Opening statement…
“Good morning to all and Happy Labor Day. There’s obviously a lot of things to be pleased with from Saturday, and I know I said it in the postgame, but again, our student section, band and cheerleaders, fans in general, were incredible. I thought that spoke volumes to the people we’re trying to convince to come join us, just that Auburn is a special, special place. Just not a lot of places in a game like that, you see that type of atmosphere throughout the entire four quarters. So thankful so much for our people, and especially those students and they had to be there, what, six hours or so? That’s pretty incredible support. So thankful for that.
“Lot of good things. Monday’s the truth (meeting) for our team, here in a few minutes, when I meet with them. Defensively, I thought the effort was really, really good. I thought they ran to the football. I thought we tackled fairly well, and we were 9-of-14 three-and-outs. We limited the explosive plays. So I thought all of that was positive. Special teams were really positive. Had a punt return, an explosive punt return, and then had a blocked punt for a TD. The field position battle, we won. Effort was good, and we played a lot of kids on special teams, and so that was really good. Obviously, the seven touchbacks and field goal were efficient, so Towns (McGough) did a really nice job for us there. Offensively, we started fast and played physical up front, thought the effort was good there. There were 16 explosive plays, 9.8 yards per carry. Only had one penalty on offense. And our red zone scoring was really good. So lot of positives to take from there. Obviously, we have some negatives too, that I’m sure you’ll ask me about, and we can go over. But it was a good film to watch for our first game. Obviously, some things to clean up and get better on. Biggest thing, two turnovers, we just can’t do that, and we’ve got to get the ball. Has to be a priority.”
On what he has seen on film from Cal…
“Defensively, it’s the same (as last year). Justin Wilcox is one of the better defensive coordinators in the nation, has been for years. Peter Sirmon is with him. Both of those guys have been in Power Five conferences for a long time and done a really nice job. And they did a great job against us last year. They have quite a few returners. Both those defensive ends, they’re really talented, 44 (Xavier Carlton) and 7 (David Reese). You’ve got to have a plan for those guys. Linebackers are aggressive, play hard. And they’re athletic in the secondary. Will they play us the exact same way they did last year? I don’t know. But last year they were basically saying ‘we’re going to make you have to throw the football and win some one-on-ones.’ We struggled to do that some. Now we turned it over. We had some really good runs in that game, but we turned it over way too many times. So we will see.
We’ve studied every game they played from last year, and (Saturday) for the most part. They didn’t do that the entire year, but that was their plan against us. So we’ll have to see. But I don’t think it’s going to be some mystery of what they’re going to play. They’re going to play some even front, they’re going to get in some bear, that’s kind of who they’ve been. They do a nice job. They’re going to have a good plan, I’m sure. It will be a good challenge for us to see where we are offensively. For our defensive staff, it is totally new. New coordinator, tempo, spread, empty a lot. You have one game to go on with a new coordinator. But obviously we know where he came from and can use some of that, too. But we’re going to have to get ready for tempo, they go fast. So that creates problems with communication. We’re going to make sure we are communicating effectively. They are pretty new offensively. It’s different. Big quarterback, strong, good arm, (he) can throw it. So it will be another challenge for us.”
On the status of Isaiah Raikes and Champ Anthony after Saturday’s game…
“Champ has been struggling with a calf strain. He probably could have played more snaps, but we really just want to make sure we’re trying to get him as healthy as possible. And I do expect Isaiah to be ready.”
On Tyler Johnson and the overall play of the offensive line…
“I thought it was solid. I thought we protected well, kept the quarterback clean. The run game was efficient, obviously, with nine yards (per play). I thought Percy’s (Lewis) snaps were good. Tyler made a few (missed assignments), but overall, I thought he was pretty solid. It was good to see both of them play well.”
On the play of the defensive line…
“We rotated a lot of guys in there and thought they were solid against the run. We didn’t crush the pocket quite as well. We didn’t call too many pressures really early on and they were getting rid of the ball pretty fast, but it wasn’t as bad as I maybe felt postgame. But I thought the inside guys played really well. I continue to see six to seven guys in there, I hope.”
