Auburn head football coach Hugh Freeze when informed reporters of the starting date of the team's spring practice at the Alabama Football Coaches Association convention in January.
“It's going to make our February pretty stressful with trying to get everything installed with new staffs on each side,” Freeze said, per the Auburn Daily Editor Lance Dawe. “It's such a fast turnaround. We're going to have to grind some in February.
“Normally you can take kind of a dead period in February to take a break from what we've gone through. We can't do that this February.”
According to 247Sports Auburn football beat writer Nathan King, Auburn will begin spring practices on Monday.
The Tigers' football program finished 5-7 as Auburn fired Bryan Harsin after just two seasons with the squad. Harsin went 9-12 with the Tigers before associate head coach and running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams took his place as the interim head coach.
Freeze rounded out his Auburn football coaching staff since his hiring in late November. Williams kept his spot on the Auburn roster. At the same time, Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery and former Delta State and Southeastern Louisiana head coach Ron Roberts were chosen to coordinate the team's offense and defense, respectively.
With the coaching staff all but set, and with National Signing Day far behind college football programs, what will be the three biggest positional battles before the start of Auburn spring practice?
Quarterback
This year's spring practice will likely be led by a tightly-contested battle between three scholarship quarterbacks.
Last year's starter, sophomore Robby Ashford, will hope to keep the spot he held for 12 games of the 2022 season. The former Oregon quarterback passed for 1,613 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions for an Auburn team that finished below .500 for the second season in a row.
Junior T.J. Finley will also return after playing four games for the Tigers last season. Formerly from LSU, the 6-foot-7-inch quarterback took snaps in games against Mercer, San Jose State, Penn State and Mississippi in the previous season. He made 11 of his 19 pass attempts and threw an interception against the Nittany Lions after Ashford went down with an injury with 9:28 to go in the third quarter, according to AL.com Auburn beat reporter Tom Green.
Freshman Holden Geriner, a four-star recruit in the 2022 class who redshirted last season, could also find his way into the rotation.
Wide Receiver
Junior Ja'Varrius Johnson may be a lock for a starting spot. He led the Tigers with 493 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns last season, a massive improvement from his first season at Auburn.
The X and the Z spots may be more of a battle for the Tigers as spring practice rolls around. Former Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Nick Mardner currently has the starting spot on Ourlads's depth chart, but 6-foot-3 inch receiver Camden Brown may see some time as well after taking snaps behind senior Shedrick Jackson last season.
Sophomore Koy Moore, who took the starting Z spot on Ourlad's chart, finished last season with 314 receiving yards on 20 receptions. Junior Malcolm Johnson Jr., who took one place behind him, finished with 28 receiving yards on two receptions.
Offensive tackle
The Auburn football program lost both of its starting tackles after the end of last season. Left tackle Kilian Zierer graduated from the program during fall commencement, while right tackle went out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury during a 39-33 loss against Mississippi State in November.
Senior Gunner Britton is a lock for the left tackle spot. The Western Kentucky transfer made the 2022 All-Conference USA Second Team after starting all 14 games for the Hilltoppers. Six of his starts came at the right tackle spot, but an injury forced him to move to left tackle for the remainder of the season, according to the Hilltoppers' website.
Tulsa transfer Dillon Wade and sophomore Colby Smith will likely have to battle for the right tackle position. Wade finished the 2022 season with a Pro Football Focus grade of 66.9 and a pass block grade of 66.7, wrote Auburn Daily War Eagle Contributor Andrew Stefaniak in a January article.
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