Auburn Football Notebook

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AUBURN, Alabama — Bryan Harsin and his staff don't have a long-standing relationship with Tyrone Truesdell. Regardless, exits like that of the fifth-year defensive tackle are never lengthy in description; former coach Gus Malzahn was infamous for his send-off, "We wish him nothing but the best." So Harsin's brief dismissal of Truesdell from the Auburn football program Tuesday was not abnormal. But it's worth noting what Truesdell contributed to the orange and blue over his four years.

He appeared in 41 games as a Tiger — first as a reserve along the defensive line from 2017-18, then as a starter the past two seasons.

He had nine tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries in his career.

He deflected the pass in the 2018 Music City Bowl that Big Kat Bryant returned for a touchdown.

He broke through the line and stuffed Oregon running back CJ Verdell on a fourth-and-1 in Auburn territory in the fourth quarter of the 2019 season opener, giving Auburn the ball back, down 21-20 with less than six minutes to go.

He rarely came off the field through the first few games of the 2020 season, as Auburn dealt with COVID-19 issues and injuries along the defensive line.

He took on a leadership role last summer when COVID-19 sent the Tigers home right before spring practices.

"A lot of things are going to happen that you have no control over and you have to be ready to adjust to it," Truesdell said last year. "You have to keep going because life goes on. You’ve got to find ways to maneuver and get things done.”

He went from a small high school in Augusta, Georgia — where he admittedly was not prepared for SEC football — and took former defensive line coach Rodney Garner's stipulations in stride in order to become a starting defensive tackle at Auburn.

"I’m probably the prime example of how hard Coach G can coach when he sees something in you," Truesdell said last year. "The harder he goes, that means that’s how much potential you’ve got."

Truesdell overcame heartbreak and hardships in his life. His father died of a heart attack when he was 4. His next father figure, his granddad, Harvey Wright, died when Truesdell was 11. Truesdell's mother was in and out of jail and couldn't provide for him, so his grandmother and aunt raised him.

"I always looked at football as something that can change your life," Truesdell said last year. "I grew up loving it because my father loved the game, which made me love it, but it wasn't until I actually played the game that I learned why he loved it so much."

10COMMENTS

Truesdell's daughter was born in June of 2020. He's set to graduate from Auburn this upcoming school year.

"Thank you for even giving me a chance to be part of this family," Truesdell said last year. "And also don't ever change up — keep everything the way it is because that's what makes Auburn, Auburn."

BRACING THE ELEMENTS

The Tigers started the day in 90-degree heat on the outdoor practice field Tuesday morning. They stayed on the field during the rain, then were eventually chased inside by lightning. Harsin was glad to get some practice time in the elements to prepare for what might arise during the season.

"The guys handled it well when the rain came," Harsin said. "Continued to execute. And we were able to just work through some of that, as far as players, the staff, equipment, all those things."

Here's a photo of what Harsin was coaching through Tuesday, courtesy of Auburn athletics' Todd Van Emst.

(Photo: Todd Van Emst / Auburn Athletics)

WELCOME ADDITION AT WR

Georgia transfer Demetris Robertson's first day of practice was Tuesday morning. He arrived Sunday morning on campus after closing out academic matters at UGA, went through his medical evaluation, met with offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and receivers coach Cornelius Williams on Monday, when the rest of the team had the day off, and was ready to hit the field Tuesday.

The former No. 1 wide receiver prospect in the 2016 class has played three straight years in the SEC at Georgia, so he's in excellent athletic shape. Still, Robertson looked to be putting in the effort Tuesday to get on the good side of his coaches, teammates and quarterbacks.

"He’s a fast dude," senior wide receiver Shedrick Jackson said of Robertson. "Obviously he’s got experience, too. He played in the SEC in big games. He’ll help us out and be a good addition to the receiving corps.”

SCRIMMAGE UNDER THE LIGHTS

Auburn's first scrimmage of the preseason will be Saturday, under the lights in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Harsin said that players are to report to the stadium shortly after 6 p.m. CST. He's set to meet with reporters following the scrimmage shortly after 8 p.m. CST.

Into the next week, Auburn starts its fall semester of classes on the main campus, so the Tigers have a shorter camp dedicated to practices without the worries of classes than usual.

"School starts for these guys coming up," Harisn said. "They're thinking about that. They'll be prepared for when we get into that schedule, which will be a little bit different for some of us because of school starts so early here. So we've got to make some adjustments."

DO THE O-LINE SHUFFLE

Auburn wants its starting five on the offensive line before the season opener, but the coaches aren't rushing things in fall camp. In fact, Will Friend wants to try out players at a variety of positions so he knows what he's working with.

At Tuesday morning's practice viewing window for reporters, five different offensive line played more than one position during warm-up positional drills alone. Subscribers got the low-down on who was working where this morning in our VIP practice observations.

"It's little tweaks," Harsin said. "It's not major. You know, it's insert a guy here and there, especially as you compete. I think Coach Friend's done a good job of that. ... You're doing a lot of just fundamental work. We do a lot of things with our techniques that we're working on, you know, with every single unit. And then you get into your team portion of it, you're learning the offense right now. And so, you're able to move them around and get them some different looks because you're getting a lot of reps of the same play throughout practice."

QUARTERBACKS BRING OUT THE BEST IN EACH OTHER

It was abundantly clear at Tuesday morning's practice that TJ Finley is the right guy for Auburn's situation at quarterback right now. He's applying just the right amount of pressure to incumbent starter Bo Nix, while not yanking out the rug from under him.

