Feb. 1, 2017
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Standing side by side in the Auburn locker room, Tiger quarterbacks Sean White, John Franklin III and Jarrett Stidham talked about their past and their plans during Auburn's National Signing Day coverage.
"It's been good," said Stidham, who enrolled in January after sitting out in 2016. "It's been good to finally get back in the system of being with a football team. I love it here. I'm glad to be here. Glad to be with these guys and all of the other teammates. I'm ready to go. Ready to compete."
Stidham, who started as a freshman at Baylor in 2015, said not playing last season was agonizing.
"Every Saturday I'm sitting there watching game after game thinking I should really be playing right now," Stidham said. "It was tough to be out of the game for awhile, but I'm thankful that I did it. I'm really itching to get back out there."
A 5-star recruit out of high school in Texas, Stidham chose Auburn over other SEC schools.
"Once I decided to transfer from Baylor, I had my eyes on a few different schools," Stidham said. "Auburn was kind of the main one. They came at me the hardest, along with Texas A&M and Florida. I felt at home here, so I just rolled with it. Sure enough, it's been the right decision."
White, recovering from an arm injury sustained on the opening drive of the Sugar Bowl, reflected on Auburn's six-game winning streak in 2016.
"I think the most important is being able to be balanced," White said. "Keeping the defense on its toes, whether it's throwing the ball to open up the run, or running the ball to open up the passing game. When we were at our best, we were able to do both well."
White says he will focus on getting bigger and stronger, to be able to withstand the rugged SEC.
"I think the most important thing for me is to continue to get bigger," White said. "To be able to stay healthy, that's the most important for me, and also get better at the same time. But most important for me is to be able to stay healthy and make it through a whole season."
Franklin, who displayed his passing and running abilities in his first season at Auburn, discussed his priority for spring practice, which starts Feb. 28.
"The thing I'm going to focus on is my footwork and accuracy on intermediate and short throws," Franklin said. "Just being consistent on a regular basis."
Franklin welcomes the opportunity to contribute again in his senior season.
"I'm just blessed to be here, to have this opportunity to come back and compete my last year, and hopefully go out with a bang," Franklin said.
Freshman Woody Barrett, who redshirted in 2016, will also compete in spring practice, along with Tyler Queen, Devin Adams and early enrollee Malik Willis.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer