Press Conference: DJ Durkin previews Auburn Football's Fall Camp

**Justin Hugginson** (0:03)
Good morning, everyone, how are we doing?

**Brian Matthews** (0:04)
We'll go first with Peter.

**Peter Atticus** (0:06)
You all have to give me a second to enhance.

**Justin Ferguson** (0:07)
Peter and Bill, we'll start there first.

**Peter Atticus** (0:13)
Peter Atticus from ao.com. On the defensive line, Jordan Crawford and Malik Autry, what have you seen from them this off season, and how important is it to that defensive line for them to take a step in year two?

**DJ Durkin** (0:25)
Yeah, you know, critical. Like the life and transformation of any football player usually is typically, right, like you start out in a role, whatever that role is, it usually progresses and grows as you go along, and so certainly those guys were counting on that. We think they're very talented players.
What we have seen as a coaching staff in them is the maturity of that. I think they understand and they're grasping that new role of, okay, I was a, you know, maybe situational or rotational guy that goes in and gets some snaps to where now I'm being counted to, you know, be the lead guy, whether it's a starter or play a much bigger role in the game in terms of amount of snaps.
And they're embracing it and doing well and all the things you'd like to see in them.

**Tyler Rayleigh** (1:05)
You know, Bill Tyler, Ferg.

**Bill Cameron** (1:08)
Bill Cameron with the drive on ESPN 1067 DJ, you've got a really impressive group of true sophomores. A lot of times you see the biggest, that big step from freshman to sophomore. Just talk about those guys and because you've got them at every level there on the defense. Talk about, you know, how you've seen them improve, step up and become more leaders.

**DJ Durkin** (1:28)
Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's been fun, a fun progression. Number one, a lot of those guys make a decision to stay here and have some continuity in a world where that's tough to come by, I think, a lot of the time.
And you're right, the biggest step in development is usually that, because you come in as a freshman and whatever you thought you were getting into, it's not always quite, you know, exactly what you thought. And you kind of go through some growing pains and start to figure stuff out. And those guys have certainly done that. I think it's a good group together. They take pride in their performance and what they're doing on a day-to-day basis and how they approach meetings and everything else. And it's fun for us as coaches to have guys that now have been in the program, you know, for more than a year to where they know the expectation, they kind of know what is expected.

**Tyler Rayleigh** (2:14)
Coach, Tyler Rayleigh, Auburn Undercover. Coach, you have a lot of veteran leadership back there in the secondary that had a lot of experience playing time last year. How important is that to have their voices back there, especially with the change in coaching staff a little bit and just going forward with that?

**DJ Durkin** (2:31)
Experience in the back end is always something that is, you know, when you have that, it's a great thing for you. Just, you know, that's where the most adjustments occur, the most, you know, in terms of getting aligned and communicating, it kind of runs through that back end. You know, you mentioned a lot of the experience comes from our safety positions, our star position, and that's where you want it because those are the communication pieces. They're helping get everyone lined up and, you know, letting the corners know how they see it and how we're going to play it. So I think that would be a huge benefit for us for sure.
It looked that way through spring and summer, and obviously, hope that continues here starting out with camp.

**Nathan King** (3:08)
DJ, Nathan King, Auburn 247 Where do you see Champ fitting into this now that he's healthy and ready to go, and is he truly kind of a Swiss Army knife for you guys that can play a bunch of different spots?

**DJ Durkin** (3:18)
Yeah, man, Champ's a guy that, I think first and foremost, whatever room you put him in, he immediately changes that room in terms of his competitive level to how he meets, how he practices, how he does everything. He just raises the competitiveness in the room, which is a great thing as a coach. When you have a guy that can do that, that says a thousand words of what you're trying to do in terms of motivation and everything else. Champ can, he has the ability to play all the spots in the back end.