3/7/23 Articles

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How Auburn football is incentivizing players for creating 'havoc'

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN — Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze told reporters in January that the weeks leading up to spring practice would be stressful for his new staff.

The 53-year-old explained the turnaround from recruiting players in the first few months of the staff's arrival to Auburn to installing the offense and defense would be a quick one. He conceded he and his assistants wouldn't get it all done, but did say the Tigers "better get good at something."

With the first week of spring practice in the rear-view mirror, the coaches have begun introducing the scheme to the team. But it's been a slow process.

SPRING PRACTICE:Auburn football players with the most to gain in Hugh Freeze's first spring practice

OWEN PAPPOE:Watch former Auburn football LB Owen Pappoe run a 4.39 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine

"They made it as easy as possible," senior defensive lineman Marcus Harris said. "They try not to put all the stuff on us at one time. They try to spread it out throughout time. They're just great people. Like, all the coaches are great people. I've never met a coaching staff like this before. Everybody is genuine, and you can tell they care about you, on and off the field.

"This coaching staff's transition has been easy because they embraced us, and they're letting us know that they care about us even though they're new coaches and don't know a lot of players. They still care about us."

Junior defensive back Keionte Scott echoed similar sentiments Wednesday: "The coaches have done a good job of giving us little by little, enough for us to catch up on. ... There are a lot of coaches and GA’s that help out with stuff like that. Our coaches have told us that if we want to get something extra or if we’re struggling with something, just to come up and be with them."

Harris, who is entering his third year with the program after transferring in from Kansas in 2021, said new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts hasn't yet shared exactly what the defensive front will look like in 2023. The Montgomery native explained that the defense has been practicing in both 3-4 and 4-3 formations.

 

Auburn football defensive coordinator Ron Roberts during spring practice on Monday, February 27.

 

"Coach Roberts is a multiple defense type dude," Harris said. "We're preparing for both defenses right now. I really don't know which one he's going to like most."

Roberts explained in an availability last month that it's important to create "havoc" in his defenses. That's not just a word he throws around but rather a stat he keeps. Whether it's a sack, an interception, a pass breakup or anything of that nature, it's recorded as havoc.

The goal is to create havoc on at least 20% of plays.

"It's exciting having a defensive coordinator like that," Harris said. "He told us a little bit about it. I don't know the exact numbers or anything like that, but they said they're going to keep track of sacks and turnovers this spring and whoever − they're going to give out T-shirts and gifts to people who create turnovers and negative plays and stuff like that."

Auburn isn't practicing this week because of spring break, but the Tigers return to the field next Monday for their fourth practice of the spring. Freeze said Tuesday the team will likely have its first scrimmage at practice No. 6, which is scheduled for March 17.

And it'll be an opportunity for Harris to create some havoc in exchange for a T-shirt or two.

"His defense is pretty simple, but it's for us to know," Harris said of Roberts. "He's trying not to make things harder than it's got to be."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Auburn football is incentivizing players for creating 'havoc'

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auburn.rivals.com

 

AuburnSports - Freeze recruiting ‘100 miles per hour’

Bryan Matthews AuburnSports Freeze recruiting ‘100 miles per hour’ 18m ago

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN | Hugh Freeze knew it was going to be a priority even before he was hired.

And Auburn’s head coach has certainly delivered when it comes to recruiting over his first 14 weeks on the job.

It’s not just putting more of an emphasis on recruiting as a program, it’s Freeze taking a personal responsibility in contacting prospects and building those important 1-on-1 relationships.

“Oh, man. It takes a lot off the assistant coaches because he has a team with him that's recruiting all day,” said secondary coach Zac Etheridge. “He's on the phone every day, all day with recruits. He'll come in your office talking about kids and you're like, 'Coach, I haven't talked to him.' 'Well, I've talked to him.' It's fun to see him walking around. He's 100 miles per hour right now. We recruit every day, all day. Throughout the day, if a kid is on the phone and he's a top prospect, let's take five or 10 minutes and get on with their family.

“It's been good to see him -- it's kind of at this point, it's like coach, we're trying to watch ball. Because he's walking down and all he has to do is recruit all day and let the coordinators do their jobs. But it's been really impressive to see the work he's put in recruiting. I think it's going to pay off, for sure.”

It’s already paid off in a lot of ways. The Tigers were able to climb more than 20 spots in the 2023 team recruiting rankings after Freeze was hired. Freeze and Etheridge were key in AU flipping 5-star edge Keldric Faulk from Florida State and Rivals100 cornerback Kayin Lee from Ohio State.

Both enrolled at Auburn in January and are going through spring practice along with seven other signees and 12 transfers.

Most of the 21 newcomers were added after Freeze was hired.

