Spring Football

[JR4AU]

I forgot what mod said it, but apparently Garner thinks he has the potential to be one of the best to ever play for us and wants him to work harder. 

↑↑↑ this

[noxin]

Lots of talent but lazy.

That could describe a lot of us. 

Except for the talent part

[Buzz Killington]

That could describe a lot of us. 

Except for the talent part

Speak for yourself.  I have a real talent for being lazy.

[dallaswareagle]

Speak for yourself.  I have a real talent for being lazy.

I have Mexican and French in my ancestry. Which means I am to lazy to surrender.

[Godfather]

Speak for yourself.  I have a real talent for being lazy.

Don't sell yourself short Buzz, you're a tremendous slouch.

[Snaggletiger]

A quote from Gabe Wright on Shon Coleman.  al. I am a gay twerker that has no balls!!!!  I also have no idea how to use the quote function to post stories, so I annoy the piss out of others.  I like male genatalia in and around my mouth.


"Pat may be a better pass-setter," defensive tackle Gabe Wright said. "Shon is one of the tougher run-setters I've ever seen in my life. It's like hitting a brick wall with a hammer. If you ever thought Greg (Robinson) was strong, you've got another thing coming. Shon is probably two times stronger than Greg."

[Pell City Tiger]

I have Mexican and French in my ancestry. Which means I am to lazy to surrender.

Be thankful it's not Mexican and Puerto Rican. You'd be too lazy to steal.

[Saniflush]

A quote from Gabe Wright on Shon Coleman.  al. I am a gay twerker that has no balls!!!!  I also have no idea how to use the quote function to post stories, so I annoy the piss out of others.  I like male genatalia in and around my mouth.


"Pat may be a better pass-setter," defensive tackle Gabe Wright said. "Shon is one of the tougher run-setters I've ever seen in my life. It's like hitting a brick wall with a hammer. If you ever thought Greg (Robinson) was strong, you've got another thing coming. Shon is probably two times stronger than Greg."

Chub city.

[AUChizad]

Be thankful it's not Mexican and Puerto Rican. You'd be too lazy to steal.

True. I know of at least one that stole my independence.

[Godfather]

True. I know of at least one that stole my independence.

That isn't all she stole.

[WiregrassTiger]

That isn't all she stole.

Did she get his stereo?

[dallaswareagle]

Be thankful it's not Mexican and Puerto Rican. You'd be too lazy to steal.

Hey now, my wife is Mexican, and she as yet to steal any lawn equipment or cleaning supplies. To be exact she has yet to use them very much. 

[AUChizad]

Hey now, my wife is Mexican, and she as yet to steal any lawn equipment or cleaning supplies. To be exact she has yet to use them very much. 

That's because she's the lazy half of the equation. My wife's the one genetically predisposed to steal.

[dallaswareagle]

That's because she's the lazy half of the equation. My wife's the one genetically predisposed to steal.

True dat, she has been known to just lay there for 5 to 10 seconds.

[Snaggletiger]

Spring football, not AU related.  Listening to the Troy beat writer this morning on the radio recapping Troy's spring and he was asked about Erique Florence.  His response was, "I don't know what happened but let's just say Erique didn't last very long at Troy." 

[DnATL]

That's because she's the lazy half of the equation. My wife's the one genetically predisposed to steal.

So you're saying his wife would be too lazy to illegally download?

[djsimp]

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040114aak.html

AUBURN'S J.B. GRIMES: 'GREAT BATTLE' AT LEFT TACKLE
April 1, 2014

By Phillip Marshall
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - All-America left tackle Greg Robinson is gone, working toward the riches that will come when he is a high NFL draft pick in May. Back on the Auburn practice field, junior Pat Miller and sophomore Shon Coleman are competing to take his place.

After the seventh practice of the spring Tuesday, offensive line coach J.B. Grimes said the race is too close to call.

"Great battle," Grimes said. "Both of them are hooked up. Both of them are rooting for each other. I love the way they interact with each other. I think it's a great battle, and both of them are really good football players."

Miller started the first three games of last season at right tackle before sitting out a suspension for an issue that had been resolved in the summer. Avery Young claimed the starting job and still has it.

