Auburn DL Marcus Harris praises coaching staff for smooth transition: 'I’ve never met a coaching staff like this before'

It's no secret that head coach Hugh Freeze wanted to grab as many players he could through the transfer portal to add to Auburn's trenches.

Now, with several new faces across the d-line, fans should be excited about what could be one of the more impressive units on the team.

Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris spoke with the media Wednesday afternoon about the newcomers across the line.

"They're all looking great," Harris said. "Justin Rogers is looking good. Lawrence (Johnson) is looking good, Moses (Mosiah Nasili-Kite) looks good. Everybody's buying in and fitting into to the program good."

According to Harris, the offseason acquisitions have been vital for the future of the rotation.

"It’s the most depth we’ve had," Harris said "It’s the most we could produce as a unit, and we’ve come together as a unit. All of those guys bring different parts that we didn’t have on our defensive line from like size and physicality that we could use on the inner part of our d-line."

Harris was asked about fellow lineman Jeffrey M'ba and how he was progressing along this offseason. M'ba, who has yet to see serious playing time for the Tigers but expects a big upcoming season, recorded 7 total tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in 2022.

"I’ve seen him grow tremendously. When he came here he didn’t know anything at all, like how to line up in his stance or nothing," Harris said. "The jump he’s made to this year is tremendous. This offseason he just wants to work, ask questions about our defense - and the whole defense, not just the d-line. he’s just stepping up as a leader, too, like off the field and in the locked room trying to let everybody know like ‘hey, we’ve got to do the little small things to win.’ So he’s been stepping up both on and off the field."

When asked about the new coaching staff and the transition from the previous regime, Harris lit up.

"Oh, it has been easy as possible. They’ve tried to not put all of the stuff on us at one time. They’ve tried to spread it out," Harris said. "And they’re great people, all of the coaches are great people. I’ve never met a coaching staff like this before. Everybody’s genuine, and you can tell they care about you on and off the field. With this coaching staff, the transition has been easy because they embraced us and they let us know that they still care about us even though they’ve known coaches and a lot of players, they still care about us.

Harris now resides under the tutelage of new defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett, whom Harris describes as more "hands on" and has a better way of doing things.

"He’s more of a hands on coach. He’s a young coach, so he likes to get out there and show us how to do stuff," Harris said. "I personally feel like (the coach’s) way is better because I can see him doing it and get a better idea of it instead of just looking at tape sometimes, and also he’s a very vocal dude. He explains exactly what he wants and lets you know what it is. He’s like a - I always say a players coach, but he’s also a strict coach, because he asks us what we want and asks us for ideas to help us get better and he always looks for input from different faces."

Now up to 295 pounds, Harris looks to maintain his starting spot on the defensive line.

But, with the new additions to the room, this may be Auburn's most competitive offseason in the trenches in quite some time. Harris knows that and is accepting of the challenge.

"It’s going to be competitive. I mean that’s what you come here for," Harris said. "If you want to make it to the next level you’re going to have to compete. I never look at competition as bad or anything. Competition is going to bring out the best in everyone. If you’re really a dog, you want competition because you wanna know you’ve got someone else competing next to you. You’re not going to allow someone to just come and take your spot or come take over. He’s going to have to compete to be that guy. Competition is the best thing that could happen to this d-line room. Everybody knows nobody’s spot is secure. Everybody is competing."

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