How has Auburn football prepared for Vanderbilt despite 'a million distractions going on'?
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AUBURN — For the fifth time this season, Auburn football has spent the week gearing up to face a ranked opponent, heading to No. 16 Vanderbilt on Saturday, Nov. 8.
On this occasion, the Tigers also have, “a million distractions going on,” interim head coach DJ Durkin said Thursday, Nov. 6, days removed from Hugh Freeze‘s firing. Those distractions have been part of the interim’s message to his team.
“That’s been our challenge to them, is to just say, ‘Hey man, block out the distractions, lock in on what we’re doing to prepare for what is a really good opponent at their place, and focus on each other. You’re part of something bigger than yourself and focus on the team,'” he said.
Durkin said he’s seen positive returns through four practices, as he’s tried to focus on, “doing everything we can together.”
“I think it’s important that everyone views this as, ‘We are together. We are a team,'” he said. “We can’t survive alone. It can’t be separate units. It’s got to be all of us together. You can see those guys, they’ve really embraced that and really had fun this week.”
That togetherness will be equally vital for Durkin, who’s maintaining defensive play-calling duties while being tasked with the head coach role. Offensive coordinator and running backs coach Derrick Nix will take over playcalling for the offense, which Durkin said Nix wasn’t previously handling under Freeze.
The setup is poised to change how Durkin manages some of his in-game adjustments with Auburn‘s defense, but he insisted it’ll go smoothly.
“We’ve got a good staff of guys,” he said. “My big thing was to not change what we’re doing. We’ve got a good flow of how we do it on that side of the ball (defense), so I think they all understand it and we’ll be good.”
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.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: DJ Durkin talks Auburn football’s Vanderbilt prep post-Freeze firing
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