“Everybody's excited. We're excited about everybody, feel good about everybody,” said Etheridge. “Everybody in that room and on this team can never be complacent because you're always trying to bring in elite guys. You're always trying to bring in guys -- and they see it. The guys on the team see the guys you're recruiting, so they want to make sure that they're doing … their part every day.

“Because we're trying to bring in elite guys so we can go compete for a championship -- not waiting three or four years. We're trying to get it now. And we're counting on this '24 and '25 class to be the next to come in to help us get to that.”

It’s those elite prospects that Freeze can make the biggest difference for Auburn in recruiting. He was crucial in beating out Clemson and Baylor for top quarterback target Walker White, who committed to Auburn Feb. 3.

AU finished 16th in the country in the ’23 and is aiming much higher for ’24.

“Oh, absolutely. I would be surprised if we're not,” said Etheridge of having one of the top classes in the SEC. “With the response we've had from the families in the way we do things, and being on FaceTime with families and things like that, it's just -- recruiting just takes time. It's work and it's effort.

“So we're just who we are every day as a staff. There's no egos; everybody's recruiting, everybody's talking. We can pass the phone around and guys can get on with other recruits. It's been good. But I feel like we're going to have a lot of top guys on campus this spring and leading into the summer. And hopefully, obviously, we can continue to pick up steam as we start winning games. Guys want to be a part of something special and what we're building here.”

Auburn is off this week for spring break. Practice will resume Monday with the first full scrimmage scheduled for Friday, March 17. The A-Day game will be April 8.

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flywareagle.com

 

Analyst: Auburn football ‘never recovered’ from Bryan Harsin inquiry

Andrew Hughes

~3 minutes

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ESPN's Chris Low believes Auburn football never recovered from the February 2022 inquiry into the program and head coach Bryan Harsin Mandatory Credit: The Montgomery Advertiser

 

ESPN’s Chris Low believes the Auburn football program never recovered after the University’s brain trust investigated head coach Bryan Harsin allegations ranging from an inappropriate intimate relationship with a staff member and alleged racist actions towards players.

Under Harsin in 2022, the Tigers went 3-5, including a 1-5 record against Power Five teams. It’s hard to determine if the inquiry is what knocked AU off stride considering the Tigers also lost the final five games of the 2021 season.

Regardless, Low cited the inquiry in assessing the top storylines of 2023 SEC spring football:

“The program never recovered after the university-directed investigation into Bryan Harsin’s relationships with players and coaches following the 2021 season, so the Tigers are starting over — again.”

ESPN leaves open the possibility for Auburn football to land transfer portal QB

In discussing what Hugh Freeze is going to bring to the Auburn football program in the wake of a snake-bitten tenure for Harsin and his family on the Plains for 21 games and 21 months of tabloid fodder, Low and Harry Lyles Jr. discussed the quarterback situation — and left the door open for the Tigers to pursue a QB in the transfer portal.

Freeze missed the first round of headline name transfer portal additions, which included NC State’s (now Kentucky’s) Devin Leary, Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall, and Virginia’s (now NC State’s) Brennan Armstrong, but that may have been by design. The Tigers were linked to Oklahoma State’s Spencer Sanders but never offered him before he chose to transfer to Ole Miss.

Should he decide to peruse the portal after the spring, it will be because he sees Robby Ashford, TJ Finley, and Holden Geriner as too far behind due to playing in an offensive system under Eric Kiesau that was canned when Carnell “Cadillac” Williams took over midseason following Harsin’s firing.

Ohio State’s Kyle McCord, UCLA’s Ethan Garbers, Nebraska’s Casey Thompson, and Cincinnati’s Evan Prater have all been floated by Saturday Down South’s Matt Hayes as post-spring transfer portal options for Freeze.

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Former Ole Miss RB suggests Lane Kiffin Auburn football rumors were planted to distract from Rebels’ success

Andrew Hughes

2–3 minutes

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Ole Miss running back Zach Evans suggested that the Lane Kiffin to Auburn football rumors were planted to disrupt the Rebels' success in 2022 (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

 

Former Ole Miss running back Zach Evans spoke at the 2023 NFL Combine and implied that the rumors of Lane Kiffin becoming the Auburn football head coach following Bryan Harsin’s October 31 firing was merely a plant to disrupt the team’s success.

Evans described a locker room in early November that was able to ignore it, but by the Egg Bowl matchup against Mississippi State on November 24, Kiffin had to address it. At that point, the Kiffin to the Tigers rumors had reached a fever pitch, and every single social media post the Rebels coach put out was taken as a potential sign he was Plains-bound.

