Auburn football EDGE Derick Hall: ‘The team as a whole is different’

Auburn football EDGE Derick Hall is bullish on the Tigers’ prospects in 2022, saying that this team bears little resemblance to the one that ended last season on a five-game slide and a losing record overall.

Hall had 52 total tackles in 2021, 18 more than his freshman and sophomore season combined, and started all 13 games last year. This year, he and fellow EDGE Eku Leota are expected to be key contributors to an upperclassmen-heavy defensive front.

Luckily, one of the major leaders of the defense has bought into Auburn football HC Bryan Harsin and spoke highly of them in a Senior Spotlight feature for the university.

Here’s Hall’s praise of the second-year Tigers head coach (h/t Justin Hokanson of On3):

"“I’m not here for a coach, I’m here for the university. But when Harsin came in and I started to get to know him better, I mesh really well with him, just the kind of person he is. We’ll be out at practice sweating, and he’ll be there throwing balls and sweating with us. I love him and wouldn’t want anybody else to be my coach.”"

The sky is the limit for the Auburn football program in 2022 according to the Gulfport, Mississippi native:

"“Everybody is coming together to work toward one common goal – to win an SEC championship and play for a national championship. I think we are moving further faster. The team as a whole is different, and I think people will see that rolling into the fall.”"

Auburn football has positive momentum despite a hellish offseason

Bryan Harsin was pushed to the edge by the Auburn BoT–although Jimmy Rane denied that he and his fellow Auburn boosters had anything to do with it–but has somehow come out the other side of it with his dignity intact. Not only is he still the Tigers’ head coach, but Harsin somehow has positive momentum despite the conclusion to the last campaign and a hellish offseason that followed.

The 2022 college football season could be one of those seasons that history always looks back on if AU is able to defy bearish projections and make a run to the top of the country’s best conference. Hall seems confident that Tiger fans will see that manifest this fall.