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A spirit that is not afraid

Character, chemistry and consistency big themes for Will Friend


Auburn coach Will Friend talks on Zoom, Tuesday, April 5, 2021 in Auburn, Ala.
Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics
Auburn coach Will Friend talks on Zoom, Tuesday, April 5, 2021 in Auburn, Ala. Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Character, chemistry and consistency are big themes for Auburn’s new offensive line coach, Will Friend. 

In his press conference on Monday, Friend gave a look into the work going on in practice. 

“They’ve really done a good job of working hard. That’s one thing that I think — it’s a group that’s got good character about them," Friend said. "We’ve got a long way to go- a new system, new things. But we have a group of guys that [knows] it’s important to try and be a good unit. I think they want to kind of prove themselves to be a lot better unit on the field. And so they've done a good job of working everything that we’ve asked them to do."

Auburn will return everyone from its starting offensive line in 2020, helping to create strong chemistry. Another item Friend looks for in his offensive line.

“There’s no question, in the offensive line, it’s probably as important as anything. It’s kind of a unit within a unit, a team within a team, I guess is a good way of saying it," Friend said. "Every group that I’ve been a part of that’s been a productive group or good unity, they’ve had great chemistry, they’ve cared about their program, they’ve cared about their university. Character’s so important at that position. I do think I see some of that in the group in the little bit of time that I’ve been around them, so that’s a start. It’s hard to be successful at this position if you don’t have that.” 

Pass protection was an issue for the Tigers last season with 26 sacks and 164 yards lost on the season. Friend looks to put in a lot of work over the next few months to improve this area. 

So far in the spring, Friend says it's still a work in progress.

“You know it depends on which play on the pass protection. There’s been times it’s been pretty good. There’s been times it’s been not so good," Friend said. "So we’ve got to become more consistent there. Not just at tackle, we’ve got to be more consistent all the way across the board. You know it’s so much playing as a unit. You know, obviously if you’re pretty good in the middle of your pocket then that helps those Tackles. If the middle of the pocket’s giving up a lot of push, then all of a sudden those issues show up in that tackle... We’ve got to improve. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” 

Friend also said that once the players can get more comfortable in the new system in their current position, they'll begin exploring moving players around.

“Obviously, you want to find the five best players and to do that you’ve got to get to where you can put some guys in different spots to see who those best five are," Friend said.


Kristen Carr | Sports Writer

Kristen is a sophomore majoring in journalism with a minor in business. She is also the host of our sports podcast, Page 8, that can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud. 

Twitter: @kristencarrau


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