In Atlanta for a Chick-fil-A Bowl news conference and event, Auburn coach Gene Chizik on Monday discussed several topics before the Tigers began bowl practices later in the afternoon.
He addressed how his team would prepare without running back Michael Dyer, the SEC’s second-leading rusher and suspended indefinitely for violating team rules, and adjustments to be made after the departure of defensive coordinator Ted Roof for Central Florida.
Here are excerpts from Chizik when he spoke with a handful of media outlets, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Q: What kind of challenge will it be to go without Dyer?
A: We feel confident in some young guys who will step up. Onterio McCalebb is going to have to step up. Tre Mason is going to have to step up. We've got some other guys that we'll be evaluating here in the next two weeks, seeing exactly what part they might be able to play to help. But this is a great challenge for some of our younger players. We've moved on.
Q: Other than those two tailbacks, it’s down to walk-ons, right?
A: Well you've got some different options out there with some guys we're looking at. I'm not going to say exactly what that is yet. We'll see the first few days of practice where we are. But we've got some talented guys on offense that can do a few different things.
Q: Is Mason ready to step into a bigger role?
A: He's going to have to. He's very confident. The playing time that he got this year was invaluable. He showed flashes at times where he was very capable of stepping in and being a fill-in guy. So now between him and Onterio, they're going to have to ramp up the number of reps. But we have enough time to work. It's not like one game where you have three days to practice and you've got to throw them in there. So that's a good thing.
Q: Have other players volunteered to help at running back?
A: Our plan right now is to use mainly offensive players that are talented and have done similar things in high school. That would be our first plan of attack. We have enough time to look and see for a few days and see how it's panning out, then proceed from there.
Q: Is it your expectation that Dyer will be back?
A: I've said that I wasn't going to go into any of the details other than the fact that he is suspended indefinitely from our team. He won't be practicing for the bowl game. He won't be playing in the bowl game. And if you see him back at Auburn, that means he's done everything we've asked him to do to get back in an Auburn uniform.
Q: How disappointed are you to have someone you’ve counted on like that not available?
A: It's really disappointing. But I'm not going to talk about the ones who aren't here. I'll talk a lot about the ones that are. And that's how I feel about it.
Q: How will you handle adding defensive coordinator to your responsibilities with the departure of Roof?
A: I did that for so many years. You just kind of jump back on the horse and go back at it. Time management and time constraints are a little bit different now, but we're going to have a really good plan. We're going to go to work and try to improve and try to get our eighth win.
Q: What’s so important about that eighth win?
A: When you play in these bowl games, as it was for us two years ago, when you can get your eighth win in a bowl game, it kind of propels you some into the next season. Everybody wants to end their season on a positive note. I think it's critical.
Q: What’s the latest with the defensive coordinator search?
A: Obviously we're doing our due diligence. There's no timeline. When we feel like there's the right guy we've narrowed it down to, and we feel very confident that'll happen, we'll make that announcement.
Q: How have you been able to help players block out the latest distractions?
A: I can go back two years. There's a lot of interest out there in Auburn football, and that's what makes it great. Along with that comes everybody's got an opinion. Although I think myself and our players respect everybody's opinion, I don't feel like that plays a role in what we do on a daily basis inside our program and inside our building. They've done a great job over the years. Whatever seemingly is a distraction out there, that the outside world might consider to be a distraction, I feel like our football team has handled really, really well. And this is no different.
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