Depth a 'wild card' as Auburn opens official practice
Scenes from Auburn’s first workout prior to the Sept. 26 opener against Kentucky. (Photos courtesy Todd Van Emst/Auburn Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
The college team with the most experience is probably ahead in the title chase this season because of a lack of spring practice and summer workouts. But as Auburn coach Gus Malzahn mentioned more than once on Monday in his first press conference of the 2020 season, depth is going to end up being the wild card for every one of the challengers.
“I think realistically, as coaches, we have to have our mindset that we may be playing our number three guy at a certain position,” Malzahn said. “That’s just the way it is. What we’ve got to do is we have five-and-a-half weeks to get those guys prepared to do that. And they have to have the mindset that it’s next man up, I’m ready to go. There’s no telling the different scenarios that we’re going to face throughout the year with all the challenges we’re going to have.”
Auburn went out for its first day of preseason practice on Monday after Malzahn completed a Zoom teleconference with the media. Most of the issues, as expected, dealt with the effects of the coronavirus on the Tigers’ football team.
“We brought our guys back June 4,” Malzahn said. “We’ve tested our players 863 times, which is a little bit more than seven times per player. We’ve had 33 positives over the course of the summer. We tested our staff over five times apiece. We’ve had one coach test positive. That was earlier in the summer. We did test our team last week. We got some very good news. We had zero positives. We tested our team and staff. So that gives us a lot of confidence going into fall camp today and getting started.”
There are plenty of questions on offense, where sophomore quarterback Bo Nix is one of only four returning starters, and on defense, where there are only five starters returning and virtually all of the secondary must be replaced.
On the first day of practice, however, very little of the talk was about the holes that have to be filled before the Sept. 26 season opener with Kentucky in Jordan-Hare Stadium. There were questions about the offensive line, to be sure, but Malzahn used the opportunity to again talk about the depth that would be needed to overcome injuries or positive COVID-19 tests during the season.
“Normally, on the offensive line, if you’ve got three tackles, three guards and two centers, you’re feeling pretty good,” he said. “It’s completely different now. We’ve got to get our ‘threes’ ready. With that strategically, the way we’re going to set up practice these next five weeks is offer more reps. We’re going to get creative and there are going to be times where we’re going to have two separate deals going just to evaluate our players. Let our guys get more reps than they normally would so we can evaluate them and get them ready to play.
“And at the same time, you’ve got to be thinking about the coaches, too. If you have a coach go down, you’ve got to have two play-callers, you’ve got to have an assistant for an assistant. We’ll be thinking about all those things in fall camp and just getting us prepared. It’s all going to be about being flexible. The teams that can overcome adversity and be flexible, I think they’re going to have a big advantage.”
To this point, only senior linebacker Chandler Wooten and senior reserve defensive back Traivon Leonard have opted out of playing this fall and Malzahn said he certainly respected their feelings.
“They’re the only two,” he said. “We definitely honor that. We respect that. That was their decisions. If somebody else does, we’ll feel the same way. But I have not been approached by anybody at this time.”
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 and the Big 10 have opted out of playing football this fall, leaving the nation with three Power Five conferences to compete for a national championship.
“We’ve been talking for probably five to six weeks about just controlling what we can control and not getting caught up with the ups and downs and everything that’s going on outside,” Malzahn said. “That’s the way we take it – day by day and week by week. We’re just concerned about us. As of right now, we’re getting ready for the season and that’s our mindset. We can’t get distracted. We’re getting ready to play, and that’s our mindset.”
Between now and Sept. 26, the Tigers will continue to operate in a bubble, trying to block out the outside world and stay safe in the football world. That will require help from the rest of the Auburn community, Malzahn pointed out.
“There was a time in mid-summer where we had quite a few of those 33 positives (on COVID tests),” he said. “Our team just came together and started being accountable to each other. We’ve done a really good job inside the building, but when we go outside this building, we’ve got to be responsible. We’ve been preaching to our guys about masks, social distancing. Your circle has got to be very small with who you’re with. Our guys have done a super job with that. I think because of the sacrifice that they’ve done to get here, these guys want to play.
“To students, you’re in it with us and we need your help. Wear your mask, social distance, be responsible. We knew this was going to be a telling time right now with all the students coming back to campus. What we told our guys is let’s control us. Most of our classes are going to be online for our players. We’re just doing everything we can to really stay self-isolated to protect our players and we have a good chance of playing the season.”