On the play of the young defensive backs…
“We’ve got some improving to do. We can’t panic and get so handsy. Be patient. Stay in your technique and go play the ball. I thought there were a few good ones. JC Hart had a really good one, unfortunately he didn’t get it and he was beating himself up pretty good. But one thing I’ll say about him, he had that and turned around and went and made the tackle that saved them from scoring and we held them out of the endzone. Actually, they missed the field goal too so you don’t ever quit. He gave great effort, but obviously we would like to see him get that pick. Also, he is young and has talent.
Thought Kayin Lee was pretty good. Keionte (Scott) was solid for the few snaps he played. (Antonio) Kite was pretty decent. At safety, we got some communication things we have to get cleaned up for sure. Particularly when we roll into the young kids like Kaleb Harris and Sylvester (Smith). We are going to need them and we need to make sure our communication is clean.”
On the first game for the freshman receivers…
“Really good. There were a few routes that were a little short, but outside of that there wasn’t really any (missed assignments), no wrong routes. It was a pretty basic gameplan. This week will be a little more extensive so we have to get some good work in today, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday all the way up, but I thought they handled their first real, live go in front of a lot of people. I thought they handled it really well.”
On the theme of “gratitude” for camp changing as the regular season begins…
“Gratitude was the entire fall camp theme and it will be an under-curing theme for the rest of the season, but every week takes a life of its own. Last week’s theme was ‘What’s in your hand?’ I went through what I think is in their hands that they really have control over and those are talent and time. Our culture is in their hands. Being coachable is in their hands. The resources and blessings that they receive from being at Auburn are in their hands. Those are five things. I encourage all of us to surrender to a greater good. Yes, you’re talented, but you have zero chance of winning a game by yourself. Who cares if you don’t get as many touches as you want? We won. You should celebrate together. You should celebrate with your teammates. That’s a constant battle with this idea of ‘I need mine’. I get all of that, but great teams, truthfully, surrender that to the greater good for the team.
Time is always a challenge for most people, not just players, of ‘If I’m using my time wisely, what does that look like?’ The temptation today is for so many that you have viable time and you spend it doing things that aren’t profitable for you long-term. The culture is in their hands, and I think the greatest thing we can do for each other in culture is have positive peer pressure that’s created from within the locker room.
When you empower those players to have that and they do it the right way, I think it’s very, very uncomfortable to not be a part of that. Coachability, obviously there it is. Can I coach you hard and can you receive it and still know that I still care about you? And then resources, obviously, they are blessed with scholarships and some financial money and all of those things. We want to give back, and we were able to last week. We have Auburn For Others and we finally have it in Alabama and many of them decided to give portions of their NIL along with resources that Jill and I provide for this to meet the needs of 13 families in the state of Alabama to help keep their children out of the foster care system. That’s something that I’m really, really proud of. I’m proud of our kids that said ‘Coach, I want to help and be a part of that’. I hope that continues to grow throughout the year as we continue to meet needs in the state of Alabama for the orphan and foster care systems.”
On being able to score multiple ways on offense and how that affects future game planning…
“I don’t think there is any substitute for confidence, and if our kids believe in the gameplan and believe that the plays that are going to get dialed up are solid, good calls that our guys have a chance to win and make explosive plays like we did Saturday night, I think that’s great. We took a step in that direction. It’s going to be more challenging as you move forward against more equitable competition. We’re working hard this morning trying to figure out what that looks like for us this week and what our young kids can handle.
Us coaches, we get in there and have a thousand things on the board that all look good, but that’s impossible for that to all be a part of it. I think that’s the greatest challenge we have right now is let’s hone in on the things that we know they can do and maybe paint some different pictures of how we get there. Hopefully they’ll continue to grow confidence in that and we can add more and more as we move forward.”
On Payton Thorne’s performance and in-game adjustments…
“I talked to him right after the play on the sidelines. And now we have the iPads over there where I or Jessie (Stone) are, if I’m busy or there’s a timeout, I can go and say, ‘Do you see what I see?’ Payton can take the hard coaching. I wish that the camera wasn’t on me all of the time. My wife got onto me about one of those, but you know it was a third-down play, and I know how critical those downs are in coming weeks. I expect him to get those right, and I think that’s a positive that he should take. If I didn’t believe that he could get those right, I wouldn’t be quite this upset. I expect him to get that right 95 percent of the time on certain things that I was upset with the other night. I was really only upset one time and frustrated a few others.
