Auburn Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 08/29/2022

I do want to start with the quarterback, T.J. Finley. We announced him yesterday. I’m just proud of him ‚Äì and all those guys through the competition ‚Äì and looking forward to seeing him prepare himself this week and get out there and play.

Nick Brahms is officially done with football now. I think that’s been a few questions that have come up. He tried after last season. He had the injury going into the bowl game and then came back and is just not there physically to be able to go out there and play and to really to play at the level that he wants to play at. Nick has been at every practice. He has helped our players out. He has helped the offensive line, and he’ll continue to keep doing that. I am very proud of him just for his efforts, and one thing I told him, ‘Football ends. It always does. It’s just usually not on our timeline that we want.’ His future is bright, he’s going to help this football team, and we’re looking forward to that. Zykevious Walker won’t be in that first game right now, but he’s looking really good and hopefully we get a speedy recovery and get him back. But he won’t be available for this game.

As far as the game goes, Mercer scored 63 points and had 625 total yards. That’s hard to do. We looked at them last year and you see it this year again, they’re well-coached. Coach Cronic does a great job with that group. They play hard, they’re physical, and they’re very balanced when you look at them in all three phases. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown. And they certainly have our attention when it comes to getting prepared this week and having a game to watch. I think that’s something we’re going to take advantage of is being able to watch their first game and then get our guys prepared, ready to go out there and play.

Most importantly for us, it’s a chance to go out there and get ready for a game. There are no more scrimmages and there’s no more spring games. We have a deadline and it’s this Saturday. We get a chance to go out there and play, and I’d say everybody that sits in this room is excited about that. You get to a point in camp where you’re just tired of hitting each other and doing the same things, and now we get a chance to go out there and play somebody else and to be at home in our stadium, which we’re all looking forward to that. I can tell last night at practice ‚Äì the energy was different. There was an excitement that this is the week we get to go out there and play, and I’m very proud of our coaches and players and all the work they put in to get to this point. Now it’s time to go out there and get ourselves prepared and ready. So, this is our day off. We’ll be back out tomorrow for a padded practice, and we’ll be focused on that and just getting ourselves geared up for having a great day tomorrow.‚Äù

On the quarterback position and T.J. Finley being named the starter:

We’re always evaluating our guys. He [Finley] won the starting job, and that’s the focus going into this week. Beyond this game, and not to create any controversy or any issues, but it’s football. You never know, right? You have guys at other positions. You guys have the depth chart. It’s really the same thing. I know we want to focus on the quarterback. It’s all the same to me. You have got to go out there and play well. I think those guys will know that at the end of the day it doesn’t mean that other guys in backup roles don’t want to play. We were kind of joking about it earlier, but we’re a strep throat away from somebody else being a starter. This depth chart right here, that’s the reality of our world. Guys get sick, something happens. You might be the third-string guy and then come Thursday, a guy gets sick and you’re the second-string guy. And then he goes out there the second play the game and rolls his ankle, you’re the starter on the third play of the game. Just like that. So, if guys are sitting in here and are pouting about not being in the position they want to be in, then they’re not going to be ready when their moment is called and get that opportunity. But T.J. has earned it. Those other quarterbacks, they all competed. They’re not going to stop competing. They’re not going to stop working. They’re not going to stop trying to prepare to go out there and play because they all know you’re one play away. That’s just the reality of it in football. But as far as practice goes, T.J. is going to get the majority of the reps. He is going to be out there running with the blues (first team), and we’re going to focus on the game plan of what we have to do and let him go operate. We’ve got his back, and this is his opportunity to go out there and prepare himself for Saturday and then hopefully play really well.

On the specific things that make a QB stand out:

