Who calls plays for Auburn football offense tasked with major fixes? What DJ Durkin said
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AUBURN — It’s been hard to see Auburn football‘s problems extending much further than its offense throughout another dismal season.
Kicker Alex McPherson looks to be in All-SEC form. The defense has been one of the best in the country. But the offense has been dismal, so much so the man helming it, Hugh Freeze, was fired after the Tigers failed to find the end zone in a loss to Kentucky over the weekend.
The unit was athletic director John Cohen‘s biggest talking point Monday, Nov. 3, when discussing the decision to fire Freeze. It was clearly a difference-maker, both to Cohen and those who had watched the Tigers. It’ll be up to DJ Durkin, who was elevated to interim coach, and Auburn‘s staff, to fulfill what Durkin sees as untapped potential in the unit for its final three games.
“I think there’s talented guys in that room,” Durkin said. “I think there’s guys in that room that have the ability to be successful and want to, and I think we’ve got to do a great job of supporting them and providing that.”
The man largely tasked with finding those fixes will be offensive coordinator and running backs coach Derrick Nix, who Durkin said would be Auburn’s primary play-caller moving forward.
“He’ll be the play caller every down and he’s the sole play-caller,” Durkin said. “I have extreme confidence in Derrick. He and I have worked together in previous stops as well. Another great person and a great coach. I think the players really respond to him, they understand where he’s coming from. I think Derrick is going to do a great job. We’ll be aggressive in everything we do.”
Aggression may be the only answer for Auburn’s offense. After the Kentucky loss, the Tigers have the eighth-worst total offense among Power 4 schools and the third-worst passing offense.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
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