With a new coaching staff, the Auburn football team is starting a new chapter on the Plains, but not all of the faces on the roster will be new. Although a lot of the Tigers' big-name players elected to hit the transfer portal, several key players from last season decided to give new head coach Alex Golesh a chance and run it back with the Tigers.
Auburn football defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is excited about the defensive returners, including All-American linebacker Xavier Atkins and sixth-year senior nose tackle Dallas Walker IV. Sophomores Malik Autry and Jourdin Crawford are back, along with SEC All-Freshman selection Elijah Melendez, Bryce Deas and Demarcus Riddick.
In the modern era of college football, players transfer at the drop of a hat in search of more money or a "better" situation, and Durkin believes that sticking around in one place to develop yourself as a player is a choice that is getting lost in the glamour of NIL.
"We have really, really high expectations for those guys this year and moving forward," Durkin said, per Auburn Undercover. "So to have them all return, still be here with us and be in that next year development is critical. I believe the thing that is so missed and lost in college football right now is the development. The way you get better at anything in life is to do something consistently over and over again. When these guys bounce around from year to year, different coaches, different systems, different drills that you're working on, it's really hard to continue to develop at the rate you should.
"Those guys in particular, we're expecting great things from them."
With Keldric Faulk off to the NFL Draft, there will be big shoes for the Auburn defense to fill, but Durkin clearly believes the future is bright for his group.