Like a football team before a big game, Auburn's Gus Malzahn held a walkthrough of sorts on Sunday in Atlanta, talking up the Tigers on SEC Nation.
To celebrate its new home for Media Days, the SEC added a Summerfest event Sunday in Centennial Olympic Park, with Auburn's coach discussing many of the topics he'll address on Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame.
A returning starting quarterback, coaching stability, new faces on the offensive line and in the backfield. Malzahn covered it all, starting with Jarrett Stidham.
"We're excited," Malzahn said. "He's a great leader. He's been through the year, and he's been through a season. He knows what to expect. He played his best ball against the best defenses. So high expectations. We're glad he's leading our team.
"He's really working on his pocket awareness. That's what he focused on in the offseason. And then protecting the football in the pocket. But everything else – he can make all the throws. He ran the ball effectively the second half of the season, which really made a big difference. He's hungry."
Malzahn said junior Kam Martin will start preseason camp as the lead running back, adding that Auburn will rely on multiple rushers.
"We feel like we have a bunch of young guys who can get the job done," he said. "Offensive line wise, we have a young group, but they're very talented. J.B. Grimes is back. We led the country in rushing in 2013. He was our offensive line coach. We've got a young, very talented offensive line group. I'm very excited about that group. I really feel that each game they're going to get better.
"Bottom line. We're going to run the football. To win in this league, you've got to be able to run the football effectively, and when people know you need to run."
Grimes and assistant coach Marcus Woodson, whom Malzahn hired when the NCAA allowed schools to add a 10th assistant, are the only additions to Auburn's coaching staff.
"Stability in our league at this time is very rare," Malzahn said. "We're a very stable staff. We've got everybody back but one coach. The recruiting, it's really starting to pay off as far as that goes. That's going to be a big part of our success moving forward is the stability of the coaching staff because you don't see it very much against the teams we play."
Returning for his third season as defensive coordinator, Kevin Steele's unit helped Auburn win the SEC Western Division championship in 2017.
"Kevin's a relationship guy," Malzahn said. "He gets really close to the players. They play extremely hard for him. He's really kept simple and let our guys play. He's done a super job and it really fits with what we're trying to do at Auburn."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer