Auburn defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff might be one of the newest coaches on the Plains this spring, but he's as experienced in the SEC and on the recruiting trail as almost anyone on the staff.
McGriff, a 26-year veteran of the coaching business, is at his fourth SEC school, having coached at Kentucky (2001-02), Vanderbilt (2011) and Ole Miss (2012). All of those job opportunities ultimately led McGriff to Auburn.
"I was really excited to receive a call from coach (Malzahn) to join the staff here at Auburn," McGriff said. "I’ve always recruited against Auburn. There was one university I really didn’t like recruiting against, and it was Auburn. So when I received the phone call to come interview for this opportunity, it was a blessing."
While at Ole Miss, he helped the Rebels build their memorable 2013 recruiting class, which was unanimously considered among the five best classes in the nation and included future stars like Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil, Laquon Treadwell and Tony Conner, as well as future Tiger Austin Golson. While McGriff's recruiting prowess helped Ole Miss sign such a great class, he maintains recruiting takes more than individual efforts.
“Recruiting isn’t an independent thing. It’s a team deal," McGriff said. "We have a lot of resources here at Auburn. We have a lot of guys that have recruited a long time. The real key to recruiting is to get the young men on campus and get them around the family, get them around the Auburn family. Once we’re able to do that, it really helps us on the road.”
McGriff will recruit the Atlanta and South Florida areas for Auburn, and his recruitment of defensive backs will be nationwide.
He served as the defensive backs coach for the Saints for the past three seasons, learning valuable coaching lessons along the way that he plans to implement into his coaching technique and his recruiting strategy.
"At the end of the day, that’s the highest level — the National Football League," McGriff said. "Every young man wants to get to the highest level. There are a lot of coaches that want to coach at the highest level. That’s the ultimate goal. When you have experience in that arena, that really helps you understand what it takes to get a young man to that level."
McGriff's approach to practice this spring has shown his personality as a coach. He's intense and demands effort, but only because he wants techniques he learned in the NFL to become a part of his players' routines.
"I think one of my greatest weaknesses as a football coach is that I want my guys to be so good that I’m probably a little too hard on them, if there is such a thing," McGriff said. "I caution myself against that. I ask my players not to take my coaching personally. If you can keep that in mind, you can overcome your weakness."
While new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has been implementing new schemes for Auburn's defense, McGriff maintains that technique is what really determines a unit's success.
“Technique is something that you have to teach over and over again," McGriff said. "I know one of the phrases that (Saints) coach (Sean) Payton said all the time, and it really makes sense. He says, ‘You want to spend the majority of your time teaching them how to do a particular thing rather than what to do.’ That means teaching them the technique and fundamentals of how to execute a particular defense, because if you spend a lot of time teaching them what to do, that means you’ve probably got too much defense. The technique is not very different. The biggest thing with techniques and fundamentals is to make sure you’re consistent. Now it’ll become second nature for a football player.”
McGriff says there is no true depth chart for the defensive backs yet, but the unit as a whole has had a strong spring practice.
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