Chizik Speaks

Here are some highlights of Gene Chizik's meeting with the media today:

• "There will be a battle at the quarterback position, and [Cam Newton will] be a part of that battle. May the best man win."
• "Zac [Etheridge] is a day to day progression whether he can play again. But I feel very encouraged about the progress he has made."
• "[Kodi Burns is] a wide receiver. He'll still play wildcat, but his predominant position is wide receiver"
• Spring practice will be in the mornings this season. It will begin March 24. Practices will occur on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with possible scrimmages on Saturdays.
• Daren Bates will not participate in spring contact after having shoulder surgery.
• Mario Fannin, Eric Smith and Onterio McCalebb will fight it out for the tailback position in the spring. Dontae Aycock will be used in multiple roles.

Notes

• Byron Isom practiced today and could play this weekend against Tennessee. The guard was suspended last game for an undisclosed violation of team rules.
• Gene Chizik is very familiar with Monte Kiffin's defense. Chizik and the older Kiffin go way back to when Chizik was defensive coordinator at UCF and was given pointer from Kiffin while he was defensive coordinator of the Buccanneers.
• Kodi Burns and Onterio McCalebb are still listed as "day to day". I would definitely expect to see McCalebb this weekend and Burns could also make it back.
• Onterio McCalebb is now officially in the mix for punt returner. Philip Pierre-Louis also fielded some punts today.
• Antoine Carter revealed that he had knee surgery in April to reattach a meniscus.

Coleman

Antonio Coleman has been named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. Kodi Burns was also honored as an outstanding performer by the SEC.

Tuesday Practice

• Long practice (2 hrs 15 mins) in full pads tonight
• A main focus was speeding up the tempo on offense
• Another focus was not making mistakes on offense such as penalties and fumbles
• Malzahn says they are still trying to define Gabe McKenzie's role and expect him to grow as the season progresses.
• Malzahn says he is not sure how he will work Eric Smith into the gameplan this weekend. They are currently "moving him around" in the offense.
• Kodi Burns says he expects the Wildcat to grow on Saturday's performance and that it has great potential.

Quick Notes

• Tonight's practice was full pads.
• Gene Chizik says a depth chart will be released sometime this week.
• ESPNU's announcers Saturday will be Eric Collins (play by play), Brock Huard (analyst) and Beth Mowins (sideline reporter).
• Kodi Burns says he will likely be the Wildcat quarterback this season.
• Mario Fannin says he is the top punt returner right now. McCalebb, Zachary and H. Adams are also sharing reps.
• Daren Bates may start Saturday.

Practice Notes

• DeAngelo Benton is now working with first team at receiver alongside Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachary.
• Emory Blake was called the most improved receiver.
• Terrell Zachary should be healthy by Tuesday. He has had some tendonitis in his Achilles.
• Kodi Burns has been splitting time at receiver and quarterback.
• More to come...

Early Practice Notes

• Practice was shoulder pads, helmets, shorts...
• A lot has been asked about Jay Wisner and Philip Pierre-Louis both wearing number 82. Today, Pierre-Louis was wearing 6.
• Freshman John Sullen was working with first team at right guard. Byron Isom was not wearing pads.
• Daren Bates was working with linebackers.
• Terrell Zachary has some sort of injury but no need for concern right now.
• Eltoro Freeman is now wearing a plaster cast on his right wrist.
• Clint Moseley was wearing number 11 tonight.
• Not sure if Spencer Pybus was out there...
• Ben Tate was not in pads today.
• Kodi Burns was taking a few snaps with quarterbacks tonight.

Early Scrimmage Notes

• Kodi Burns reportedly scored a touchdown in the Wildcat. I have heard a 70 yard TD run but that is not confirmed.
• Chris Todd threw a touchdown pass for over 20 yards to Montez Billings.
• Emory Blake was a starting receiver.
• There were no offensive turnovers.
• Jonathan Evans was first team weakside linebacker due to Eltoro Freeman's injury.
• Tyrik Rollison took the most snaps at quarterback.
• Rollison was the second string quarterback and reportedly threw a touchdown pass to Travante Stallworth.

