April 3, 2018
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Any time you lose four of the five starters from your offensive line, it's going to be difficult to replace that group the following season, especially when all four of the players were seniors. You're looking for talent. You're looking for experience. And maybe more than anything, you're looking for new leadership.
Rising junior Prince Tega Wanogho has the talent. He has some experience, starting four games at left tackle last season. But he hasn't had to be a leader because he's played along so many veteran guys throughout this Auburn career.
Those veteran guys are gone, though, which means new offensive line coach J.B. Grimes is counting on Wanogho to step up and fill that void.
"I see myself making great improvements, so I feel like now is the right time to take the next step and be a leader for the younger guys coming up," Wanogho said.
Maybe it's a budding confidence that Wanogho is playing with this spring. Maybe it's the addition of Grimes as his new position coach. But whatever it is, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn says a light has come on recently for a player that has always been oozing with potential.
"Prince's ceiling is very high," Malzahn said after Saturday's scrimmage. "He's very talented. He does have experience, and he's a guy that we have challenged to take that next step. And this past week, he's been a different player. And not just a different player, but he's starting to be more vocal and starting to be more a leader. And that's what Coach Grimes is looking for. He's looking for leaders up front. I've been very encouraged with that."
"It's a gradual thing," added Wanogho. "I feel like it's the right time to take that step. We got a lot of young players, and I feel like it's the right time. I played last year, so they look up to me and I need to take that next step to lead them. I just need to be a leader out there."
Wanogho is becoming a football better player, too. The former defensive end would be the first one to tell you that he struggled with his hand placement and footwork and other technical issues the past two seasons at Auburn. After all, he didn't start playing football until his senior year in high school in 2014 ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" less than four years ago.
But with the help of Grimes, Wanogho is becoming more fundamentally sound.
"He's all about fundamentals and I think we need that," Wanogho said. "Everyone, all of the offensive lineman, we really need that. We need those fundamentals."
So as Auburn continues to piece together a new offensive line for this coming season, it's becoming more and more obvious that the Tigers have a 6-foot-7, 301-pound left tackle that can anchor the group and serve as one of the team leaders.
That light switch couldn't have come on at a better time for Wanogho.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf