5.12.23 Football Articles

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247sports.com

 

How Hugh Freeze evaluates new Auburn WR Caleb Burton

Nathan King

30–38 minutes

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"This one made sense because his high-school tape was pretty dang good. Obviously he was one of the top receivers in the country.”

HOOVER, Alabama — Usually when a player is asked to join Ohio State’s receiving corps, it’s a good sign their talent level is more than adequate.

That’s partially the reason why Hugh Freeze and his Auburn staff took Caleb Burton in the transfer portal last week — because the former top-75 overall recruit didn’t appear in a game as a true freshman with the Buckeyes.

In that sense, Freeze and Auburn’s coaches are viewing Burton’s addition like that of a retroactive freshman signee from the 2022 class.

“You went by his high school tape, and what he did there, and then trying to stack your classes in that receiver room where you're not getting all upperclassmen,” Freeze said Wednesday at the 2023 Regions Tradition Pro-Am fundraiser. “And this one made sense because his high-school tape was pretty dang good. Obviously he was one of the top receivers in the country.”

Rated as the No. 10 receiver in the country by 247Sports in last year’s recruiting class — and signing with an Ohio State program that has arguably college football’s best track record at the position over the past few seasons — Burton did not appear in any games for the Buckeyes during their run to the College Football Playoff.

This spring, Burton was injured on the first day of Ohio State’s practices and missed the rest of spring ball. Burton’s ability to stay healthy at Auburn will be something to monitor, considering he’s played just one full season of football over the last four years following a major knee injury his junior year of high school.

Burton visited Auburn last weekend just a few days after entering the portal, and new position coach Marcus Davis made him feel like a major priority to boost a thin unit.

“Something they’ve been harping on is (needing) more wide receivers on the team,” Burton said. “And I think that’s a great opportunity,"

Ohio State returns what’s regarded by many as the top receiving corps in college football, with Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming all back — and that’s after the Buckeyes had the first receiver taken in the 2023 NFL draft in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

“(Burton) went to Ohio State — that room is loaded there — so we base that off of his high-school tape, and we're basically getting a freshman,” Freeze said.

The 5-foot-11 Burton is the second transfer addition to Auburn’s receiving corps this cycle, joining Cincinnati’s Nick Mardner. Auburn returns starters Ja'Varrius Johnson and Koy Moore — along with exciting sophomore Camden Brown — but the Tigers have struggled to find consistency at receiver over the past couple seasons. Burton should have plenty of opportunities to earn a spot in the main rotation.

Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne is obviously the headliner of Auburn’s post-spring transfer pickups, but the Tigers also brought in more help along the offensive line in the form of Jaden Muskrat, who started at right tackle for Auburn offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery last season when he was the head coach at Tulsa. Of course, Auburn’s probable starting left tackle this season is Dillon Wade, who also followed Montgomery from Tulsa.

Auburn seems well positioned already at right tackle with Western Kentucky transfer Gunner Britton, and Freeze said Muskrat is capable of playing an interior spot, too.

“He can do both (tackle or guard), which is why he was that high for us — of the ones that went into the portal,” Freeze said. “I think he can do both. Exactly how that looks when we start, I'm not sure yet, but excited to get him.”

Defensively, Auburn’s lone transfer addition in the second portal window is App State pass-rusher Jalen McLeod, an All-Sun Belt performer who had six sacks last season and brings a much-needed injection of experience to a jack linebacker position that doesn’t return any of its contributors from last season.

“Incredible pass rusher — which we need desperately — and toughness,” Freeze said. “Plays the game hard, high motor. Really excited by Jalen.”

Freeze said Wednesday he and his staff would still like to add one or two more wide receivers, another pass-rusher, a linebacker and possibly a defensive back via the transfer portal.

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247sports.com

Kirby Smart Hugh Freeze brings tremendous offense back to SEC

Nathan King

28–36 minutes

Freeze and Smart will face off this season for the first time since 2016

HOOVER, Alabama — For the first time since 2016, Hugh Freeze and Kirby Smart were back on the same grass.

They’ll have to wait until Sept. 30 for their first meeting in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, though. Freeze and Smart were celebrity participants Wednesday in the 2023 Regions Tradition Pro-Am, an annual golf fundraiser for Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham.