I think toughness is a huge part of that. I really do. If you really study that position, I think that is the number one trait that you have to have. You watch the really good quarterbacks – and nobody cares about this stuff more, than maybe as much as I do ‚Äì but 10 years of studying this position, talking to NFL coaches, watching NFL quarterbacks and college quarterbacks and high school quarterbacks, and then talking to college quarterbacks and NFL quarterbacks, the number one thing for me is toughness ‚Äì that you’re not flinching and watching the guys stand in the pocket. I had a really great one, Brett Rypien, who’s with the Denver Broncos. If you ever watched him play, he’d stand right in the pocket, guys barreling down and he never flinched once. And now, it cost him a couple times. I remember his ribs, his chest and his shoulder pads, we had to fix those a few times. But just guts and tremendous toughness to sit there and stare down and throw a ball right over the middle when the guy’s come barreling down on you. I think that’s one of the key ingredients to being successful in that position. It’s really hard to gauge that in practice because you don’t hit your quarterbacks. You can throw stuff at them – we throw brooms, bags, balls, and all these things like that. Either you’ve got it or you don’t. You’re going to stand there and you’re going to deliver when a guy’s coming right down barreling down on you. You’re going flinch, go on your back foot, and flick it and that ball might sail on you and those end up being picks. Accuracy is a big part of the success of a quarterback. Just from what you said before the stats, but you better be tough and you better be able to handle the crowd. You have to be able to handle all the ups and downs of the game. You have to be able to lock in in order to do your job and call the plays. You have to get yourself up really quickly when you get knocked down. Those are all things to me, in my experience watching the best play that position, I think that’s one of the number one things they’ve had, just the toughness piece.

On T.J. Finley’s reaction to being named the starting QB:

I think anybody that was at our practices knew that he won the job from a while ago. I don’t think it was any shock whatsoever. It’s really simple. It’s like, alright, let’s do this, ready to go. That’s what I like about T.J. I mean, he’s the guy who has been taking the number one reps since January. I’m not sure that he was really surprised by it. But nonetheless, you know, hey, let’s roll. It’s time to go.

On Allen Greene:

First thing for Allen, he’s very well accomplished to get to this point and where he’s at. I know that’s not easy. Certainly I think about him and his family. I’m very appreciative, number one, because we joked about it here at the time we met. I knew Allen Greene when he was at Buffalo, and we got a chance to talk and it wasn’t a joke. The first time we met, it was a serious conversation, and here I am talking to a guy and I’m like, ‘Wow, this guy is really locked in.’ I liked what he had to say. We were at two Group of Five schools, and we’re trying to make it and figure out where we stand. What are the things we have to do to help improve our programs? Then all of a sudden, he’s at Auburn and we’re having a conversation about this job. And I appreciate his process. I felt like through the interview process, he did a great job of asking the right questions and telling me things I needed to know. He made sure I had a heads up on certain things and recruiting, and that’s really what it comes down to. You’re interviewing but you’re also recruiting. You’re doing those things and I thought that process was done very well. Then working with him here, I got to see him lead. I got to be a part of the head coaches’ meetings the all-staff meetings. I got a chance to go in there and give my thoughts and opinions on things. You’re running 500 student-athletes and coaches and people, that’s no easy task. Just on our staff, you got people that you’re trying to lead, you got teams you’re trying to lead, and they all want to get better. They all want things that sometimes you can provide, but sometimes you can’t, but you’ve still got to lead. I’m just appreciative of this opportunity because of him. I’m appreciative of his leadership. He’s made his decision, we’re going to move forward, and we got to get ready for Mercer. We’re going to get our team to go out there and play well, and that’s really what we have to focus on right now. Certainly, I know that he’ll support us and wants to see us succeed. So to me, that’s kind of where we are right now.

On Zach Calzada and others’ roles as backup players:

With Zach, I mentioned he was sort of still catching up with a shoulder injury in the spring. Every guy’s getting coached up. We don’t go through everybody on the roster and what the expectations are day-to-day like we do with our players. We’re not going to do that publicly. Zach’s no different. We just keep competing and working. He has things to work on, so does everybody else on our football team, but for all the guys that aren’t in the starting role, keep your head up because it changes so quickly. Special teams are a big factor. We have guys that are back-ups on this list right here that will be starters on special teams. You’re going to see a lot of guys that may not be starters on special teams, but they might end up being starters in that game in the second half, so you just never know. I mean, it’s football. We have our roster, and these guys are ready to play. We’re going to keep continuing to prepare them that way. My goal is when a guy steps on the field everybody’s excited, the other 10 guys are excited that he’s coming on the field, and he goes out there and really seizes the moment because I want every single guy on this team to be successful. When you get your chance, I don’t care if it’s the guy that started as a back-up, all that we want is to see you be successful. We want you to go out there and experience that and also help the team win a football game. Every one of these guys knows that for me, we’re going to keep coaching and we’re going to keep helping them.

On T.J. Finley’s accuracy:

You want to be in that 60-plus percent range as a quarterback. You started looking at stats and all those things, but at the end of the day, I mean what kind of completions are you getting? Practice is different from the games. After a while you’re going against the same guys and you kind of run the plays at some point. You’re really asking a quarterback to be accurate because he’s going to have to put it in a spot that the guy already knows he’s trying to throw to. I think (Finley) did a really good job. Then you go and look at all the individual periods that we did and I look at just his fundamentals. All of our quarterbacks; How’s their feet? How’s their upper body? The accuracy piece is better, just his overall mechanics. Earlier today I got asked the same question and I would say this, people improve. That doesn’t just include quarterbacks at Auburn. They can improve. They can get better, and it’s amazing what these guys did last year. They’re not the same players. They’re not the same guys. I get to see (Finley) every day since last season and what he’s done, so we’ve moved on from last year with every one of our players. Guys improve. They grow. Competition brings out the best in you. You bring in a couple transfers, when you bring in a high school player that’s a really good player and what competition does, it brings out the best in you. I see that with a lot of our guys. They’re going to keep competing and that’s going to bring out the best hopefully in our players, and no different for T.J. I think he’s done a good job fundamentally to improve his mechanics and where you can throw the ball, and he’s worked on a lot of different techniques.

Who stood out during preseason:

Owen (Pappoe), it’s really hard to get him that much stronger, that much faster, that much better. Just that tiny little bit for Owen is so hard to do. (Tar’Varish) Dawson’s like the size of this room from where he was, right? He’s grown. Everybody in their own way has made improvements. That is what I look at because you have to challenge guys differently. I don’t expect our elite players to play down to a level because other people around them aren’t at their level. At that point, I expect them to push themselves and play at the elite level. I expect the guys that are just solid to get up to an excellent level. Everybody’s different. That’s coaching That’s the thing, you have one position group and three different guys at the same spot and they’re all at different levels. You’re trying to get them to a point where they can help us win. I think everybody’s made progress in a lot of ways, and I don’t think a lot of guys that we had here last year went backwards in any way. I think their football intelligence is better as well as their preparation habits. They’re doing things that we just didn’t do last year. They’re seeing things that we didn’t see last year. I think their effort in practice is better than what we had the previous year. To me, everybody’s making progress and those young guys are coming along. I would say that some of those freshmen are going to find themselves in the mix somewhere along the way. We’d like to play them at some point, so they just need a little bit of time and experience. I thought the other day when we went out there, you could see there were some jitters. Some of those guys that hadn’t been in that stadium with people in it, on the football field that’s different. They came to games and watched what the other guys on the field did, then all of a sudden you’re down there and there’s just a few eyes on you. You start to see some different mechanics and it’s like relax, but you have to go through that and experience it before you get out there in front of 80,000 plus. I thought every one of those guys grew in different ways. I thought we made progress overall.

On the running game stats at the start of last season and now vs. Mercer:

Those are pretty good stats, right? Absolutely by design. That’s what we’re trying to do. We really are. You want to run the football. I think that’s one thing that we’d like to do and we would like to be balanced. Mercer had 359 yards rushing and 266 passing. That’s pretty impressive. I would say that’s pretty balanced. And by the by the score. You can see why they ran the ball at the end of the game more. Just because the score was just so different. You’d like to be balanced. You’d like to say you could run the ball. You’d like to say that you can throw it and do all those things and be balanced. So that is the goal and how that goes, that’s really up to us. And up to the team you’re playing, too. What is their game plan? We’ll see what their game plan for us is when we step on the field. But we want to come out and establish things on our offense where we are doing some of the stuff that we’ve been practicing. Running the football, throwing the ball, being balanced, and our guys are executing is what it is we’re trying to get done on the offensive side.

On Jayson Jones and the defensive line overall:

Jayson, I mean, look at him. He’s 6’6 and 328 pounds and he brings size. That’s number one. He brings length to that side of the ball. Jayson is one of my favorite guys. I really think he’s highly intelligent. He works very hard. He’s very coachable. I think he’s really prepared himself to go out there and play. And just from what I’ve seen, his whole process has been very good and I think that’s why he’s going to be out there playing. Why I think he’s going to go out there and play well too. He just has that mentality of getting himself prepared to go out there and play the way he needs to on the defensive line. I think that’s brought out the best in Marquis Burks. I think that’s helped him. I think Marcus Harris is one of the guys that played for us last year, but he’s a better player this year. I think he’s really improved in those areas. Colby Wooden doesn’t get enough credit. I probably need to talk more about Colby because what he does on a day-to-day basis, he’s so consistent and he’s getting better. He’s just one of those guys. We all expect that from him, but I don’t think we all understand how hard it is to do what he does. And when Colby is going, man, things are good. He can make a huge difference on the defensive line. And then your edges in Derick (Hall) and Eku (Leota) out there. Those guys are both really good. That anchors each side of the D-line. But Jayson has had a really good summer, had a really good training camp and now it’s time to go out there and let him play. I have no doubt that he’ll do his job, and I expect him to play well.