Four starters - sophomore guard Alex Kozan, senior center Reese Dismukes, senior guard Chad Slade and Young - return from last season's Southeastern Conference champions. Thirteen offensive linemen are on scholarship. It's a refreshing change for Grimes, who joined Gus Malzahn's staff just more than a year ago.

"I think it's going well," Grimes said. "The great thing you have when you have a lot of the same players and the same coaches is that you are talking in the same language. At this time last year, I was talking in a different language and they were hearing in a different language. It was utter chaos about half the time."

Last spring, Grimes spent most of this time trying to teach players to understand where to go, who to block and the technique they should use to do it. It's different now.

"A year ago, I was coaching how to get in a stance and how to take a first step," Grimes said. "What I'm coaching primarily now is the second step and a third step. We've made a lot of progress, because we've graduated to further down the field."

Redshirt freshman Deon Mix has been often praised as spring practice nears the halfway point. Grimes said junior college transfer center Xavier Dampeer, sophomore guard Will Allen and sophomore tackle Robert Leff have also taken major steps forward.

"I'm really pleased with the way Will Adams is coming on," Grimes said. "He's getting more reps. I'm pleased with Robert Leff. We really like Xavier Dampeer. We think he can be a very, very quality backup to Reese Dismukes and be ready to step in."

[djsimp]

http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040114aar.html

SPRING NOTEBOOK, DAY 7: VALUABLE LESSONS FOR DANIEL
April 1, 2014


AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore defensive end Elijah Daniel finally wore pads again in Tuesday’s practice, the seventh of the spring for Auburn.

Daniel, a 5-star signee from Avon, Ind., was injured on the first drill of the first spring practice of his life. His high school did not have spring practice.

As a true freshman, Daniel played defensive end and moved inside in passing situations. He said he learned he needed to change his body to reach his potential. He worked overtime with strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell.

“I’m going to be a lot better,” Daniel said. “I know I’m going to be a lot better. I’ve adjusted to how everything works. My conditioning is way better. That’s the biggest thing.”

Daniel said he learned valuable lessons last season from senior defensive end Dee Ford, who is projected to be a first-round draft pick.

“That’s the one thing I really look back on the season and recall,” Daniel said. “He was my roommate for trips. I learned a lot about how he got where he was. I’m going to try to utilize the same things he did to make myself a better player. He always said it starts with Coach Russell.”
--Phillip Marshall

Frost likes Harding’s move to linebacker

Junior linebacker Kris Frost said Tuesday the move of Khari Harding from safety to linebacker looks to be a good one.

“He has good body size to play linebacker,” Frost said. “He’s fast and he moves well. His drops are really good. It’s good seeing him there. We get to learn from him at the same time he is learning from us. We are just glad to have him in our group.”
--Phillip Marshall

High school coaching clinic starts Thursday

Auburn’s annual high school coaching clinic is scheduled to begin Thursday and go through Saturday morning’s scrimmage. Some 900 high school coaches are expected to be on hand to hear from Auburn’s coaches and from some of their own.
--Phillip Marshall

Familiarity pays off for Auburn’s defensive players

For the first time in his Auburn career, linebacker Kris Frost has the same defensive coordinator for the second consecutive season.

During Frost’s redshirt season in 2011, Ted Roof was the defensive coordinator. Brian VanGorder took over in 2012, but was not retained when Gus Malzahn was named head coach. Ellis Johnson took over and is back for his second season.

“It’s hard,” Frost said. “When you first come in, you have an outlook on how it’s going to be, and it changes. When you are a freshman, you finally get the feeling you are adjusting to that coach. Then it changes, and it’s like you are starting all over again.

“The adjustment to these guys for all of us was good. We had a bunch of players that just wanted to get the job done and were hungry to make plays. It’s all about how much work you are willing to put in and how well you understand the game.”
--Phillip Marshall

Veterans lead the way for the offensive line

Auburn offensive line coach J.B. Grimes sees familiar faces all around. He sees players who played for a national championship.