Freeze will become the third Auburn coach of Smart’s Georgia tenure when his Tigers host the Bulldogs this fall. And having faced off against him as Alabama’s defensive coordinator four times (2012-15), and once as Georgia’s head coach (2016), Smart is well versed in the challenges posed by Freeze’s offenses.

“He does a tremendous job with the RPO game,” Smart said Wednesday when asked what makes Freeze’s teams difficult to defend. “He’s got great belief in his players and his system.”

Freeze bested Smart’s Alabama defenses twice in 2014 and 2015, then Ole Miss blasted Smart’s first Georgia team, 45-14 in 2016. In all, Freeze’s offenses at Ole Miss averaged 23.6 points across five meetings against Smart’s defenses.

“His players believe in him,” Smart said. “He’s a really good leader and a great football coach.”

Freeze’s RPO-based offense — a run-pass-option system where, depending on the defense’s alignment, the Tigers can make decisions on the fly to attack mismatches or weaker areas of the field — was obviously a big emphasis for Auburn’s first-year coaching staff during spring practices.

The Tigers’ quarterbacks struggled to grasp the concepts at times, and now Auburn is bringing in a veteran Power Five starter in Michigan State’s Payton Thorne.

“It’s always that cat and mouse game that you’re playing with the defense,” Auburn offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery said during spring practice. “And trying to figure out, ‘Where can I take advantage, or what are they giving up to get to the point where they want to be?’ It’s a give-and-take-type system, and a lot of that goes on our quarterbacks.”

Since taking over at Georgia, Smart is 7-1 against Auburn, and the Tigers have lost 15 of their last 18 overall against their oldest rival. Georgia is looking to become the first three-peat national champion in modern college football history.

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People want to follow him': What Auburn football is getting in transfer QB Payton Thorne

Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser

6–8 minutes

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AUBURN — Former Naperville Central High School football coach Mike Stine saw the parallels immediately.

He was at minicamp for the New Orleans Saints a handful of years ago and was given the opportunity to sit in on an offensive meeting. Leading the gathering wasn't coach Sean Payton, nor was it offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. In fact, it wasn't anyone on the staff.

It was Drew Brees.

FREEZE'S THOUGHTS: What Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze said about MSU transfer QB Payton Thorne

RECRUITING: How Auburn football's Hugh Freeze has done in building relationships with in-state coaches

"If you would have come and watched our offensive meetings a lot of times at Naperville Central, Payton (Thorne) ran our offensive film sessions," Stine told the Montgomery Advertiser this week. "He had that ability and we allowed him to do some of that. I’m not saying he’s going to be Drew Brees, but there was a lot of similarities."

Stine saw the way Brees commanded a room. Thorne did the same at Naperville Central. He also noticed how people gravitated toward Brees, looking to absorb anything they could from the future hall of famer. Stine couldn't help but think about the same thing happening between Thorne and his teammates.

"People want to follow him," said Kofi Hughes, who has been Thorne's trainer for the last seven years. "Payton has always been the guy that’s like, ‘Hey, we’re going this way. Let’s roll.’ He was like that in high school and I’ve seen him do the same thing at Michigan State."

Thorne spent four seasons with the Spartans before he entered the transfer portal April 30 and committed to Auburn five days later. He joins a quarterback competition that features incumbent starter Robby Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner, along with true freshman Hank Brown.

But Thorne has something those other QBs don't: Experience. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Illinois native has appeared in 29 college games, completing 61% of his passes for 6,493 yards and 49 touchdowns.

He's also been intimately around the sport since he was a child. His grandfather, John Thorne, was a high school coach before leading Division III North Central College to 118 wins over 13 seasons. After John retired, Payton's father, Jeff Thorne, took over and led the Cardinals to their first NCAA Division III national championship in 2019.

 

Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne throws in the first quarter against Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022, in State College. The Nittany Lions won, 35-16.

 

"He grew up a gym rat," Stine said. "He grew up on the sideline of football (games) with his grandpa and his dad. He grew up in a locker room. ... He grew up in meeting rooms. He’s been around coaches. I don’t know if he has aspirations to be a coach, but he’d be a dang good one because he is detail-oriented. He’ll work one-on-one with receivers to get that exact distance on a route. He’s very detailed that way, and that’s why we really let him run a lot of meetings."

