12/3/23 Auburn Articles

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Auburn signees excited for Hugh Freeze era

Blair Angulo

2–3 minutes

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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Auburn is embarking on a new era under Hugh Freeze and several incoming freshmen raved about the direction of the program as they checked in for the All-American Bowl on Monday.

The Tigers sit at No. 20 nationally in the Composite team recruiting rankings following the Early Signing Period, showing plenty of promise on the trail given that Freeze closed decently in such a short span of time.

“Coach Freeze has the blueprint for turning around programs,” four-star offensive lineman Connor Lew said. “At all the stops he’s made, he’s made a difference. This isn’t the first time he’s rebuilding and we believe in him. It starts with a culture change and, talking to him on my official visit and during our in-home meeting, that’s a top priority for him.”

Eight of the 19 players that make up Auburn’s class fall in the four-star category. The Tigers have plenty of quality coming in, to go along with the developmental pieces that Freeze has been known to prosper with.

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“The conversations are always great with coach Freeze,” four-star defensive lineman Darron Reed said. “You can talk to him about things outside football. He wants every one of the freshmen to come in ready to compete. We’re coming in with a clean slate as his first-ever class at Auburn. And we have to set the bar for the next classes.”

Said four-star cornerback Kayin Lee: “Coach Freeze is a straight forward guy and cuts out the fluff. He keeps it real with you and he’s genuine. We didn’t even get to talk much football our first few conversations. He wants to learn more about you and keeping up with you as a person overall.”

">247Sports

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Jason Caldwell's Monday morning quarterback column

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

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Playoff expansion the right move

For much of the last two years we have heard college football "experts" talk about how there’s no need for expansion in the playoffs because it would just create more blowouts. So much for that talk. 

All we heard was that this season they should have just let Georgia and Michigan play for it all and skip the playoff games. There’s a reason why you play the games and we saw that on Saturday.

TCU and Michigan played an all-timer and the Horned Frogs absolutely deserve a shot to play for the title. The same is true of Ohio State even though Georgia survived the Buckeyes to advance to the championship game.

But guess what, I’m not so certain that Tennessee or Alabama or even USC with a healthy Caleb Williams couldn’t have made some noise either.

That’s the point. More teams deserve a shot to see if they can make some noise. For too long we’ve been limited to the same three or four teams in the playoffs. The more expansion we see, the more new teams we see. The more new teams we see the more opportunities those programs have to take big strides. 

I think we’ll look back on Saturday as one of the defining moments of what’s to come for college football in the future.

Big plays

I have talked about it recently, but the need to be able to make big plays is a must if you want to compete for championships in college football. That’s not only on offense, but TCU showed it’s a must on defense as well with the performance against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl. Georgia has become the king of big plays on defense, taking over the throne from Alabama, and it has played a big part in the Bulldogs' success the last few seasons. Big plays on defense and pressuring the quarterback are keys to putting your team in positions to win games in this era.

That’s just one part of it, however. Throwing the ball and getting in the end zone is the ultimate separator for teams. It’s something that has made a huge difference for Georgia in the last two seasons, being able to make plays in the passing game. It’s what Auburn has to be able to do to take the next step.

In the last six years, Auburn has thrown for just 103 passing touchdowns as a team. That’s an average of around 17 per season. To put that into perspective, Alabama has 127 in the last three seasons alone and 256 in the last six years. Georgia, who people have considered a pedestrian passing game for much of the last decade, has 166 passing touchdowns in the last six seasons.

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Big plays are the key. While turnovers and running the football are always going to be important, making big plays on both sides of the ball is how you go from average to great in one season. It showed up for Auburn in 2013 and TCU this year.

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Auburn secondary has chance to be dominant in 2023

Lance Dawe

2–3 minutes

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There's no denying the strength of Auburn's 2022 defense was its secondary.

Just recently, two starters in that defensive backfield announced that they would be running it back. According to Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live, cornerbacks DJ James and Nehemiah Pritchett will return to Auburn for another season.

James posted a team-best 82.4 Pro Football Focus this season after transferring from Oregon. Pritchett, who is entering his fifth season with the Tigers, finished with a career-best 37 total tackles in 2022. With these two back - alongside Keionte Scott and Donovan Kaufman on the backend - the Tigers have a legitimate chance to be one of the more dominant secondaries the Plains have seen in quite some time.

Stat of the day

Auburn's secondary gave up 6.5 yards per pass attempt in 2022, good for 26th nationally. That's the Tigers' best mark in that category since 2019.

What it means

The 2019 Tigers had a historic defense led by a strong front seven and a stingy defensive backfield. That secondary featured a slew of future NFL talent: Roger McCreary, Daniel Thomas, Noah Igbinoghene, Jamien Sherwood, and Smoke Monday.

It's yet to be determined just how much NFL talent is on roster currently, but there's reason to believe both James and Pritchett will end up being NFL Draft selections. Add in an offseason to develop in a new 4-2-5 defensive scheme, one that allows more defensive backs to shine and was Kevin Steele's calling card?

Sounds like a recipe for success.

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Nehemiah Pritchett returning to Auburn for 2023 season

Published: Jan. 02, 2023, 4:37 p.m.

