March 15, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" When Braden Smith returned to Auburn last week for pro day, it gave him a chance to catch up with his former offensive line coach, J.B. Grimes, who is returning to the Plains this season after coaching the Tigers from 2013-15.
Grimes told Smith that he's got "good clay," referring to Auburn's offensive linemen.
"That kind of describes him as a coach and really molding a player," Smith said. "Especially when I was coming out as a freshman. I came from a Wing T offense. I didn't really have any type of football technique. I just had the ability to finish. So he's a really good developer, and I know he's going to make those boys tough as hell."
For Grimes and the returning offensive linemen, spring practice has been more about getting acclimated to each other. Some, like offensive guard Mike Horton, were on the team the last time Grimes was here. They remember his coaching style, and they know what to expect. Others are just now discovering what it's like to play for the veteran coach.
"Some guys don't know him because they weren't here," Horton said. "So he's trying to instill that foundation that he instilled in me when I first got here."
"It is just a matter of the guys getting used to his approach, his terminology," added Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. "Some of the techniques are a little bit different. The guys have responded very well. I have said this before. J.B. is one of the better teachers ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" just true teachers ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" that IÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢'¬Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â'¬ have had in 28 or 29 years of coaching. He is a true teacher."
Grimes has his work cut out for him this first year back, though, as he looks to retool an offensive line that lost four senior starters ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Smith, Austin Golson, Darius James and Casey Dunn. Smith and Golson alone had 79 career starts between them. It's why this group has been tabbed as one of Auburn's biggest question marks for the 2018 season.
The players don't see it that way, though. Horton started games for the Tigers last season. The same goes for Prince Tega Wanogho and Marquel Harrell.
"We had three guys that started last year, actually started games," Horton said. "We lost (guys), but we still have that experience here. I don't think we're really at a disadvantage right now. We've got some really talented young guys like Calvin (Ashley), Brodarious (Hamm), all those guys. They're really talented. I think they can step up in that role that we need them to be in."
Ashley was one of the top offensive linemen in the country coming out of high school a year ago. Hamm, who redshirted along with Ashley, caught the coaching staff's attention with a strong two weeks of practice leading up to the bowl game.
The center position remains wide open, but with Nick Brahms, Kaleb Kim and Tucker Brown all competing for the starting job, there's no shortage of capable options.
"We (as an offensive line) are the biggest question mark on the team right now, according to everyone," Brown said. "But I feel like we can definitely take that and use that as our competitive advantage and just turn that into not being the question mark and being the biggest advantage our team has.
"We definitely have the talent and the ability. Coach Grimes preaches on how we have the potential, but potential is only as far as you take it."
It's now up to Grimes to turn that potential into production.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf