< PreviousOfficial Smoked Sausage and Hot Dog of the Auburn Tigers ® True southern flavor since 1947. Made in Evergreen Alabama. - 1 lb. Conecuh Smoked Sausage - Hot dog buns - BBQ sauce, warmed - Grilled Peppers and Onions - Sauerkraut - Sweet Dill Relish - Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Mustard Conecuh Sausage dogs are perfect for tailgating with your favorite team when the game is on, or anytime! Grill sausage on all sides until done, pop it in a warm bun and add your favorite toppings. Make sure you have plenty of sausage - and napkins - on hand for seconds (and thirds)! CONECUH SAUSAGE DOG 800-726-0507 ConecuhSausage.com‘LEAVE THE NUMBER BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS’: AUBURN DEFENSIVE BACKS 21 Three weeks into the NFL season, Auburn’s former defensive backs are making a name for themselves. If you haven’t noticed, you’re not paying attention. In week one, it was Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean locking down CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys. The next week, Dean pulled down two interceptions to help the Buccaneers knock off the Saints. On Sunday, New England’s Jonathan Jones had an interception and recorded the highest PFF grade (93.1) among all NFL cornerbacks. Rookie Roger McCreary, the latest Auburn DB product to make the NFL, has started all three games for the Titans and has double-digit tackles in the last two. With McCreary going in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft in April, Auburn has had a defensive back taken in the third round or higher in four of the last five NFL drafts. Since 2017, a total of nine former Auburn defensive backs have been drafted. Others, like Jones – a two-time Super Bowl champion – have made it despite not getting drafted. It’s gone from what started out as a trend in 2017 and 2018 to a full-on movement now. The current Auburn defensive backs have taken note. They know the stan- dard. They know what it takes. They also know that it’s possible. Just flip on the TV on a Sunday afternoon. “I looked up to Noah (Igbinoghene) a lot. I saw all the NFL potential in him,” Auburn cornerback Jaylin Simpson said. “I still watch Carlton and Dean on TV to this day because it’s so crazy that they both played at Auburn, and they’re both starting on the same team in the NFL. It just makes me think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’” “It definitely motivates you because it shows you that it can be done,” safety Donovan Kaufman said. “Just know- ing that these guys are from the same school, they’ve been through a lot of the same things. It just shows you that it’s possible. Kaufman was the newcomer to the group last year. He arrived as a trans- fer from Vanderbilt and once he got on campus, he quickly learned about the “Jack Boys” – the nickname the secondary likes to go by. It’s a tradition that started before any of the current defensive backs first took a snap at Auburn and has been passed down year after year. So, what does it mean? “They’re known for taking stuff like interceptions and getting turnovers,” cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett said. “Just taking from the opponent. That’s where Jack Boys came from.” Auburn defenses have had nine or more interceptions in each of the last AUBURN DEFENSIVE BACKS AUBURNTIGERS.COM LEAVE THE NUMBER BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS’: BY GREG OSTENDORF Jaylin Simpson Nehemiah PritchettPROUD PARTNER Get the right defense for the right price. Switch and save with Allstate. Based on average annual savings of new customers surveyed in 2021 who reported auto savings when switching to Allstate. In most states, prices vary based on how you buy. © 2022 Allstate Insurance Company, 3100 Sanders Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. Marks are registered trademarks of their respective owners.‘LEAVE THE NUMBER BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS’: AUBURN DEFENSIVE BACKS 23 four seasons coming into 2022. The Tigers were tied for third in the SEC in takeaways in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019 with 45 combined turnovers forced, including 24 interceptions. That mentality has carried over to the NFL level where you’re seeing the likes of Dean and Jones snag interceptions on Sundays. Davis has yet to get one this season, but he was among the league leaders with four in 2020. He’s also recovered a fumble and forced a fumble in the first three games. For McCreary, it’s only a matter of time. He had six interceptions while at Auburn. This year, however, turnovers have been hard to come by for the Auburn defense. The Tigers forced their first two of the season – an interception by Derick Hall and a fumble recovery by freshman safety Cayden Bridges – in Saturday’s win over Missouri. They were the difference in the game. But there’s no panic amongst the defensive backs. They know it’s coming. “We haven’t really shown the world our full potential yet for sure,” Simpson said. “We’ve got it on the back end. I see it all the time. We’ve just got to figure something out. I don’t know what it is, but we’re going to figure it out real soon and we’re going to show what we can really do and what Jack Boys really mean.” “We all feed off each other,” added Kaufman. “When one of us gets going, we all get going.” It’s one thing to have a defensive back get drafted or make it to the NFL. It’s another thing to have it happen year after year after year. It starts with recruit- ing the right people and coaching them up, but there’s also a passing of knowl- edge in the DB room. Igbinoghene learned from Davis and Dean. McCreary learned from Dean and Igbinoghene. Simpson and Pritchett learned from Igbinoghene and McCreary. “It’s been a blessing to have guys like that in front of me because I saw how they came out and worked, how they took notes in the film room,” Pritchett said. “So, coming in as a freshman, I just watched all those guys and saw how they operated and took that from them.” It’s no different at safety where Daniel Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson mentored the likes of Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood. Monday and Sherwood then passed on that same knowledge to Kaufman and Zion Puck- ett. “I just try to make the legacy better than what it was,” Puckett said. “Leave the number better than what it was. Just being around DT (Thomas), Smoke, Sherwood, Dinson – the knowledge of being around those guys – it’s helped me a lot in understanding the game of football. “No matter if they were injured, hurt, bruised, nicked – they came out and worked every day. I just try to keep my mind focused on that and just be posi- tive every day.” As a defensive back at Auburn, the path to the NFL has been laid. Now it’s up to the current group to carry on that legacy and create their own identity at Auburn. “We’ve definitely got to create some turnovers,” Kaufman said. But the iden- tity for this group is to go out there and have fun. “We’ve got a good group, kind of a young group, but everybody can play. Once everybody goes out there and gains confidence in themselves, I think you’ll really see the difference.” “We have plenty of games left, plenty of opportunities left,” Pritchett added. “We just want to put on a show for the rest of the season.” AUBURNTIGERS.COM AUBURN DEFENSIVE BACKS LEAVE THE NUMBER BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS’: Zion Puckett Donovan KaufmanHEAD COACH BRYAN HARSIN 27 Bryan Harsin is in his second year as Auburn’s head football coach after spending the previous seven seasons as head coach at Boise State where he compiled a 69-19 record while winning three Mountain West Conference titles. Harsin was named Auburn’s 28th head football coach on December 22, 2020. A former Boise State quarterback, as- sistant coach and offensive coordinator, Harsin is 82-31 overall as a head coach – including one season at Arkansas State – and has directed his programs to bowl games each season. His impressive re- sume at Boise saw him lead the Broncos to five 10-win seasons, seven consec- utive bowl appearances and six MWC West Division Championships. He led the program to a 5-2 mark and a trip to the MWC championship game in 2020. Harsin’s first Auburn program reg- istered a pair of ranked wins, including against No. 10 Ole Miss and at No. 17 Arkansas. He also became the first Auburn coach in 22 years to defeat LSU in Baton Rouge, as the Tigers registered a thrilling come-from-behind victory. Four players earned All-SEC honors and cornerback Roger McCreary received first team All-America accolades. For just the second time in Auburn football history, two players earned CoSIDA Ac- ademic All-America honors in the same season as Nick Brahms and Anders Carlson were honored for their academ- ic and athletic excellence. In his debut season Harsin led his alma mater back to where it rose to national prominence. Boise State went 12-2 in 2014, winning its first outright Mountain West Championship and capping the campaign with a 38-30 victory over Arizona in the 2014 VIZIO Fiesta Bowl. The victory in the Fiesta Bowl was the third such win for the Broncos in the previous nine seasons. Harsin, serving as offensive coordinator in the first two Fiesta Bowl victories, has been a part of each of the school’s three appearances in the game. The team’s victory in the 2014 Mountain West Football Champion- ship marked Boise State’s first outright league title since joining the conference in 2011, and the first overall since 2009. The only alumnus to lead the Broncos as head coach in the history of Boise State, Harsin has won conference champi- onships as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach. Boise State also captured MW titles in 2017 and 2019, giving Harsin three in six seasons. In 2017, the Broncos capped the championship campaign with a 38- 28 victory over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Broncos concluded the year at 11-3 overall and ranked No. 22 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. The Broncos went 12-2 in 2019, recording the team’s first perfect 8-0 conference record since joining the MW and earning the school’s fifth all-time appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl. Boi- se State concluded the season ranked in both the AP (No. 23) and Coaches Polls (No. 22) and were No. 19 in the final rankings of the College Football Playoff Poll, the third-straight season finishing in the top 25 of the