Auburn Football Recruiting: The Impact of Will Muschamp on Six Top Targets

Jeff Holland, Four-Star Linebacker and Top 100 Player

Ellis Johnson ran a 4-2-5 base defense at Auburn, meaning the Tigers generally utilized four defensive linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs (one of which was a linebacker/safety hybrid).

Will Muschamp prefers a multiple defense, based in a 4-3, but with the ability to shift in and out of three and four man fronts. Either way, Auburn will have more pure linebackers on the field under coach Boom. They’ve got some good ones coming back, but you can always use more.

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Especially one as talented as consensus top 100 player Jeff Holland, a four-star from Jacksonville, Florida.

And, it just so happens that Florida and Auburn have been the leaders to land Holland, which could once again swing into the Tigers’ favor, especially when you consider his recent comments.

“I was hoping (Muschamp) was going to end up at Auburn,” Holland told the Orlando Sentinel recently. “That would probably put them to the top, but I don’t know, I’d have to talk to my family and coaches.”

“I haven’t talked to him at all,” Holland said of new Florida head coach Jim McElwain in the same interview. “I really don’t know him so I really don’t got no thoughts. I just gotta get to meet him and he’s gotta start recruiting me fast because this thing is getting pretty tight.”

Once the news of Muschamp’s return to the Plains became official Friday, Holland appeared to be pleased. He tweeted: “WAREAGLE!”

Next: Two Five-Star Defensive Ends