On the wide receivers:

I think the depth has helped. I think bringing some of those guys in has really helped with the competition in that room. I think it’s brought out the best in the other players, in Shed (Jackson) and Malcolm Johnson, and some of those guys that have been here before. I feel like we got better depth. I feel like we got better speed. And I feel like those guys are competing out at practice. That’s one of the things that stood out. I think Coach Hilliard’s done a really good job of creating that mentality amongst the group. And what I mean by that is when you get out there and you’re throwing routes and the ball is slightly behind the guy. They’re actually there catching it. They’re snatching it. They’re making it more of a game-like session than just reaching one hand out there and kind of sticking it back and thinking they can’t catch it. They’re really trying to go out there and execute the plays, on air or whether we’re going against the defense. To me, we’re more competitive in that room. I think we got better depth in that room. I think the competition has brought out the best in some of our guys. And now we have to go out there and execute it and do it on game day. But I do like that room, and I think the versatility they give us, as well, just knowing what we’re trying to do offensively so we can move guys around. I think that helps us.

On special teams and if Anders Carlson will kick off:

If Anders chooses to ‚Äì I kind of leave up to Anders. He’s got more control over that than I do. He looks great. He’s kicked off. I’ve been really, really impressed with Alex McPherson, too. ‚Äì a young player ‚Äì I think he’s done a very good job. Evan McGuire has kicked off for us last year and he’s another one that’s out there at practice and has also done a very good job. So, I feel good in those areas. But Anders, he’s a very good player, and if he’s ready to go then he’ll be the guy out there kicking off for us. Coach Bellantoni has done a great job of getting these guys all to buy in on playing on special teams, and just the way that he describes how important that is to the guys, and what we’re trying to do. Those guys who want to play at the next level, their future, having a chance to really learn all these skills and techniques, because that’s only going to help them at the next level. But I think the things that we’ve been doing in our drills and some of the skills that we’ve been teaching our guys has really helped. And I see improvement in our special teams. I think we’ve got really good specialists, but I also think that we got guys out there that want to play on special teams. And to me, that’s the sign that you have a good football team when you’re getting guys out there that are starters on offense and defense that are wanting to be out there and still find a way to contribute to helping us win. Right now, we have that. This is also an area that some of our younger players can step in and also play. It’s not as demanding as offense and defense, with all the schemes and things like that. But as far as the physicality and the technique, we got some guys that can play football, and this will give them the opportunity to go out there and be able to get on the field and contribute to what we’re doing. We’re going to keep emphasizing it. We talked about all in on special teams, I think our guys are. But the meetings are just different. I sit here in every special teams meetings and I just watch how the guys pay attention. I watch how Roc leads the room and I watch how our coaches emphasize special teams during their segments. And we have made that important. It’s always been important to me, but we really made it important in this program. I hope that continues throughout the week and I really believe that it will. Then that will show up on Saturdays when we go out there and play, and we need it to. You look at Mercer and they got a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. That tells me that they focus on special teams and it’s important to them, and those guys are good players, and they can take it to the house. You better be ready to play in all three phases if you’re going to go out there and play your championship level football.

On the position battle at right guard:

Both guys have been back and forth. Both guys are really in that role right now. We haven’t decided on that guard position. Let’s talk about the O-line here for a minute. Tate Johnson has had a really good camp, and Jalil Irvin has done a really good job. Jalil can play anywhere on the inside. I think Avery Jernigan has really come on, too. He’s starting to come into himself a little bit as far as a player and figuring out how physical he can play. It all starts there. It’s good to have Brandon Council out there. I’m glad that Jeremiah Wright came back to the offensive side. I’m proud of him for that. Then between Keiondre (Jones) and Kameron Stutts, those guys have been back and forth. Kameron has really had a great camp. He had a great spring, too. He has to be one of the more improved players. I think physically he’s changed his body and he’s gotten himself in really good shape from where he was to where he is right now. I’m really proud of him for that, and I think that’s going to be a big difference for him when he goes out there and plays. Keiondre (Jones), same thing through camp, he continues to build himself into the shape that he needs to be in to go out there and play. He’s strong. He’s played before. We’ll see how this week goes between those two guys. (Austin) Troxell has done a really good job at right tackle. Brenden Coffey is another guy that’s made a lot of improvements. He’s very athletic and I think he’s done a really good job putting himself in a position to get out there and play, so it’s between those two right now. We’ll see how it goes. If they both play in the game that’ll be fine, too, because they can both go out there and do the things we need them to do.