A Few More Notes

• Today was Auburn's last two-a-day.
• Malzahn says Clint Moseley will continue to get a lot of reps even though he is likely to redshirt. Malzahn is impressed with Moseley.
• Kodi Burns will continue to work some with quarterbacks, likely preparing him for possible Wildcat situations.
• The second practice today was just shells and was cut short. The team will eat dinner together and have a team building exercise tonight.
• Scrimmage tomorrow, fan day Sunday....

Burns On The Switch

• Said the coaches made the right decision and he supports Chris Todd.
• "We're not going to be a divided team"
• Said he is disappointed he did not win the quarterback job but says he has not thought about transferring.
• "I was the guy last year, but things change...I'm not going to let circumstances dictate the content of my character".

More

• Kodi Burns will play slot receiver.
• They have not decided whether Caudle or Rollison will be second string.
• Chizik says Eltoro Freeman's injury is not serious and he will be back.
• Burns did address the entire team about his move to receiver. No word of exactly what was said but Chizik praised him for his unselfish move.
• Dee Ford could make a move to linebacker.
• Bo Jackson was at practice today.

Practice Notes... BREAKING NEWS...Burns A WR

• Kodi Burns worked as a wide receiver all practice.
• Caudle, Todd, Moseley and Rollison had bright spots but were inconsistent overall.
• I did not see Burns drop any passes.
• Eltoro Freeman missed yesterday and today's practices. He is reportedly wearing a cast on his hand. More to come on that.
• I see Kodi Burns transferring....more to come on that also...

A Few Notes From Practice

• Neil Caudle says he feels good about his chances at being named the starter.
• They worked some Wildcat formation today with Kodi at quarterback.
• Trooper Taylor says newcomers Emory Blake, Anthony Gulley, Travante Stallworth and DeAngelo Benton all are on track to play this fall.

Thursday Practice Report

Thursday's final practice of spring was a scrimmage in Jordan-Hare and it is being described as a very physical affair.

• It is considered a "half" scrimmage.
• Neil Caudle and Barrett Trotter both took hard hits and got a little dinged up. Their exact injuries are unknown. Both seemed to be fine and returned to the scrimmage according to Mike Blanc.
• The defense again dominated the offense by just about doubling up the offense's score. (50 something to 20 something).
• Onterio McCalebb had two long runs.
• Jomarcus Savage has been moved to defensive tackle.
• Players not participating in A-Day include Aairon Savage, Gabe McKenzie, Zac Etheridge, and Eric Smith. Tommy Trott and Antoine Carter are questionable but doubtful. Mike Slade also has some sort of injury making the secondary even weaker. No word as to whether he is questionable for the A-Day game. Philip Pierre-Louis will have minimal playing time.
• Harry Adams reportedly had a good half scrimmage at receiver.
• Kodi Burns threw a touchdown pass to Derek Winter.
• It's late, I'm going to bed. I'll work on some more information tomorrow.

Tuesday Wrap-Up

Having posted my notes I took from practice earlier, here is everything else I can find including recruiting and post-practice interviews:

• Gus Malzahn confirmed that the quarterback battle has been narrowed. Kodi and Caudle will get the majority of the reps. Malzahn also noted that Barrett Trotter is not out of the "race" but he just will not receive as many reps. He made sure to note that no quarterback has been named starter or co-starter.
• Safety Mike McNeil underwent surgery to repair his broken shin on Saturday. Rivals is reporting 6-8 weeks until he has recovered but teammate Mike Slade said 8-10 weeks, being 100% by August camps.
• I noted that Montez Billings was not in pads. He was at practice in sweats and his jersey. Coach Gene Chizik has attributed this to an academic issue that they are "trying to clear up". I'll try to find out more.
• The offensive line remains a problem. There are currently only seven healthy scholarship o-linemen which is not many with the pace that our offense runs at.
• Another thing I noticed were many drops by the receivers today. I counted three drops by Mario Fannin alone, only one of which was contested. Trooper Taylor seems to be good at actually COACHING the receivers and I feel confident in his ability to help this group.
• Walk-on kicker Chandler Brooks has been hampered by some sort of injury and Wes Byrum has been consistent and has taken back the number one job according to Coach Boulware. In the opening special teams of practice I did not see a missed field goal but Boulware said Byrum was 7 for 8 Tuesday.
• Boulware noted that Clinton Durst is the leading punter.
• Coach Gene Chizik has said that Auburn's scoring system for A-Day will be released later this week. The defense can score various points for turnovers, sacks, etc.
• I know I said recruiting would be in this but I will include recruiting updates in tomorrow's notes.

Early Practice Notes

I just got back from practice. Here are some rough notes:

• The quarterback battle looks like it is down to just Caudle and Kodi. They were the only two quarterbacks who saw action in the scrimmage.
• The only three players back to return punts were Justin Albert, Quindarius Carr and Philip Pierre-Louis. I don't know if that means it has been narrowed down to these three.
• Philip Pierre-Louis was not wearing an orange non-contact jersey today but was wearing a nice sized brace. Aairon Savage was the only player I really noticed in an orange jersey. Montez Billings was not dressed out. I saw Savage limping after doing one on one drills vs. Pierre-Louis.
• Tommy Trott was with receivers and spent a lot of time catching balls off of the football throwing machine.
• Harry Adams has changed numbers to 8 with his position change. After dropping one pass, Trooper Taylor commended Adams for his route running. He was running very sharp routes. He took reps with the second team.
• Philip Pierre-Louis was running with the second team playing the "H-back" position that Mario Fannin runs on first team.
• Eltoro Freeman looks like he might have tweeked something. He was being worked on but it did not look too serious. Josh Bynes also appeared to be in some sort of pain but again, nothing too serious.
• Mike Slade is running first and second team at safety with Mike McNeil out.
• Practice was two hours with the last 20 minutes being scrimmage.
• In the scrimmage, Caudle and Burns took close to equal snaps. Kodi threw a touchdown pass to Mario Fannin. The scrimmage ended on a fumble on a goalline stand by the defense. Caudle threw one bad ball in the scrimmage that should have been picked but it was dropped.
• I did not see a whole lot of Onterio McCalebb. I do not think he was in the scrimmage but I couldn't really tell.
• I'll try and get more on here later tonight, these are just the rough notes I have right now.

Quarterback Decision Coming Soon?

It appears as if Gus Malzahn is ready to make his decision on the number one quarterback. The race is between Kodi Burns and Neil Caudle. Malzahn has hinted that he was ready to make the decision with the A-Day game coming this Saturday. I am expecting an announcement tomorrow but don't hold me to that.

Tyrik vs. Kodi: Senior Year Of High School

A lot of people are comparing the hype of Tyrik Rollison signing with Auburn to the excitement of Kodi Burns signing in 2007. Here is a comparison of their scouting and senior stats.

Kodi Burns: Four stars on Rivals, five star on Scout. Rivals' number 8 dual-threat quarterback. Rivals Top 250. Rivals position rating of 5.9. Number 5 quarterback for Scout.

As a senior threw 127-231 for 1,903 yards and 21 TDs, 7 INT. Ran for 726 yards and 13 TDs.

Tyrik Rollison: Four star on Rivals and Scout. Rivals' number 2 dual-threat quarterback. Rivals100 (#60). Rivals position rating of 6.0. Number 11 quarterback on Scout.

As a senior threw 315-428 for 4,728 yards and 53 TDs, 15 INT. Ran for 1,094 yards and 14 TDs.