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Nehemiah Pritchett (18) Jaylin Simpson (36) celebrate during the Football Game between the Auburn Tigers and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL on Saturday, Nov 19, 2022. Zach Bland/Auburn TigersZach Bland/Auburn Tigers

Auburn’s defense will return both of its top cornerbacks next season.

Nehemiah Pritchett, who started all 12 games at corner for Auburn in 2022, will officially return to the Plains for one more season, the program announced Monday. Pritchett was a senior this past season but still had a year of eligibility remaining, thanks to the NCAA’s additional year granted to athletes during the pandemic.

Read more Auburn football: Auburn cornerback D.J. James returning for 2023 season

What to expect from Auburn’s defense under new coordinator Ron Roberts

Meet Hugh Freeze’s first Auburn coaching staff

The news of Pritchett’s return comes two days after fellow starting corner D.J. James announced his decision to forego the NFL Draft and return to the Plains for another year. Both Pritchett and James received invites to the Senior Bowl in November.

Pritchett, a native of Jackson, has appeared in 42 games over the last four seasons for the Tigers and has not missed a game over the last three seasons. During that stretch, the 6-foot-1, 182-pounder has made 31 starts in Auburn’s secondary.

A former three-star recruit, Pritchett has 93 career tackles, with 4.5 for a loss and one sack. He has 25 pass breakups, including a team-high tying eight this past season, and two interceptions, as well as a touchdown on a blocked field goal return during the 2021 season.

Pritchett’s decision to return bolsters the top of Auburn’s depth chart in the secondary, where the Tigers are also set to bring back James, Keionte Scott, Jaylin Simpson, Donovan Kaufman and Zion Puckett, among other contributors.

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

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What to expect from Auburn’s defense under new coordinator Ron Roberts

Updated: Jan. 02, 2023, 4:03 p.m.|Published: Jan. 02, 2023, 4:02 p.m.

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The Auburn War Eagle flies above Jordan-Hare Stadium before the Penn State game on Sept. 17, 2022. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com

By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Ron Roberts’ tenure as Auburn’s defensive coordinator became smoother on Saturday once cornerback D.J. James announced on Twitter that he is returning for another season on the Plains. The Oregon transfer was a key contributor to the Tigers’ secondary that would also return Nehemiah Pritchett, Zion Puckett, JD Rhym, Donovan Kaufman, Keionte Scott, and Jaylin Simpson.

James won All-SEC second-team honors from the Associated Press and the coaches. He led the team in pass breakups, had a pivotal interception return for a touchdown against Western Kentucky, and posted 25 solo tackles in his first season playing for the Tigers.

Read More Auburn Football: Auburn cornerback D.J. James returning for 2023 season

Meet Hugh Freeze’s 2023 Auburn football coaching staff

New Year’s resolutions in the transfer portal for Hugh Freeze at Auburn

Pritchett is returning for a fifth season on the Plains. His teammates and the coaching staff voted him as the team’s best defensive back this season.

Getting James, Pritchett, and the rest of the crew back will give the Tigers one of the most experienced secondary rooms in the nation.

Roberts has 31 years of coaching experience, including 11 years as a head coach at Delta State and Southeastern Louisiana. Roberts comes to Auburn after spending the past three seasons as defensive coordinator at Baylor. He’s sent nine players to the NFL during his coaching career. A compelling aspect for Tiger defensive backs is seven of those nine players are defensive backs.

“Ron has been a very successful defensive coach spanning three decades, and multiple stops,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said in a press release. “His defenses have always been aggressive and put a lot of pressure on opposing offenses. Ron is a great fit for what we are wanting to do on both sides of the ball, and we are excited to have his experience and expertise leading our defensive unit.”

Baylor’s defense in 2021 led the team to a Big 12 title. The Bears’ defense had 19 interceptions and 44 sacks during the 2021 season. Roberts preaches a defense that’s balanced in pass defense and stopping the run. He seems to have enough depth with the defensive backs to succeed quickly.

Auburn’s depth in the defensive backfield is a stark comparison to what the team is losing with EDGE rushers Derick Hall and Eku Leota leaving for the NFL. Hall was an all-conference first-team selection. Leota’s presence was missed once he suffered a season-ending injury. Losing linebacker and two-time team captain Owen Pappoe adds to the tasks for Roberts.

Quientrail Jamison-Travis was one of the six defensive linemen the Tigers signed during December’s early National Signing Day. Jamison-Travis is 6-4′ 280 and played junior college football at Iowa Western. He could see lots of playing time as the team seeks options to replace Hall and Leota.

Elijah McAllister is a two-time team captain at Vanderbilt who committed to the transfer to Auburn during the early signing period. McAllister had 65 tackles during his career with the Commodores. There’s still time for recruiting with February’s traditional signing day approaching. Freeze expects to continue working on the defensive line over the next few weeks.

“I think this is a big man league,” Freeze said. “If you don’t have guys on both sides up front, then it’s very difficult for these athletic receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks. Those DBs get alot better if you’ve got an EDGE rusher that can shorten the time a quarterback has. Our emphasis will always be on making sure those rooms are correct.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

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