A new Tank: Bigsby embarks on junior season with 'different vibe'

AUBURN, Ala. – It was week three of the shortened COVID season in 2020. Auburn was hosting Arkansas in a division clash. Early in the second quarter, freshman Tank Bigsby looked like he was stopped for a short gain. But he broke away from two tacklers, bounced it outside, shed a third tackler and picked up 17 yards.

On the very next play, Bigsby – playing in his only third college game – broke two more tackles and got to the edge again where he lowered his shoulder and delivered a blow before going out of bounds.

It was clear then that this wasn’t your average freshman.

“When he was a freshman, the first couple times he got the ball you looked at him like, ‘Woah, this guy could be awesome,’” recalled Andy Staples of The Athletic.

Bigsby finished the day with 146 yards on 20 carries and helped lead Auburn to a 30-28 victory. It was the first of four 100-yard rushing performances that season for the SEC Freshman of the Year. Last year, he hit the century mark five times and went over 1,000 yards on the season.

And yet, as good as Bigsby has been his first two seasons at Auburn, the talk around the team is that he’s taken a gigantic step forward this offseason and has been one of the most improved players, if not the most improved player on the team.

“The kid has always had a great attitude,” Auburn running backs’ coach Carnell Williams said. “Always worked hard. Always showed up. Always a team guy. But sometimes guys who are really talented, they neglect the small things, the details of the game. I just think the man is intentional about the small things. He just has a different vibe about him.

“He’s getting older and starting to understand that if I’m going to do this for a long time and do this at a high level, there are lot of guys who are talented. What’s going to separate me? I think his understanding of that has gotten so much better.”

At SEC Media Days last month, Bigsby was one of three players to represent Auburn. He went through the gauntlet, going room to room and answering question after question. One of his last stops of the day was on the set of Marty & McGee for a sit-down interview. 

Bigsby crushed it. He talked about the buy-in from the players. He compared each Saturday in the fall to Christmas morning. He impressed the two co-hosts when describing his leadership style and how he likes to lead. He opened up about his ‘why’ and how he wants to provide for his family.

“I do what I’m doing so I can take care of my family and my mom,” Bigsby said. “That’s why I work so hard, so my future kids can grow up the way I want them to grow up and won’t have to worry about, ‘Where is the next meal coming from?’ Or ‘Where are my school shoes coming from?’ ‘Am I going to have a good Christmas?’

“That’s why I work so hard. Just so I can change the trajectory of my life and my family.”

“I do what I’m doing so I can take care of my family and my mom. That’s why I work so hard, so my family, my future kids can grow up the way I want them to grow up.”

Family is everything for @AuburnFootball RB @tank_bigsby. pic.twitter.com/59CLy238VH

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 9, 2022

For Marty Smith and Ryan McGee, they had interviewed players and coaches all week at SEC Media Days. But after sitting down with Bigsby on the last day, they both agreed it was the best interview they had done.

“My favorite part of my job is watching these guys evolve over the span of three, four, and because of COVID, five, six years,” McGee said. “Watching them evolve – not just player-wise, not just X's- and O's-wise – but literally going from being a kid to being a man.

“Tank, to me, is one of the great illustrations of that. You watch, not just the way he's played football and the way that he approaches football, but just talking with him. I think about chatting with him casually now versus even when I first met him, what two years ago – it's a different person. That is what college football is supposed to be. You're supposed to come in as a kid and leave as a grown adult. It's what college is supposed to be. And for me, Tank embodies that. I'm really excited.

"We all know Tank is good, but I think he's sneaky great.”

Nobody knows the challenge of trying to bring down Tank Bigsby better than his Auburn teammates. They have the privilege of doing it every single day in practice.

“He's a tank,” safety Donovan Kaufman said. “That's his name. I’ll put it like that.

“You have to sit up there and hit a guy every play, which I don't think a lot of people want to do,” Kaufman added. “Backs like that, you don't want to tackle him all game. So, you have to deal with that mentally and then you have to actually do it. It's definitely a task.”

“Tank is a powerful back,” linebacker Cam Riley said. “I’m glad we’ve got a back like Tank. It helps me out going into each week in SEC play. To me, he’s the best back in the country right now. He's powerful, he’s got speed. He’s got all the attributes you wish a back could have.”

Bigsby rushed for 834 yards in 10 games as a freshman in 2020. He rushed for 1,099 yards in 13 games last year. What’s that mean for this coming year? Could he flirt with 1,400 yards? No Auburn running back has gone over 1,400 yards in a season since Cameron Artis-Payne rushed for 1,608 yards in 2014.

It would certainly be a great goal to set for himself, but Bigsby isn’t worried about the individual numbers this season as much as he is the team success.

“I really don’t do goals,” he said. “I did have a goal this year. It’s to be the best version I can be for my team and be a leader for this team the best way I can. But goals like 1,000 yards? Nah. Just go out and play football and handle what happens. You put the work in, everything will handle itself.”

Bigsby has put the work in. Now it’s time to reap the rewards.