Adjust. That’s what Auburn football and everyone in the world has been forced to do since the COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we knew it before.
Fall camp started Monday, and with the season scheduled to begin Sept. 26, adjusting will be a crucial factor this season.
Whether that comes from preparing for an opponent, having someone test positive before the game or a multitude of other reasons, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is making sure his team is ready for anything.
“I think you gotta have an open mind, and you’ve gotta be flexible, and it is what it is,” Malzahn said. “No matter who you play the first game or whatever, we can’t control that."
On Monday, Malzahn talked about how the team will have to get creative this fall camp to make sure the players continue to get reps as the depth chart shakes out.
“It’s completely different now,” Malzahn said. “With that strategically, the way we’re gonna set up practice these next five weeks are for more reps. And we’re gonna get creative, and there’s gonna be times where we’re gonna have two separate fields going just to evaluate our players.”
Malzahn and his staff also have to be creative when it comes to keeping themselves safe.
“And at the same time, you gotta be thinking about the coaches, too, Malzahn said. “You have a coach go down, you gotta have two play-callers, you gotta have an assistant for an assistant so we’ll be thinking about all those things in fall camp.”
Later in the day after Malzahn’s conference, Auburn’s Week 1 opponent was revealed as the Tigers will host Kentucky on Sept. 26. That game will kick off a 10-game, conference-only schedule, but that challenge isn’t something new for Malzahn and the Tigers.
“You look at the schedule that we played since we’ve been here since 2013, I would put it up against anyone,” Malzahn said. “The thing I can tell you is adding two extra games won’t be a shock to our system. Like I said, I think we had the toughest schedule since 2013, so we’re really looking at that as an advantage. Some teams that have not had as tough of schedules, I think it’s gonna be a little more challenging for them.”
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