News and notes from the Auburn corners of the Internet

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

The Tiger have hired a new Chief Operating Officer for the AD. Marcy Girton is taking over for David Benedict, who left to be the AD at UConn.

OLYMPICS

To so many younger fans, he's just a commentator at every NBC swimming event. For those who know, Rowdy Gaines is an American, and Auburn, swimming legend. He still loves Auburn and is a huge ambassador for the school.

BASKETBALL

#FreeDanjel? More like #DanjelFree. Bruce Pearl confirmed that all of his players are eligible for this basketball season. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Tigers are able to put on the court this year.

GOLF

Four Tigers have qualified for the 116th United States Amateur field. It will be held at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan next week.

FOOTBALL

With the day off from practice, and therefore no practice reports, here's a look at some of the major story lines that have come up during the first five days of Fall Camp 2016. There's a bit of an update on one of those, as Kyle Davis is reportedly ahead of schedule on his rehab.

A few weeks back, AU_Jonesy put together an All-Time Auburn Tigers football team. Yesterday, he was back with Part 2 of the series. In this one, you have to create an All-Time team from Tigers who were never named to any All-American lists.

Last week I published our early Q&A with the Clemson site Shakin' the Southland. Yesterday, they published their questions and my answers over on their site.

Last week I linked the trash article by an AL.com writer on JUCOs and his serious reach to say it could be the downfall of Auburn. Phillip Marshall, as only he can, responds (though without ever bringing up this being a response) with a great look at Auburn and JUCOs in recent years. More often than not, the story is one of success, not dismissal and failure.

There was no practice, but that doesn't mean there aren't stories to link to! Yesterday was one of the only days during the entire year that Gus Malzahn lets the media meet with assistant coaches, so there's tons of good stories out there from those interviews.

Jeremiah Dinson is ahead of schedule in his rehab. That's excellent news. Dinson was a solid contributor before having his season ended on a call that was originally ruled targeting, overturned, and later admitted by the SEC head of officiating should have been targeting.

Tim Horton believes the running backs have a chance to be as good as Auburn has ever had while he's been on the Plains. It's hard to argue with coaches like Horton and Malzahn who have produced some serious running back success in their careers.

A linebacker who has garnered some serious praise so far is Deshaun Davis. First year linebacker coach Travis Williams says Davis has made the biggest jump from this time last year. Scroll down to the comments and see the second on on that article, too. That's from someone who very definitely (based on previous posts and confirmation by the mods who know who the poster is) has good inside info.

Read more on Jeff Holland's pursuit of being the second best pass rusher on the team (Robert Leff's words) behind Carl Lawson and where Rodney Garner thinks he stands in his sophomore campaign.

Marlon Davidson came up on the wrong side of Rodney Garner at one point over the summer, and he didn't much like how it ended. There's also a good nugget in that article on Byron Cowart and his progress.

Kodi Burns has a lot to teach these young wide receivers at Auburn. He may be uniquely suited to it, after all. Burns, a former QB, played wide receiver for Gus Malzahn and was a graduate assistant, as well. He knows the offense and what is required of the WRs first hand.

It's quite possible that Auburn's offensive line has the best tandem of guards in the nation. Those guards will be a huge part of determining how successful Auburn's running game is.