He still made good throws and made a touchdown or whatever, but he didn’t get himself protected like he’s supposed to. I don’t want him taking unnecessary hits, and I made it clear that I believe in him. With that comes the expectation that if I know we have thoroughly discussed something, that the expectation is that you get that right. He handles that fine.”
On Hank Brown and his ability to lead the offense…
“I’m confident in him; the guy’s a gamer. I think he was three of five with one drop in the hands so he should’ve been four for five. When the RPO was supposed to be thrown, he threw it, and when it was supposed to be handed off, he handed it off. We weren’t calling a plethora of things at that point, but the things that got called, he was 100% on the execution, so I’m confident. Holden (Geriner) missed one, and other than that, he executed well, so I’m confident.”
On the offense struggling in week two vs. Cal last year and their confidence after a big win…
“Well, we feel confident right now. After Saturday we will see. Your initial statement is accurate and I will not run from that. Here’s our chance, not just them but us as coaches to prove we need to be a fundamental scoring machine against a team that plays really good defensive football. It will be a really good test for us.”
On the difference between coaching in the SEC and in the Group of Five conferences…
“Game planning is the same. At this level, they are bigger and faster, like we better have a plan for 44 and 7. That may not be the case for every Group of Five that you play. I don’t think there is much difference really in the game planning, the play calling, the fronts. There are only so many defenses you can run and so many offenses you can face. I think the coaches are all good, there are good coaches at every level. They always have their kids prepared.
When you get into this league they are bigger, faster, and stronger. You have to make sure your calls make sense with the matchups, particularly on critical downs. Recruiting is a beast. Totally different. That’s the biggest difference, you just nailed it. Recruiting is a nonstop, never-ending battle, even if you have great commits like we do. It’s not nearly the same in the Group of Five.”
On players that could move into starting roles after the first game…
“I want to say this at the beginning about starting. I don’t care. I don’t care if it’s Malcolm (Simmons) that started. He started because we had a specific play. Robert (Lewis) is probably going to start most games because of the experience. It literally is a free rotation between Robert, Malcolm and Sam (Jackson V) at that slot position. Rotating those outside guys between Perry (Thompson) and Dre (KeAndre Lambert-Smith) and Cam (Coleman) and Camden (Brown) and Caleb (Burton III), we feel confident.
I don’t want any of them playing tired. If they have to run a streak route and it’s an incomplete pass or something, they shouldn’t be in there the next play. I’m not as caught up in who’s running out there first. Malcolm did because we felt like his skill set was best for that play. But that doesn’t mean that I deem him in a role over Robert or over Sam.”
“The O-line is quite different than the receivers. The receivers we rotate. When we start a possession with the O-line, they are going to roll that possession. Do I want to keep them fresh? Yes, and rotate some bodies. But that’s kind of pre-planned. The third series, we’re going to do these subs. It’s not quite like the receivers. Play in and play out, you’re going to have a different guy out there.”
On Sam Jackson V and his familiarity with Cal’s defense…
“I may talk to him. I see what they’re doing and I think I have a good feel about what they’ve done. I don’t know exactly when they’re going to do it, but I know if we put 12 personnel out there. Defensive guys don’t change too much as far as this is how you treat 12 personnel as opposed to 11 personnel or 10 personnel. Now your fronts are going to be quite different. I don’t know if Sam would have an idea of when they’re going to get in the bear front or when they’re going to get in an even front. Probably our defensive guys will talk to him more than I would.”
On the play of the linebackers…
“I thought they tackled well, I thought our drops in zone need work, but I thought they played hard and they tackled well. But we do have to work on our pass drops for sure.”
On Keionte Scott being the primary punt returner…
“We need him back there. He’s dynamic and has proven he can change field position for us. Sowe want to get him as healthy as possible, but we need him back there for sure. I thought, (KeAndre Lambert-Smith) was solid at catching and so was (Will) Upton but, you know, Keionte has proven he can he can change the field position back there.”
Transcript via Auburn Athletics.
