Since the beginning of spring workouts, the Auburn football program has been recognizing two players for their hard work each week. This week, head coach Bryan Harsin announced the Iron Men of the Week as Tank Bigsby and Zakoby McClain.
Both returning starters for Auburn, these two guys are major impact players on either side of the line of scrimmage. Tank Bigsby was SEC Freshman of the Year and Zakoby McClain was the third leading tackler in the conference.
2020 was Tank Bigsby’s freshman season and he made it one to remember. The running back from Lagrange, GA rushed for 834 yards and five touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 84 yards. In addition to being the SEC Freshman of the Year, Bigsby was also first-team freshman all-SEC.
According to AuburnTigers.com, Bigsby was eighth in the SEC for all-purpose yardage, and fifth in total rushing yards. He also had the second-most rushing yards of any freshman at the FBS level this season. A lot will be expected of this offensive Iron Man in the upcoming season.
𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤:
— Bryan Harsin (@CoachHarsin) March 6, 2021
𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐬𝐛𝐲 & 𝐙𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝! 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠!#WarEagle🦅 | #AuburnStrength 💪 pic.twitter.com/Jpu2PKMMuJ
Representing the defense as Iron Man of the Week is rising senior Zakoby McClain. The returning linebacker from Valdosta, GA recorded an impressive 113 total tackles in the 2020 season, with 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
McClain was third in the SEC this season in tackles and all-SEC fourth team, according to AuburnTigers.com. He racked up a career-best 17 tackles against Texas A&M, the most an Auburn Tiger has had in a single contest since 2012. He and Roger McCreary will be expected to lead a relatively inexperienced linebacker corps next season.
Tank Bigsby and Zakoby McClain will be key contributors to the Auburn football program in 2021, and it’s good to see these guys putting in the work during the offseason.