Not so long ago, Auburn defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks couldn’t have imagined himself where he was last Friday. He was sitting at the Wynfrey Hotel for Southeastern Conference Media Days, facing a media horde bearing cameras and recorders.
Heck, he didn’t even imagine himself playing football, much less going into his junior season as one of the more celebrated defensive linemen in the SEC.
“Man, this is great,” Marks said as he took his seat. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Marks is a consensus preseason All-SEC choice, a dominant player in a league running over with dominant players. Back at Vigor High School, that just didn’t seem possible, much less likely. That was before Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville showed up to watch Marks play basketball.
“I never knew I was going to play football in high school,” Marks said. “I just wanted to play basketball. The coach talked me into reality and made me play football. Coach Tuberville walked into my high school gym right after their 13-0 season. He was a celebrity. He offered me a scholarship and here I am.”
Marks and senior center Jason Bosley were Auburn’s representatives at Media Days. They arrived to find themselves having been dubbed favorites to win the West . The Tigers were runaway choices over second-place LSU.
Bosley, from Grissom High School in Huntsville, said he believes his team is worthy of the favorite’s role.
“Everyone is coming back,” Bosley said. “We do have a new quarterback, but I don’t see any dropoff there at all. I don’t feel a dropoff and can’t point out a weakness.”
Winning the West, Bosley said, will take more than just beating LSU.
“They are pretty loaded,” Bosley said. “Mississippi State is coming back great. Their coach (Sylvester Croom) does an incredible job. They keep getting better, always play hard and have a lot of talent. Alabama is good. Their coach (Nick Saban) does a great job. We have the Iron Bowl, which is always a close game.”
Coordinators Tony Franklin and Paul Rhoads will begin Saturday preparing for their first Auburn season.
Marks says he has bought to into Rhoads version of the 4-3 defense the Tigers have run since Tuberville arrived before the 1999 season.
“It’s a lot different than last year, and there is a lot of intensity,” Marks said. “There is more coaching on the field. He will stop practice and come out on the field and coach. There is more relaxing time, too, but when it’s time to play, we do it.”
Marks has also seen enough of the new offense to know things are going to be very different than in the past.
“They are crazy,” Marks said. “I can’t wait to watch it during a game. There is so much more momentum that the team and fans will bring.”
He got no argument from Bosley.
“We used to run them down,” Bosley said. “Now it is wear them out.”