“You know what they can do already,” Grimes said. “You know what they are capable of doing. I think that’s the biggest thing. You just went through 14 football games. If they’re not quite doing as well as they can do, you can call them out on it. If they’re doing about as well as they can do, you understand.”
--Phillip Marshall

[djsimp]

Not all Spring football but sort of.
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2014/04/auburns_gus_malzahn_reopening.html

Gus Malzahn reopening Auburn's football program to former players: 'We would welcome all of them'

Print Joel A. Erickson
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on April 01, 2014 at 5:41 PM, updated April 01, 2014 at 5:45 PM

AUBURN SPRING PRACTICE 2014
'Everybody eats': Auburn receivers not only want to improve, they want to be nation's best
Gus Malzahn reopening Auburn's football program to former players: 'We would welcome all of them'
Season of change: Khari Harding's switch to linebacker could stick as Auburn coaches experiment
Auburn's Ricardo Louis enters spring motivated by drop in BCS, not Prayer in Jordan-Hare
Watch, listen to Gus Malzahn recap productive Auburn scrimmage and more

AUBURN, Alabama -- When Jerraud Powers arrived in Auburn to play in the Jason Dufner Charitable Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic this week, he made plans to stop by Auburn's spring practices on Tuesday, taking a look at the program for the first time in a long time.


For the first time since he was drafted in 2009, Powers felt welcome in the Auburn football offices again.

In the time since he was first hired more than a year ago, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has opened the doors back up to former Tigers, particularly those in the NFL.

"Not to throw any shade out there to the past staff, but with Gus leading us, it seems more open to the former players, the alumni, guys in the league," Powers, a starting cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals heading into his sixth year in the NFL, said. "He wants those guys to come back, train, talk to the players, come back, help with everything. It's just going to help the program."

Powers headed up to the Tigers' facilities on Tuesday, taking advantage of Malzahn's open-door policy to meet the current staff, talk a little football and get a first-hand look at what the program looks like now.

But it's more than Powers. In Auburn's run to the national championship last season, several Auburn alumni with NFL resumes showed up to watch from the sidelines, and in the case of Bo Jackson, build a relationship with players like Tre Mason.

"We would welcome all of them," Malzahn said. "We're a true family, and we want to make sure that we have great relationships with our former players and our current NFL players, too."

In some cases, Malzahn has invited former Tigers to motivate his team.

Freshly retired after 15 seasons as a standout middle linebacker in the NFL, Auburn legend Takeo Spikes returned to deliver a pregame motivational speech to the Tigers before their win over Ole Miss last season, bringing a sense of Auburn's tradition to the current roster.

Auburn Spring Football: April 1, 2014
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn watches work outs Tuesday, April 1, 2014, during spring practice at the Auburn Athletic Complex in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)
"I thought it was a marvelous idea," Spikes said. "Not just me, but bringing in former players so guys can relate. I'm a firm believer, as a player, whenever you're living in the moment at that time, you have to pay homage to the guys that came before you."

Spikes kept going to Auburn games when he could, traveling to watch a season that turned into the biggest turnaround in the history of college sports.

"He keeps in touch with all the guys," Spikes said. "And he's always said he's got an open-door policy, at least to me, anyway. It's good to be able to have that relationship with him."

Now, during the offseason, Auburn's current NFL players have their own chance to return to campus. In addition to Powers, Sen'Derrick Marks, the former Tigers defensive tackle about to play his sixth season in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, made his own trip to the team's facility this weekend, part of his own trip to play in Dufner's classic.

A lot like Powers, Marks appreciated the chance to meet the staff and talk football with the group leading his former school now.

"It's good, talking to the staff, seeing what they're doing, just to get insight on Auburn, feel again a part of it," Marks said. "I felt like, since I've left, nobody reached out to ask me to be a part of what was going on. He wants us to be involved."

Nearly all of Auburn's alums watched last season from afar, in some cases, like Powers, trading barbs with teammates who came from other SEC schools, like Cardinals' cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu, both from LSU, and safety Rashad Johnson and cornerback Javier Arenas from Alabama.

For years, Powers had seen the way other schools welcomed NFL alums back to campus in the offseason and wondered why Auburn didn't do the same.

All of that has changed under Malzahn.

"With the old staff, it just seemed closed," Powers said. "Gus is completely different. I love the direction this program is headed."

[Snaggletiger]

From what I've read, I like the move of Khari Harding to LB.  Listed at 6' 224, he's got more than enough size to play the position and Malzahn has said since he signed him that he's one of the hardest hitters he's ever seen.  Definitely need to establish some solid depth there, especially with Come on, Swain's status in limbo.