Leota and his coach have high expectations

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Leota and his coach have high expectations

Mark Murphy

5-7 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama–If his teammates and coaches are correct, Auburn football fans are going to enjoy watching improved play from Eku Leota in his second season on the Plains. That would be a very good thing for the defense because Leota’s first season with the Tigers was productive.

After making the move to Auburn as a graduate transfer from Northwestern, where he was a third team All-Big Ten selection, he started four games for the Tigers in 2021 and finished with 23 tackles, including 10 behind the line of scrimmage.

Leota said he is feeling good about his preparations for his final college season. “It has been great,” he noted. “I feel like this year, this offseason, I have really mastered the scheme.

“I am playing a lot faster and I am just seeing things a lot faster than I did last year,” he pointed out. “I feel like I really got to build some chemistry with my teammates and that was really big for me.”

Checking in at 6-4, 257 pounds, he is playing the edge position under the guidance of Coach Roc Bellantoni, who said that he believes Leota has a chance to play in the NFL if he continues to make progress as a senior. The reason for that is Leota’s ability to rush the passer. He was credited with seven quarterback sacks last year and before than made 6 1/2 while playing for the Wildcats of Northwestern.

With a goal of improving on his junior sacks total, Leota said he has been “adding more pass rush moves to my tool belt” as the Tigers prepare for their season opener. “I feel like Coach Roc has really helped me with that as well, adding more counters. I feel like my swipe is good, but I need more counters to get to the quarterback.”

Bellantoni pointed out that he is looking forward to turning loose Leota and fellow senior Derick Hall. “They have played a lot of football, and they are really good players,” the coach said. “They keep getting better, especially Eku. The improvements he made in the spring, we are seeing even better from him in the summer. I am really happy with the way he is going.”

A standout performer at Asheville High in North Carolina where he set the school record for quarterback sacks in a season, after earning his undergraduate degree at Northwestern he decided to test his football skills in the SEC, college football’s top league. He said that playing  alongside and against other good players was a factor in choosing the Tigers. “I really wanted to be around a lot of talent,” he said.

Leota predicts that the 2022 defense has enough talent to cause problems for opposing quarterbacks. Last season the Tigers finished with 36 sacks in 13 games. Auburn’s offense allowed 23 sacks.

“My expectation is that we are going to have a lot of sacks and a lot of pressures,” Leota said. “We have a lot of pass rushers on this team. We have a secondary that can lock people up, which gives us more time to get to the quarterback. I feel like this year we are building a lot of chemistry on the defense since the start of preseason practice.

“Getting to know your teammates is a big thing that we focused on this year,” Leota added. “It allows us to play faster knowing that we have guys who push the pocket up front and Derick Hall on the other side rushing the quarterback. I feel like we are going to get a lot of sacks.“

Born on the island of Samoa, which is located in the South Pacific Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, Leota and his family moved to the United States when he was seven years old. That is when he received a football as a gift, something that would heavily influence his life. It came from family members that lived in New England and started his love for the game and also for former Patriot quarterback Tom Brady.

That led to his first experience playing youth league football with his older brother Pika, an offensive lineman, who would eventually wind up playing at South Carolina.

“I used to literally sleep with that football,” Leota said. “At the time I was thinking I was a quarterback. It was a regular football, but in my mind I was throwing touchdowns like Tom Brady. I was throwing touchdowns to myself. I thought I was Tom Brady and Randy Moss.”

As he continued to grow, because of his athletic ability he became a key player at several different positions as a standout at Asheville High School.

Now more than 40 pounds heavier than when he arrived at Northwestern as a freshman, he has added strength that he plans to use as a senior.

“I felt like I was more of a finesse rusher when I first arrived,” he pointed out. “Coach Roc has been helping me hone in using my speed to create power. He wanted me to work on my power moves because if they don't respect your power, it's much harder to use the other moves.”

Leota’s contention that he is playing faster this season is confirmed by his coach, who said the edge rusher is quicker, stronger and more confident in what he can do. “Everything is happening at a faster pace for him, and I think you're going to see that on Saturdays,” Bellantoni said.