Auburn Tigers News: Auburn football zeroing in on DJ Durkin for DC, women's basketball beats Alabama
In today's edition of Auburn Tigers news, the football program could be getting close to announcing a new defensive coordinator and women's basketball takes down Alabama
Throughout the offseason, the Auburn football program has seen several staffing changes. Former offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery was fired, defensive coordinator Ron Roberts left the Plains for Florida, and both associate head coach and running backs coach Cadillac Williams and secondary coach Zac Etheridge stepped down from their positions.
Since then, Derrick Nix has been hired as offensive coordinator and running backs coach, Kent Austin has been promoted to quarterbacks coach, and Charles Kelly has been hired as co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Now, former Texas A&M assistant DJ Durkin has been identified as a target in the search for the Tigers' second defensive coordinator, per Matt Zenitz. Before his two seasons with the Aggies, Durken spent two seasons at Ole Miss and was at Florida from 2010-2014.
Women's basketball takes down Alabama
Over the weekend the Auburn women's basketball program celebrated DeWanna Bonner Day where the five-time WNBA all-star and Auburn alum returned to the Plains to see her #24 jersey raised into the rafters and watch the Tigers take on rival Alabama.
The Tigers took a strong lead early in the game before allowing the Tide to catch up 51-50 by the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw Auburn run away with the game, and head coach Johnnie Harris got her first win over Alabama while on the Plains.
Following the win, Bonner made her way to the court to celebrate with her team, and Coach Harris had high praise for her team, per Auburn Undercover:
“Really feels good to get my first win over Alabama, and this team’s first win in a while,” Harris said. “It was special to do this in front of our alumni. We prepared well. Our team was focused. They were locked in. We wanted to set the tone and I felt like we did. Really happy with the win.”