Will Muschamp to make 'Buck' position premier, emphasize cover corners

AUBURN, Ala. — Will Muschamp has been on the job as Auburn's new defensive coordinator for a little more than a month.

Obviously, there will be changes schematically from what the Tigers used under Muschamp's predecessor, Ellis Johnson. The most pronounced difference will be going from the 4-2-5 base formation Auburn employed the past two years to a mix between the 3-4 and the 4-3 Muschamp fielded in his previous tenure as the Tigers' defensive coordinator in 2006-07.

What does this changeover mean for the players Auburn will begin recruiting to fit the defense?

First off, say goodbye to the "Star."

"You won't see Auburn recruiting those "Star"-type players anymore, which was a big part of Ellis Johnson's defense," said Bryan Matthews, a senior editor with AuburnSports.com, which is part of the Rivals.com family of websites. "You're going to see Auburn recruiting more cover guys at cornerback and safety as opposed to the previous staff, which was just going after bigger, taller guys — 6-(foot)-2, 6-(foot)-1 guys — that could play both corner and safety. Will is going to play a lot of man coverage. He wants guys that can do that and come up against the run."

While one hybrid spot is going away, Muschamp is bringing a new one with him: the "Buck."

A blend between defensive end and outside linebacker, where a player lines up each snap is dependent upon whether the team is in the 3-4 or 4-3.

The player that manned that spot at Florida the past two seasons was Dante Fowler. In 2013, he was a second-team All-SEC performer with a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss. He was even better last season, being named to the All-SEC first-team by the league's coaches after collecting 60 tackles — once again leading the Gators with 15 tackles for loss — and finishing with a team-best 8.5 sacks. In addition, he had 17 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

With those types of numbers, it's not surprising to hear Matthews say Muschamp will make it the marquee position on his unit.

"You're going to see Auburn make the "Buck" position sort of a premier recruiting position," he said. "It's the position that Carl Lawson will probably play and they'll recruit (top uncommitted defensive end) Byron Cowart to play."

That's good news for Lawson. It might not be good news for some of the players the Tigers have committed for 2015, though. Every time there's a coaching change, there's usually attrition in a team's incoming recruiting class, as some players look elsewhere, believing the new staff may not use them properly.

As Matthews tells it, everything comes down to the conversations between the coach and the recruit.

"When they speak to a new coach and they get good feedback from those guys and how they feel about how they fit, they'll usually stay," he said. "But sometimes they're looking for different types of players. I'm not ruling out that there could be some guys on (defense) in Auburn's current class that'll eventually move on to other schools."

This story was originally published January 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM.