3/16/23 Football Articles

[aubiefifty 18,259]

247sports.com

 

Auburn's Jeremiah Wright has a goal to be 'one of the greats'

Jason Caldwell

4–5 minutes

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AUBURN, Alabama—Coming to Auburn from Selma High School where he played both sides of the ball for the Saints, Jeremiah Wright was recruited to play offense for the Tigers, but injuries opened the door for an early move to defense for him during the Covid year of 2020. Playing strictly defense that first year for the Tigers, Wright was set for a move to offense the following season, but an injury during the spring forced him to miss the entire season and served as another setback in his development as an offensive lineman.

Last year meant another move back to defense early in fall camp, but eventually Wright found his way back to offense and onto the field for Auburn. Impressing as he continued to develop, Wright earned his first career start at Ole Miss and wound up playing in all 12 games for the Tigers.

Showing the physical side of his play and also the emotional side that makes him finish to the whistle and want to impose his will on defenders, Wright said his defensive background has something to do with that, but it’s more about who he is as a person.

“I don't even know where it comes from,” Wright said. “My mom, she's real hard on me, my mom and grandma real hard. When I'm on the field, it's just like a different person. You're going to know I'm there. I'm going to get on the field — because I'm a talker, I love to talk. It's different when people talking and can't back it up. I'm gonna talk and back it up. It's very different for me.”

Coming back for his fourth year in the program, Wright had a decision to make. Would he stick with offense or try his hand at defense once again. After family discussions and looking at what was best for his future and for the team, Wright said it was offense all the way for him.

“It's pretty cool,” Wright said. “I talked, prayed with my mom and grandmom and went through everything and just felt in my heart that's what I wanted to do — stay on the O-line and just get my footwork, technique, everything down. I want to be one of the greats to do it.”

That’s something that his new position coach, Jake Thornton, believes is possible for Wright.

"Jeremiah has done a great job with -- he was one of the first guys in the building to greet us as a staff,” Thornton said. “The biggest thing I've noticed about Jeremiah is when he walks into a room, he makes the room better by his personality, and I enjoy that about just off the field. On the field, I think he plays with toughness. He tries to finish.

“I do believe he's still learning how to play offensive line. He went back and forth from my understanding the last couple of years. So, I'm certainly excited to get him molded as an offensive lineman through an entire spring, summer and fall camp and I certainly think he can be a big-time factor and he's got all the physical traits. And I think he's developing the mentality to be one of the better ones in this league."

12COMMENTS

That message is something that Wright said Thornton gave to him as well, and it has served as motivation for the lineman as he prepares to take on a leadership role for the offensive line in 2023.

“He said I can be one of the most dominant O-linemen in this league right now and I just try to take it day-by-day and make sure I'm doing everything that I can with recovery with my body, get my weight down, making sure my technique and fundamentals and everything are good.”

">247Sports

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247sports.com

 

No Schedule Needed: 'Relentless and relationships' the key for Auburn's staff in recruiting

Christian Clemente

4–5 minutes

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Auburn's staffers would describe Hugh Freeze and his recruiting philosophy in just two words: "relentless" and "relationships."

Waking up at 4 or 5 a.m., Freeze has noted previously he usually starts his day by texting recruits. From there, it's go-time in recruiting no matter the time or situation, it's time to recruit.

"It’s not, ‘Well, you got to set an appointment,’ or it’s not where, ‘Hey, I’m going to take phone calls from 12-4,'" Auburn secondary coach Wesley McGriff said. "If Coach goes a couple of hours without talking to a recruit on the phone, he’s coming down that hallway: ‘Hey, anybody got anybody on the phone?’ So, it’s fun, and it’s refreshing to see a head coach that has a demeanor in recruiting like an assistant coach. He gets after it. He’s one of the few head coaches I’ve been around that he just about knows everybody’s name on the board. He’s talking to not just one guy daily; he’s talking to multiple guys daily."

So far in the 2024 cycle, multiple high-end recruits have noted the Auburn coach they talk with the most is actually Freeze.

"He’s dynamic in recruiting," McGriff said. "He loves it. He’s a tremendous people person, and you’re going to see it pay dividends. With this staff and the way we’re recruiting, it doesn’t feel like work, because we’re enjoying what we’re doing, and man, when we get a guy on the phone, it’s like having a party. It’s good to be around a head coach that’s very accessible in recruiting, doesn’t have a schedule in terms of when he can talk to players; he’ll talk to them any time. If you pay attention at practice, he’s going to talk to them during practice. So, it’s 24 hours a day when he’ll talk to a kid."

It's not anything new to McGriff, who's now in his third stint working for Freeze. It's also nothing new for McGriff trying to get recruits to Auburn, as he's also in his third stint on the Plains. Auburn's secondary holds two 2024 commits in Top247 Moody (Ala.) cornerback A'Mon Lane and Top247 Anniston (Ala.) cornerback Jayden Lewis.

Another staffer familiar with Freeze and his recruiting philosophy is tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua, who played for Freeze all the way back at Lambuth and has essentially been working with him ever since his playing days wrapped up. 

Now back in the SEC, it's been fun for Aigamaua to go after some big-name, blue-chip recruits with Freeze right by his side.

"Man, I love it," Aigamaua said. "Coach Freeze is a machine when it comes to this recruiting. We love it as coaches because we go as he goes. So, we're out there in the middle of practice (having) face time with recruits, showing them what we have to offer, showing them practice and the recruits love it. They're out there just watching practice with us and (we're) having face time with the parents and (they're) understanding how we do things. It's awesome. Recruiting is the lifeline of this program. I've always said, if you're not doing it, somebody else is. so we've got to be on top of that. As coach goes, we go. It's exciting to see our head coach passionate about recruiting and building relationships with these players and their families."

It's the relentlessness and relationships that are the focal point for Auburn's staff.

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"The biggest thing or two things?" Aigamaua said. "Relentless and relationships. It's shocking when you talk to some of these parents and how many of them are not talking to the coaches from other schools. And I think that is our winning edge is building those relationships with the parents because I think sometimes they get left out of this recruiting process, even high school coaches, with the social media world, you can go straight to the kids on Twitter or Instagram and just making sure that coaches… he is a former high school coach and he knows how important those guys are."

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">247Sports

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si.com

 

Jeremiah Wright says everything is going "smooth" in spring practice

Andrew Stefaniak

2–3 minutes

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Jeremiah Wright shares his thoughts on how spring practice has gone.

Jeremiah Wright was a spark plug on the offensive line for the Tigers a season ago, and he proved he was not afraid to push the opposing defensive line around. 

Wright was not in the rotation at the beginning of the year, but poor play and injuries got him a ton of snaps in the back half of the season. 

Now Wright is firmly in the race to have a significant role for the Tigers in 2023. 

Following a recent spring practice, Wright was interviewed and asked how everything was going. 

Wright responded, "Spring is going good. We got the new freshman coming in, and they're doing good; transfers coming in, and they are working hard to step up and play. Everything is going smooth." 

Wright was then asked about the opportunity the offensive line has this season, and he responded, "It's something new for me. It's like I step up into a starting role, and I'm trying to compete. You've got younger guys they're trying to come in and compete too, so it's something new."

Spring practice has gone well for the offensive lineman, and all reports say this position group will be much improved this season. 

It's exciting to think whoever is throwing passes for the Tigers this season will have time to do so. 

[aubiefifty 18,259]

Ben Aigamaua is optimistic about Auburn’s tight ends during spring football

Published: Mar. 15, 2023, 10:01 a.m.