After talking about how the team felt the rumors were ‘mind clutter,’ Evans than delved into conspiratorial territory in saying those talks existed solely for the purpose of being a distraction (h/t AL.com😞

“We started off the season 8-1. I mean, everybody wanted something to say. A lot of people didn’t like the success we were having, so we just got to stay together as a team and focus on the main thing, and that was winning.”

Potential reason Lane Kiffin never became Auburn football head coach

Players in the Auburn football locker room were convinced the week of the Iron Bowl that Kiffin was coming. There was legitimate momentum for new AD John Cohen to make Kiffin his first major hire in his new role. Evans saying those talks were never real is just to save face for Ole Miss fans who grew frustrated in 2022 when the rumors coincided with loss after a loss in the final month of the season.

The most likely reason a deal wasn’t struck was because of the autonomy Kiffin wouldn’t have been granted in the head coach role. In Oxford, Kiffin calls the shots. In Auburn, he would’ve had to bend the knee to the brain trust regarding coaching hirings and other NIL related business. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams being named associate head coach under Hugh Freeze was something Kiffin may not have approved of, with his possible replacement being an Auburn man through and through.

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Former Ole Miss RB suggests Lane Kiffin Auburn football rumors were planted to distract from Rebels’ success

Andrew Hughes

2–3 minutes

---

Ole Miss running back Zach Evans suggested that the Lane Kiffin to Auburn football rumors were planted to disrupt the Rebels' success in 2022 (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

 

Former Ole Miss running back Zach Evans spoke at the 2023 NFL Combine and implied that the rumors of Lane Kiffin becoming the Auburn football head coach following Bryan Harsin’s October 31 firing was merely a plant to disrupt the team’s success.

Evans described a locker room in early November that was able to ignore it, but by the Egg Bowl matchup against Mississippi State on November 24, Kiffin had to address it. At that point, the Kiffin to the Tigers rumors had reached a fever pitch, and every single social media post the Rebels coach put out was taken as a potential sign he was Plains-bound.

After talking about how the team felt the rumors were ‘mind clutter,’ Evans than delved into conspiratorial territory in saying those talks existed solely for the purpose of being a distraction (h/t AL.com😞

“We started off the season 8-1. I mean, everybody wanted something to say. A lot of people didn’t like the success we were having, so we just got to stay together as a team and focus on the main thing, and that was winning.”

Potential reason Lane Kiffin never became Auburn football head coach

Players in the Auburn football locker room were convinced the week of the Iron Bowl that Kiffin was coming. There was legitimate momentum for new AD John Cohen to make Kiffin his first major hire in his new role. Evans saying those talks were never real is just to save face for Ole Miss fans who grew frustrated in 2022 when the rumors coincided with loss after a loss in the final month of the season.

The most likely reason a deal wasn’t struck was because of the autonomy Kiffin wouldn’t have been granted in the head coach role. In Oxford, Kiffin calls the shots. In Auburn, he would’ve had to bend the knee to the brain trust regarding coaching hirings and other NIL related business. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams being named associate head coach under Hugh Freeze was something Kiffin may not have approved of, with his possible replacement being an Auburn man through and through.

That worked so well!   This year we should start a Saban to Auburn rumor and mess up there season too.

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yahoo.com

 

Rivals names Zac Etheridge an up-and-coming recruiter in the SEC

JD McCarthy

~2 minutes

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Zac Etheridge was just one of two coaches that Hugh Freeze retained from Bryan Harsin’s staff when he took over Auburn football.

One of the reasons why Etheridge was retained is his impressive abilities as a recruiter. He had a hand in recruiting 11 of Auburn’s 21 signees in the 2023 recruiting class.

His efforts are starting to get some national recognition as Rival’s National Director of Recruiting Adam Gorney named him one of 10 up-and-coming recruiters in the SEC.

Numerous prospects have noted Auburn as high on their list because of Etheridge and not only how well he recruits them but how well he connects with them once on campus. The recruiting prowess is unquestioned and it’s one reason why Etheridge is so vital to Auburn’s new coaching staff.

Not only did Etheridge help recruit over half of Auburn’s class, but, according to 247Sports, he was also the primary recruit on Auburn’s four-highest recruits in edge rusher Keldric Faulk, cornerback Kayin Lee, running back Jeremiah Cobb, and defensive lineman Darron Reed.

Etheridge, who is now Auburn’s secondary and safeties coach, has already gotten off to a great start in the 2024 class. He has already landed commitments from four-star cornerbacks Jayden Lewis and A’Mon Lane.

More Recruiting!

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No. 3 overall recruit KJ Bolden schedules visit to Auburn

Son of former Auburn RB is building relationship with current staff

Auburn offers 5-star defensive lineman Iose Epenesa

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire