Not a game....not a game....we talkin' bout tacklin'....
This simple piece that was pasted after copifying from al.kum, is probably the greatest thing I've read all Spring. The last half of it tells me FINALLY, the Rock has come back....wait...I mean finally, someone recognizes that we sucked at teh tackles and have not been strong or physical. God love ya' Gene, but it looks like there's a theme developing here when new corches take over your program. Jizz-worthy stuff to follow.
-- While many focused on Auburn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense at its A-Day game Saturday, many may have missed an interesting development with the defense.
Too often Auburn was unable to wrap up on tackles, allowing receivers and running backs to break free for long gains in 2012. At the time, then-defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said it was a size issue -- the Tigers simply were not big enough or strong enough to compete.
With many of those same players back on the team, and under new leadership, the No. 1 concern involved the players' ability to tackle opponents in the open field.
Coach Gus Malzahn, always succinct with his observations, provided Tuesday the best possible review of the A-Day scrimmage an Auburn fan would want to hear after the 2012 tackling debacle.
"Our tackling, overall, in space was pretty good," he said.
Simple words that hold a lot of meaning for the Tigers.
"We definitely put a focus on it," defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "We knew it had to improve."
The Tigers spent more time in tackling drills, and forcing the issue in marathon scrimmages that were not only long but uptempo.
"That’s the way you get better at anything you do, is actually do it," Malzahn said. "So it’s been really good to see who can tackle, who needs to improve and who’s gotten better.â€
Open-field tackling has been a focus in Auburn's practices because of the Tigers' uptempo offense, which challenges defenses to make plays in isolation. The 4-2-5 scheme under Johnson has been installed to combat that -- and challenge Malzahn's offense. Iron sharpens iron, in a sense.
"Overall, a lot of the tackling last year was by some young players, and they probably were not as physically strong as they’re going to be as they progress through their career," Johnson said. "I think the other thing was probably some confidence, fatigue. There were a lot of games where they were playing from behind, had to play a lot of defensive snaps."
Eighteen of the 22 players in Auburn's two-deep on defense last season were juniors or younger, including eight freshmen and sophomores.
"Fundamentally, things were not being done well. It didn’t look like it was always as physical as it could be," Johnson said. "It was sort of like going through the motions, more like a form tackle instead of a physical tackle. There were some things of that nature we felt like we had to address."
Position coaches made sure to work with players for "five minutes or more" strictly on tackling fundamentals during each practice this spring, Johnson said.
"Then, of course, we took advantage of all the times the spring ball rules will allow us to have full-speed tackling," he said.
Improvement has been made, but there are still issues. The linebackers made good open-field tackles this spring, but "tackling in the box -- the physicality part of it -- I want to see get better," Johnson said.
Auburn concludes spring practices Wednesday morning with a light practice in shorts.
"From the first couple practices, I would say we’ve improved quite a bit," Malzahn said
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