there and bring the intensity. If you’re watching a practice he will put his cleats on, he will dig in and he will go block the sled. He will run with guys and he will go jump in. He has got no problem with doing the work. That is one of the things with guys coming from the NFL, or guys who played in the NFL and guys who have been a part of that league, sometimes when they jump into college you worry that you are not going to get that same level of intensity, maybe, because it is just college football and you have got the NFL, completely opposite. If he is more intense in the NFL than he is right now, I would like to see that, because he brings it every single day.

“I thought the D-line today—I have got to go back and really study the film—the improvements we made on the D-line today, the effort we got on the D-line today, I think we made a lot of progress. We did move....so J.J. Pegues is working with the D-line. We have him working with them. J.J. is a guy now who has done a tremendous job working with the offense. We made that move and put him on the defensive line. I had a conversation with J.J. and this is what I am thinking–a guy like Pegues, and really anybody like this on the team, you have those conversations of ‘anything you need me to do.’ He is athletic. He can do a lot things. I think this position fits him. I think he is a really great culture guy to be in that room. I think he is a leader on this team.

“The conversation I had, the conversation Coach Eason had, you want guys like that on the team that are all about ‘whatever it is I need to make us better I am going to do out there and do it.’ I do think that position for J.J. is going to be a really good fit. Having Coach Eason, and having a guy like that who is going to be able to coach him, develop him and give him the tools to go out there and utilize his ability to play that position, that is a great match. I also think, too, because of Coach Eason, honestly J.J. was at ease because you want to play for a guy like that. You want to go play for a coach like that....Those guys did some good things today. I have got to see what J.J. was able to because (inaudible)... he was doing some of that in the bowl game.

“He is going to be really, really good. I appreciate guys like that on the team that are willing to do things like that and having a coach like Coach Eason, I think has helped a lot.”

On which defensive line spot Pegues is playing...

“I think he’s in the tackle spot right now. He can go both. You are three-down, four-down and that three-down will put you outside. It’s that tackle/end position depending on what your front is. To be honest with you he could probably play anywhere on the D-Line. Don’t have him at nose right now. He’s playing at that tackle position and that four-eye five-technique off the edge. He can really do it all. I’m not going to say he’s necessarily this or that. I think they’re working through it.

“Just like the O-Line you start moving guys around and giving them chances to play and sometimes, you never know, one of those ends is going to play nose at some point in different packages. They are moving guys around. It’s more about fundamentals and techniques and playing the D-Line position. Getting good with the one-on-one stuff, we work with the O-Line. For JJ the schemes are coming because he’s a quick study. He’ll pick it up, no doubt. This guy will study and he does the work. I think this next week, the scheme part, we’ll really dive into that. Now it’s just go. Let him get out there and keep it simple and let him go play and use his athletic ability. Just let him get used to playing that position more and we can detail some of those things up this next week.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[Randman5000 4,271]

Is there video of this? I've searched but cannot find it. Thanks anyone

[aubiefifty 18,231]

1 hour ago, Randman5000 said:

Is there video of this? I've searched but cannot find it. Thanks anyone

this is all i could find. i think i got this on 24/7? this morning as a long time ago. hope this helps. edit............i went to al.com as they posted the original content and nothing and i googled the subject title and it only came up with the al.com article. sorry i could not be more help because i get antsy when i want to know something and i also want to see it come out of the coaches mouth so i know in fact he said it. i tried randman.............

[oracle79 3,569]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

Now, it’s a little adjustment off of this, a little adjustment off of that, a little check off of here, a little bit of ‘what’s the defense doing?’ So you’re able to do several things in this system, once you understand what the base is. But you’ve got to be good at the base. I think, sometimes, we all just want to know, like, what are all the options that I have? Let’s start, and let’s get really good at the base. You’ve got to force yourself to just say ‘this is what we’re doing here.’ We’re going to keep doing it until we get better at it. Then once we understand that this is a disadvantage, let’s make it an advantage by doing this. So you know what you’re changing and why you’re changing it.

Huge difference. Before it was "execute and the play will work no matter what."  Now we're actually going to make adjustments when something is a disadvantage instead of banging our heads against a brick wall.

[IronMan70 3,322]

Harsin.."I think we’re making too many of the same mistakes over the last few practices and it’s time for our player and coaches, we’ve got to move. There’s got to be new mistakes being made. We’ve got to get the ones we’ve already had coached up and corrected and we’ve got to move forward and start working." 

This is good to see. A coach who doesn't have time for any BS from players or coaches. He demands more and tells it like it is.

[Zeek 16,953]

My lord Bryan Harsin can talk and over explain lol. He's wildly different from Gus who would have just said "some good stuff, no doubt, things to work on but we're improving."

[Hopsing 627]

22 minutes ago, Zeek said:

My lord Bryan Harsin can talk and over explain lol. He's wildly different from Gus who would have just said "some good stuff, no doubt, things to work on but we're improving."

...and building quality depth!
geez, I hate to even type that I’m so over Gus saying it. The therapy has helped me though!

[DAG 34,754]

2 hours ago, IronMan70 said:

Harsin.."I think we’re making too many of the same mistakes over the last few practices and it’s time for our player and coaches, we’ve got to move. There’s got to be new mistakes being made. We’ve got to get the ones we’ve already had coached up and corrected and we’ve got to move forward and start working." 

This is good to see. A coach who doesn't have time for any BS from players or coaches. He demands more and tells it like it is.

Especially the fact that mistakes will be made but they need to be new mistakes . Can’t keep making the same old ones over and over 

[DAG 34,754]

31 minutes ago, Zeek said:

My lord Bryan Harsin can talk and over explain lol. He's wildly different from Gus who would have just said "some good stuff, no doubt, things to work on but we're improving."

I love it 

[auburnphan 6,050]

This was so refreshing, my passion for Auburn football is returning every single day more and more.  This culture change is gonna be a process and I couldn’t be happier.

[Gowebb11 9,871]

3 hours ago, Zeek said:

My lord Bryan Harsin can talk and over explain lol. He's wildly different from Gus who would have just said "some good stuff, no doubt, things to work on but we're improving."

It is such a refreshing approach after the super secret locked down spy approach from the last staff. Can’t wait for kickoff. WDE 🦅 

[aubiefifty 18,231]

if i do not go to A day i am thinking of running up to cooter browns in j ville and get a slab. they just went up to almost thirty bucks a slab but no one touches them. also dads slabs went up as well and are just not as good. or i might go to mata's and get me a greek pizza which is to die for. mata's and cooter browns are both on the alabama  bucket list of food to try and both are wonderful. one can hope red will have a AUFAM tent up with lots of good food. i have not had any great potato salad since i split with my second ex....................

[AUApostle 7,759]

 

 

 

[Hank2020 3,355]

18 hours ago, Hopsing said:

...and building quality depth!
geez, I hate to even type that I’m so over Gus saying it. The therapy has helped me though!

Therapy? Is that banging your head against the wall?

[Hopsing 627]

9 hours ago, Hank2020 said:

Therapy? Is that banging your head against the wall?

I heard those quotes I would bang my head against the wall after several years of the same ole things! 
bourbon is helping now!

[aubiefifty 18,231]

On 4/11/2021 at 11:07 AM, Randman5000 said:

Is there video of this? I've searched but cannot find it. Thanks anyone

i have no idea why it was not listed on youtube earlier but here it is.

[boisnumber1 2,916]

So refreshing. He literally said more in 10 minutes of that press conference than Gus said in his the entire time he was here.