Auburn football: Jake Thornton prioritizes intangibles alongside talent

It’s a new era on the Plains as Hugh Freeze takes over as the head coach of the Auburn football program. He took his time in hiring his support staff and coordinators, but there now seems to be a unity in the coaching staff that has not been seen for a couple of years.

Freeze brought on former Ole Miss offensive line coach Jake Thornton to take the same position with the Tigers in late December. Thornton has his work cut out for him in what is a massive rebuilding year for the offensive line, both from a recruiting standpoint and an on-field talent standpoint.

In the last several years, the recruiting of offensive linemen to the Plains had fallen off badly, and most of the guys who played along the line in 2022 were upperclassmen and will be moving on ahead of 2023. Not to mention the fact that the offensive line was widely considered to be one of the weakest links of the 2022 team.

Now, things are looking up for the position group. The new coaching staff managed to pull in four offensive linemen out of high school (the most signed in the last six years) as well as one JUCO offensive tackle and three OL transfers.

But Coach Thornton is looking for more than just raw talent in the recruits that he is bringing to the Plains, per Auburn Undercover:

"“Three values we’re going to build our offensive line on here at Auburn are disciple, toughness and loyalty. That’s the three intangibles that it takes zero talent to have those three things, but a lot of effort and a whole lot of pride to have those so that’s the first three things we are going to instill in those guys and we’re instilling in them right now up front."

After a multi-year slump, Jake Thornton and the rest of the new coaching staff are working to get Auburn football back to the level on which it belongs.