At a random point in the middle of Wednesday’s positional drills for the Auburn Tigers, whistles from every which way began flying across the complex and horns began sounding.
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Nobody knew what was going on until coaches started rushing everybody over to one of the fields at the Woltosz Football Performance Center.
That surprise was a fast-paced team period, where the Tigers went 11-on-11 and acted out a real-game scenario, allowing both the offensive and defensive units to put everything they’ve learned to the test and adjust to the tempo the team is preparing to play.
One of the guys it caught by surprise the most was defensive line coach Vontrell King-Williams, who was getting ready to put on individual drils for his guys and go to work before the havoc started happening.
It took him a second to realize what was happening, but at the end of the sudden shock, he was ready to go and excited to see what his guys would do.
“I had no idea,” King-Williams said. “It was good… You never know what’s getting ready to happen in the game of football. You really don’t know, and so you have to be able to adapt. That was fun. I actually enjoyed it a lot, and shoot, you get to play more football.”
The period allowed both sides of the ball to work on their plays and formations, putting into fruition what they needed to work on as a unit in the coming weeks.
With emotions flying everywhere and the hype rushing onto the field, King-Williams said what he was proud to see from his guys most, and the team as a whole, was the energy that came with the surprise and his line’s ability to go down and be physical on a whim.
“The ability to say, ‘Alright, put the ball down, let’s go,’” King-Williams said. “It was a surprise to everybody and I thought they all brought the juice that came with it.”
With eight days of preseason camp under the belt, the defensive line coach has been able to see a lot out of his team between the various periods that they got to run and the individual position drills that have happened.
His impression is that while there is a lot of youth scattered around the line, the improvement has been noticeable and the willingness to learn has been impressive.
There have been challenges every day, but King-Williams said his players are taking it well and putting them to good use.
“Just as a group, it’s very interesting, very fun to coach,” King-Williams said. “At the core, we’re a very young group, and it’s really exciting to see it because you start seeing the growth, and while everyone has played a bit, it’s still about getting those guys Saturday ready and putting some adversity on them. That’s what camp is about. It’s been fun to coach those guys. They’ve been growing every day, been challenging them and it’s been fun to see.”
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