3–4 minutes

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Auburn Spring Football Practice Monday 03/13

By

• Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

Auburn tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua knows the season is months away; however, he sees signs of hope in the Tigers tight end room that seeks to replace the production of John Samuel Shenker, who had 68 catches, one touchdown, and over 700 yards during three seasons on the Plains. Shenker was a security blanket for Tiger quarterbacks from Bo Nix to Robby Ashford and T.J. Finley.

Luke Deal, Tyler Fromm, Brandon Frazier, and Micah Riley-Ducker are returning from last season. Aigamua believes the best is yet to come from this group.

“They bring a lot of different traits to what we do upfront in the tight end room,” Aigamua said.” Luke, we know his strengths, and we see what he can do. My job as his coach is to strengthen the area of improvement: The passing game. Tyler, same thing.”

Riley-Ducker seems to have specifically caught Aigamaua’s attention.

“Micah is the one that, if we can get this thing right, he’s going to be special. I’m excited about our room, especially adding Rivaldo (Fairweather) and the guys that we’ve got. We’ve got a very talented room; we’ve just got to make sure that, when our number is called, we’re there to make the plays and the blocks we need to make our offense roll.”

Aigamaua spoke to reporters Tuesday about an hour before the team’s fourth spring football practice, culminating with April 8th’s A-Day spring game. He started with praise for Florida International University transfer Rivaldo Fairweather.

“We’ve got a very talented room,” Aigamaua told reporters. “Adding Rivaldo to that room kind of — the expectations have risen from the passing game to the run game; we’re very involved in what we do offensively. So far, with the four practices we’ve had, we’re operating at a high level. We’ve got to clean up some technical stuff, technique, and things of that nature, but I’m excited about our room right now.”

Fairweather had 54 receptions for 838 yards and five touchdowns in three seasons. Last season he caught 28 passes for 426 yards and three touchdowns. Aigamua believes there’s potential for growth for Fairweather.

“He brings the stretching the field aspect of it. He is running by folks out there,” Aigamaua said. “To see that, he’s going to be a mismatch problem. In the passing game he’s got really good hands, he caught a dig route over the middle yesterday and it was — to have a big body like that come across the middle, it helps our quarterbacks trust that we’ve got big bodies running across that can make those catches.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group

[aubiefifty 18,259]

here is some video on  Wright i missed.

 

 

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[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

 

Dang it, Mike G!   Why do you insist on getting my hopes up?!?!   I was fine with my mediocre expectations.   And then Mike G goes off and talks very highly of our defense and our OL in convincing fashion causing me to wonder if maybe we can be much better than I thought in year 1.  
 

Word of advice - skip the first 12 minutes or so with the same old QB talk we’ve heard 1000 times, and go straight to the OL and D talk.   

[Win4AU 4,183]

No reasons the TEs shouldn’t be really good.  That room has been stacked and underutilized for years.  MRF getting a lot of love this Spring so far.

[bigbird 60,940]

@aubiefifty,  Really appreciate you posting these in this manner it makes it easy to read and navigate. Thanks

[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

@aubiefifty,  Really appreciate you posting these in this manner it makes it easy to read and navigate. Thanks

Fiddy Rocks!!!

[ellitor 33,788]

40 minutes ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

Fiddy Rocks!!!

I guess you could say he brings the smoke. Anyone who knows him will get the reference.

[toddc 13,197]

39 minutes ago, ellitor said:

I guess you could say he brings the smoke. Anyone who knows him will get the reference.

He is a pretty dope dude!

[bigbird 60,940]

49 minutes ago, toddc said:

He is a pretty dope dude!

He really rocks the joint

[aubiefifty 18,259]

jesus guys yall are making this ol bastid teary eyed. thanks for the love. and of course keep bringing the thunder when i screw up.....grins. but really it means the world to me.

[toddc 13,197]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:33 AM, aubiefifty said:

jesus guys yall are making this ol bastid teary eyed. thanks for the love. and of course keep bringing the thunder when i screw up.....grins. but really it means the world to me.

You know they’re making “pun” of you right?