Every pass Finley made, Nix watched carefully and tried to make his better. Finley did the same on the next rep. The LSU transfer has a pretty deep ball and puts plenty of zip on his short passes, while Nix is focusing heavily on his fundamentals and stance when delivering throws.

Here's an elaborate answer from the head coach and former quarterback on what he's seen out of his top two passers over the first few days of camp.

"They support each other," Harsin said. "At that position, that's what's most important. They get in the room, they prepare, they push each other. They're both competitive, and that's something that we've been able to see. I think TJ, from the summer time since he's been here, has picked up quite a bit. He's learning the details of the position, and both guys are doing a good job. There's a high standard for that position daily. It's not just in the game.

"As a quarterback, you don't have a lot of opportunities to have even bad moments, let alone bad days, at practice. From when you start handing the ball off in the beginning of practice. When you're doing some of your walkthrough work and you hand the ball off, you can't have the ball land on the ground. When you do play-action, even though you're walking through, you're like Peyton Manning. You're sticking the ball out and you're very deliberate about what you do. So that's the biggest thing that I hope these guys are getting through, or these guys are understanding and we're getting through to them, is just how important every single thing we do at that position is.

"I always believe at the quarterback position, every rep you take is like a game rep. You've got to treat it like that because there are so many different things that happen throughout practice and in the game. There's no way as a coach you could ever even come up with all the situations that might actually happen to a quarterback, and so every rep you get, you've got to be in that game mode. You've got to be focused."

DON'T FORGET ABOUT DEE

Freshman QB Dematrius "Dee" Davis will likely occupy Auburn's No. 3 quarterback job this season. But the four-star prospect out of Houston still has some important development to make this year, especially with fellow four-star Holden Geriner set to arrive in next year's class.

Davis made a few standout plays in the spring, and his teammates like where he's at right now heading into the meat of fall camp.

“I’ve seen Dee from the spring grow a lot," Jackson said. "He came back after the spring, and he looked like a different dude. He’s playing good ball, making good reads, making plays, got a little bit more confident."

THE HANDS-ON HEAD COACH

One of the biggest differences between Harsin and Malzahn that Auburn fans were almost immediately able to discern is that Harsin gets down and dirty with his players in drills.

Why does Harsin do that, and how does he think that raises the level of success for his team? He was asked that exact question Tuesday. The short answer? He loves football, and he still wants to be as involved on the field as he was when he was a 20-year-old quarterback at Boise State.

"I love just listening to coaches coach," Harsin said. "I love to hear the players communicate out there and see the techniques. ... Everybody's got a little different verbiage, little different buzzwords that I'm able to pick up. I try to learn that from coaches and try to be able to use it at some point, try to emphasize what their coaching points are.

"I want to be around it. That's our team. That's the one thing about being a head coach, getting to go out there and be on every side with every group."

WIDE RECEIVERS STILL A FOCUS

For the first 7 minutes or so of reporters' open viewing period at Auburn's Tuesday practice, Harsin was focused solely on the wide receivers. He threw passes, helped run drills, played some defensive back, spoke to each receiver after each rep, and chatted often with Williams.

Since the spring, Harsin has admitted to placing more pressure on the receivers than any other position group. "They're the basis of the offense," he says.

In preseason camp, Harsin wants alphas to emerge at wide receiver, but he also doesn't want them to forget about their playbook. It's a tough ask for a young group to juggle so much heading into 2021. But Harsin and Auburn's offensive coaching staff believe in the talent that lies at this position, which has brought in five blue-chip recruits over the past two recruiting classes, plus the veteran Robertson.

"You have to really go out there and understand what coverages are, what techniques the DBs are playing against you and why," Harsin said. "Tight ends, what are they doing? Look at the front, look at the coverage, look at the safeties. Right now, we're just in Football 101, it feels like. So, really understanding why the defense does what it does? What are the advantages when they're in this look? How do we take advantage of a defense when they're in another look? We're teaching guys that right now."

TALKIN' MONDAY ON TUESDAY

10COMMENTS

Multiple players from Auburn's defense have brought up Smoke Monday's leadership this offseason. Edge rusher Derick Hall was the latest.

"He brings a lot of things to this defense," Hall said. "He’s been here longer than me so he knows more about this defense, too. He knows how to play ball, he knows to make calls and adjustments, he really tightens things up on the backend when things get loose. He’s just going to hold that backend together, bring guys together, his leadership role is tremendous. He’s a great football player, great person outside of football, he knows how to conduct himself as a person so once that translates to the field I just think Smoke is overall a great leader, great player and he has a bright future ahead of him."

[aubiefifty 18,231]

i just saw during passing drills on tuesday they had black sabbath rocking. things just got serious folks.............lol they are rocking acdc shook me as well.

[oracle79 3,569]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

"You have to really go out there and understand what coverages are, what techniques the DBs are playing against you and why," Harsin said. "Tight ends, what are they doing? Look at the front, look at the coverage, look at the safeties. Right now, we're just in Football 101, it feels like. So, really understanding why the defense does what it does? What are the advantages when they're in this look? How do we take advantage of a defense when they're in another look? We're teaching guys that right now."

I sincerely doubt these guys had to recognize anything in the past other than what route to run and what guy to block on the play call. This will improve the passing game geometrically if they learn to recognize defenses and concepts and adapt on the fly.

[aubiefifty 18,231]

we need to remember these guys might still be trying to adjust to the knew schemes and not to panic. they need time to let the game slow down for them with the new stuff. i think we will do very well this year if tanks stays healthy. one thing i am convinced of is i bet harsin does not get beat by any teams we play that are lesser teams. i am still mad at gus over a couple of ga games.

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