CFP. AUBURNTIGERS.COM BRYAN HARSIN HEAD COACH® FAVORITE CHIP OF THE @GOLDENFLAKE @GOLDEN_FLAKE @GOLDEN_FLAKE WWW.GOLDENFLAKE.COM | WWW.UTZSNACKS.COMHEAD COACH BRYAN HARSIN 29 In 2015, the Broncos went 9-4, climbing as high as No. 20 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Boise State capped the 2015 campaign with a 55-7 victory over Northern Illinois in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, the fifth-largest margin of victory in the history of bowl games. In 2016, Harsin guided the Broncos to a 10-3 record and an appearance in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl. In 2018, the Broncos concluded the season ranked in all three major polls - No. 23 in the AP Poll, No. 24 in the Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the CFP Rankings. The Broncos have been ranked in the top 25 in each of Harsin’s six seasons, climbing as high as No. 13 in both the AP and Coaches Polls in 2016, and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll in 2019, Boise State’s highest rankings since finishing eighth and sixth in each, respectively, in 2011. Boise State went 10-3 in 2018, boasting the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Brett Rypien – one of 11 All-Mountain West honorees. Rypien concluded his career as the Mountain West’s all-time leader in career 300-yard passing games (21), completions (1,036) and passing yards (13,581). He also ranked second in league history in both wins by a starting quarterback (37) and career attempts (1,619) and tied for second in career touchdown passes (90). Curtis Weaver made it three- straight MW Player of the Year honors for the Broncos in 2019, following Ryp- ien’s nod in 2018 and Leighton Vander Esch’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (2014) started the streak, followed by running back Jay Ajayi (2015), lineback- er Kamalei Correa (2016), running back Jeremy McNichols (2017), linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (2018), running back Alexander Mattison (2019) and Weaver. Vander Esch was a first-round selection of the Dallas Cowboys after foregoing his final season of eligibility. In his rookie season, Vander Esch was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. The Broncos won at least 10 games in five of Harsin’s seven seasons, giving Boise State 17 since joining what is now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1996. The total ranked second behind only Ohio State during that time. For his efforts in 2014, Harsin was named a finalist for the Paul “Bear Bry- ant” National Coach of the Year Award, the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award and the Dodd Trophy, given annually by the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Foundation. He was also named the nation’s top first- year head coach by the Football Writers Association of America. A graduate of Capital High School in Boise, he played quarterback for the Broncos from 1995-99. Following his graduation from Boise State with a degree in business management, Harsin coached running backs and receivers at Eastern Oregon in 2000. The former Bronco letterwinner be- gan his coaching career at Boise State as a graduate assistant in 2001, before taking over the tight ends as a full-time assistant coach from 2002-05. When Chris Petersen was hired as head coach in 2006, Harsin assumed the role of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Harsin was Petersen’s offensive co- ordinator for five of his eight seasons as head coach (2006-10) and was named a finalist for the 2009 Broyles Award, awarded annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. Boise State went 61-5 during his tenure as offensive coordi- nator. With Harsin on staff, Boise State won 11 conference championships in 17 seasons. Following the 2010 season, Harsin went to Texas, where he served as co-of- fensive coordinator from 2011-12. While with the Longhorns, Harsin helped guide the ascension of an offense that ranked 88th in scoring prior to his arrival, to No. 24 nationally in 2012 (36.1). Harsin then earned his first head coaching opportunity at Arkansas State in 2013, which claimed a share of the Sun Belt Conference championship and a berth in the GoDaddy.com Bowl that season. Harsin and his wife, Kes, have two daughters, Devyn Lynn and Dayn Mcke- na, and a son, Davis. AUBURNTIGERS.COM HARSIN AT A GLANCE Personal Hometown: Boise, Idaho Wife: Kes Children: daughters: Devyn Lynn, Dayn Mykena son: Davis College: Boise State (2000) Playing Experience: Boise State (1995-99) Coaching Experience 2021-current: Auburn Head Coach 2014-20: Boise State Head Coach 2013: Arkansas State Head Coach 2011-12 Texas Co-Offensive Coordinator/QBs 2006-10: Boise State Offensive Coordinator/WRs 2002-05: Boise State Tight Ends 2001: Boise State Graduate Assistant 2000: Eastern Oregon Running Backs/WRs Bowl Experience Coach: 2021 Birmingham Bowl 2019 Las Vegas Bowl 2018 First Responder Bowl 2017 Las Vegas Bowl 2016 Cactus Bowl 2016 Poinsettia Bowl 2014 Fiesta Bowl 2012 Alamo Bowl 2011 Holiday Bowl 2010 Las Vegas Bowl 2010 Fiesta Bowl 2008 Poinsettia Bowl 2007 Hawai’i Bowl 2007 Fiesta Bowl 2005 MPC Computers Bowl 2004 Liberty Bowl 2003 Forth Worth Bowl 2002 Humanitarian Bowl Player: 1999 Humanitarian Bowl Next >