Auburn’s Carl Lawson ready to get back on the field

“Because he’s an impact player, a least that’s what coach Gus Malzahn calls him”.

Malzahn enters his fourth season with the Tigers having gone 12-2, 8-5 and 7-6, his 12-win team coming within 13 seconds of knocking off Florida State for the national championship.

A strong bout of self evaluation has followed.

“Those four young men made a mistake”, Malzahn said Monday while at SEC media days. “There are going to be a lot of close games in this conference”.

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs gave coach Gus Malzahn a “vote of confidence” but it echoed his supportive statements of Tommy Tuberville and Gene Chizik prior to both being fired.

“Where am I going to go?” Our philosophies are exactly the same. “It is very important to him”, Malzahn said. “He’s a guy who can win games”. He was defensive yet cordial, cautionary yet witty, anxious yet ready to send his message: Auburn football will be back.

How valuable was Lawson to the Tigers’ defense?

“Pat was a pillar of the Southeastern Conference”, Sankey said.

“Last year, from an offensive standpoint, really was the first time since I’ve been coaching college that we didn’t execute at a high level consistently, and that goes back on me”, Malzahn said.

“Coach Mason drives it into us to have that ‘destination defense, ‘ ” Cunningham said. “Very happy coach Malzahn chose me to come to SEC Media Days”. “And so that’s what I meant by that, and I’m looking forward to getting back in the middle of things and enjoying the actual coaching on the field”.

Davis said he’s eager to see what comes from Malzahn’s different approach. He said they won’t miss any playing time. Besides the Bama game, every other game is like, ‘I want to beat this team no matter what.’ I kind of see all those teams in the same view. But he’s also come closer to losing his job than either of those men, sweating out a surprising, 11th-hour administrative change of heart in the middle of the regular-season finale previous year. Tre’ Williams is the only returning player who has logged significant snaps for the Tigers, but graduate transfer from IL T.J. Neal brings needed experience to the middle of Auburn’s defense.

By no means was Auburn great in close games a year ago, but at 3-4 in games decided by eight points or less it hovered around where teams can, over time, expect to be. “And he’s one of the true professionals in all of college football”.

Maye would know – as a safety, “I got a lot of him”, he said, given that Muschamp takes a special interest in coaching the position he once played, something he’s continued to do at SC. Good luck. It’s probably LSU’s Brandon Harris out of default – you know him best as the guy who hands the ball off to Leonard Fournette over and over again.

Malzahn was discussing the quarterback race, when he noted Franklin has come a long way in earning the respect of his opponents. Malzahn was still calling the Tigers’ offense the last three years against Smart’s Crimson Tide defense.

“We hope to have a starter sooner rather than later”, Malzahn said. That’s OK. For us, we saw how we let some games slide.

Malzahn announced Monday that the four players arrested April 30 for marijuana possession – Davis, defensive end Byron Cowart, receiver Ryan Davis and defensive back Jeremiah Dinson – already have been punished and will not miss any playing time. “John Franklin III has looked impressive, but I want to stress that all three quarterbacks are very capable”.