On Tate Johnson at center:

I think he’s plenty strong enough. I think the weight will continue to come. We don’t stop lifting until we’re clear. We don’t stop lifting when the season begins. We don’t stop developing. That’s still part of the plan for these guys. We’re still getting guys stronger and faster and bigger throughout the year, but he’s done a really good job of understanding what we’re trying to do on the offensive side. At center, you’re making a lot of calls. You’re redirecting. You’re getting everybody on the same page. You have the snap count. You have all these things to factor in, and I think he’s handled that well. Early on when Nick (Brahms) was not there, he was getting more reps and starting to really play a lot more than he had in practice before. After that he started to get kind of into a groove a little bit, and Jalil (Irvin) has helped him as well. Jalil has played that position and has helped, so those guys are working together. I think Brahms has really helped both guys. Avery (Jernigan)’s another one that continues to keep making progress at that position, too, but Tate can do it and go out there and he can make the calls. He can see the field. I think he’s actually moving really well, too. For some of the things that we want to do, I think he’s running well. He’s landing blocks. There’s that component to the game, too. We really need that position as your center playing well, and I think he’s done a good job so far.

On Robby Ashford’s role:

We’ll see where Robby (Ashford)’s at, too. The focus is on T.J. (Finley) and getting that group really going because we’ve had multiple quarterbacks taking reps. We really haven’t had a ton where just one guy is getting the majority of the reps. I’m really proud of Robby, though. I think he’s come a long way as far as his development and his understanding of what we’re doing. I think Robby is very talented, and he’ll continue that, too. That’s the one thing about where Robby’s at right now. Robby’s not going to stop developing. We’ll see when we get this game plan really honed in for Mercer and how he goes out there and executes it. He’s ready to go. He’s one play away from being out there. He’s going to get plenty of reps, plenty of opportunities to keep proving himself, and he has to have that mentality now. That’s the hardest thing about being a backup quarterback because you have to prepare like the starter. You don’t get all the reps. You’re not getting all the attention. You’re not going into the game knowing that you’re the starter, but you’re preparing like one because all it takes is one snap and it can change. Something can happen and all of a sudden you’re on the field. You’re the starter, so he has to prepare like that. It’s no different for our other quarterbacks as well. I think Holden is coming on. I think he’s doing a really good job of understanding what the expectations are. I thought being out there at the open practice was good for him to kind of get out there on the field and be one of those guys that haven’t been on the field with people out there. I feel good about where he’s at as well. Zach continues to keep developing himself and improving. I’m excited to see both those guys, T.J. and Robby, this week and see how they operate, just really get dialed into the game plan and see what that looks like at the end of the week going into the game.

On the depth on the defensive line:

We need them. That’s why they’re here. And they want to play. They’ve been playing against our offense. They’ve played before. So, to get them out there, we need them. The D-line, that was one of the areas that we really wanted to improve and bring some guys in here and guys that can play for us. You have Jayson Jones out there and Eku (Leota), who has played. Colby (Wooden)’s played. You have Morris (Joseph) that I think has done a really good job. Marcus Bragg was a really good addition. I like his maturity, and he’s a guy that’s really stepped in there and has brought a lot of value. He’ll play for us. You have to have that two-deep on the D-line. They’re all going to play. They’re going to rotate in. I don’t know exactly what the rotation is, but all those guys will be out there playing. From what I’ve seen and I think what Jimmy (Brumbaugh)’s done with that group, we have a good group on the D-line. I feel like those guys are just excited to get out there and go play and do a great job up front and help the linebackers out behind them. Hopefully get to the quarterback. If there are any throws in there, we have to get to the QB, and they can provide some pass rush and do their job in the run game. Right now, at this point, it’s experience. I think the excitement overrides that right now, just to get guys out there and play. That’s one thing when you haven’t had much experience. Well, how do you get it? You have to go do it. We have to trust our guys to go out there and do it so we have to believe in them and cut them loose. Let them go out there and play. From what I’ve seen so far, they know what they’re doing. Do I expect them to be perfect? No, but I do expect them to go hard and be physical out there when they play, and I think that group has shown that to me so far.