Stine was also comfortable allowing Thorne, who started his junior and senior seasons at Naperville Central, to check nearly every play at the line of scrimmage. Stine estimates his former quarterback called about 75% of the team's plays from the line after he saw the defensive alignment.

"Sometimes our best was when we just went no-huddle, up-tempo and then Payton was just calling (plays) at the line of scrimmage," Stine said. "He had the ability to digest what the defense (was doing), how they were lining up, what they were going to do and get our guys in the right place.

"That's very unique. There’s a lot of college guys that can’t do it, and Payton could do it in high school. He’s been able to do it at the college level, as well.”

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze pointed to that acumen when asked what drew him to Thorne. According to Hughes, who was a receiver at Indiana from 2010-13, Thorne's knowledge of what each offensive player on the field must do allows him to challenge his teammates.

TRANSFER PORTAL: Will Auburn football continue to be active in the portal? Hugh Freeze is 'open to looking'

FREEZE'S STRATEGY: 'I know it can win': Why Hugh Freeze leads recruiting strategy with Auburn football

An assistant on Stine's staff during Thorne's time at Naperville Central, Hughes recalled multiple occasions where Thorne would come off the field and not shy away from letting a teammate know he had to do better.

"When you talk about intensity in a football player, people usually think of like Ray Lewis at linebacker," Hughes said. "Ultimate intensity, right? I’ve never seen a quarterback play like that. Where he’s coming off and, man, if you didn’t run the right route or if the line wasn’t acting right, you’re going to hear about it. Usually you hear about it from your coach, but you’re going to hear about it from Payton Thorne.

"Because there’s just this different level of confidence and there’s this different level of leadership that follows somebody that actually knows what everyone is supposed to do. ... Honestly, anyone who plays the game, you want that. That’s exactly what you want. ... I’ve been playing football my whole life and there’s so many different personalities within the game. The ones that I admire most are the guys that treat it as a profession far before they’re even in the NFL. This is a kid who’s been treating the game as a professional would since he was literally 16 years old."

Stine expects Thorne to come in and push not only his teammates, but also the staff to match his work ethic. He wouldn't expect anything less after experiencing that as his coach in high school.

"He is so ready for something like the SEC, so ready to contribute to the legacy at Auburn," Hughes said. "Everything that he’s been through these last four or five years, it’s all been pointing in this direction. I can’t say enough great things."

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: Auburn transfer QB Payton Thorne brings experience, intensity to Tigers

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yahoo.com

 

Auburn among top teams destined to rebound in 2023

Taylor Jones

2–3 minutes

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Auburn went through a rough patch last season by sustaining a 5-7 season. The losing season sparked a coaching change as Bryan Harsin was relieved of his duties on Oct. 31.

Things are trending upward for the Tigers, as Hugh Freeze has brought a new sense of confidence to the Auburn fanbase by recruiting and utilizing the transfer portal to find the best players for positions of need.

Because of the noticeable difference in overall morale, Athlon Sports feels that Auburn will be one of five teams that will rebound in 2023.

Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan recently shared five teams that he sees improving from their 2022 campaign. Auburn joins a list of programs such as Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Nebraska, and Miami that are poised to get back to normal this season.

When discussing Auburn, Lassan shared that the Tigers’ lack of creating points, plus their struggles with stopping the run, led to a disappointing season. However, recent upgrades should get Auburn back on track.

The arrival of Hugh Freeze and a solid staff is the biggest reason Auburn should improve in ’23. Freeze and coordinator Philip Montgomery should jumpstart the offense, and the transfer portal additions of quarterback Payton Thorne (Michigan State) and four potential starters on a thin offensive line are another reason for optimism. Also, running back Jarquez Hunter should have a breakout year. The Tigers are solid in the secondary, and similar to the offense, a couple of transfer portal additions are slated to boost the line of scrimmage.

Several positions that received boosts this offseason include running back, offensive line, and quarterback. The new-look Tigers will begin their run to a bowl game on Saturday, Sept. 2 at Jordan-Hare Stadium against UMass.

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 Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__