Gus Malzahn
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn celebrates after Auburn scores a fourth-quarter touchdown against Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford Miss., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)
Gus Malzahn believes Auburn faces two major challenges next season, and one saturates the roster.
The third-year Auburn coach's concerns nearly mirror those he held his first season with the Tigers, when they surprised everyone with an SEC title and run to the BCS Championship game in 2013.
Malzahn shared his primary concerns Tuesday on the SEC's coaches teleconference:
"I think overall experience," he said. "Because like you said we lost so many quality players that had experience, so that's probably the No. 1 thing. With that, we could be really good from the standpoint that we have a chance to get better each game because of our youth. We have some talented guys that are inexperienced. Hopefully that will be the case and we'll have a chance to get better each week."
Malzahn's second concern?
"Defensive secondary. We don't have a lot of experience, we don't have a lot of depth, we're going to have to rely on some guys that maybe don't have the experience that you'd like -- or some new guys coming in --but like I said earlier: I think that falls into the category that we have a chance to get better each game."
Auburn lost cornerbacks Jonathan Jones (foot) and T.J. Davis (ACL) to injury and both underwent surgical procedures in the spring. Jones, an All-SEC selection last season, is expected to be ready when training camp arrives in August.
Offensively, Auburn loses eight starters. The three returning starters -- receiver D'haquille Williams and offensive linemen Shon Coleman and Avery Young -- provide Auburn a strong core. Auburn also returns offensive guard Alex Kozan, who started all 14 games in 2013 and missed the 2014 season following back surgery.
Players not technically labeled returning starters have plenty of experience, however. Quarterback Jeremy Johnson, receiver Ricardo Louis and running back Roc Thomas have had big games in their careers.
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Auburn must also replace most of its offensive production from last season -- 86 percent of its rushing, 85 percent of its passing and 55 percent of its receiving yards.
"We do lose a lot of quality players that really helped us the last two years," Malzahn said. "Here at Auburn we want to win championships every year. That's the expectation."
Auburn fell from the top 10 in yards and scoring in 2010 to the bottom half of the country in both categories as they replaced eight starters in 2011. Circumstances are certainly different in 2015. The Tigers, on paper, are more talented and many analysts expect Malzahn's Tigers to be ranked in the top 10.
Expectations are no different inside Auburn's athletics complex.
"We want to be a team that thinks about winning championships every year," Malzahn said.