Jeffrey M’ba struggled to find himself during his first year at Auburn.

The Gabon native, who found his way to the Plains by way of France and then Independence Community College in Kansas, had a difficult time figuring out his role with his new team. He was rated as the No. 1 JUCO prospect in the country a year ago, but at Auburn he was still trying to find his niche.

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He wasn’t as big as Jayson Jones or as quick as Marcus Harris, the Tigers’ two starting defensive tackles, and he was considerably heavier than defensive end Colby Wooden, even more so when it came to edge Derick Hall. M’ba has an effervescent personality that lights up any room he walks into, and he’s unapologetically himself at all times, yet his first year at Auburn presented him with an identity crisis of sorts.

“The hardest part for me was to find who I was as a player,” M’ba said.

M’ba bounced between each of those positions along the defensive front last season and only saw the field in a limited capacity, appearing in nine games without any starts. He finished with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble on the season.

Following the coaching change and hiring of Hugh Freeze, which also brought about the addition of Ron Roberts as defensive coordinator and Jeremy Garrett as defensive line coach, M’ba seems to be finding himself this spring. He is settling in at defensive end in Roberts’ three-man front and finally feels at home.

“I feel like I’m something you don’t see often,” M’ba said. “I’m a guy that is huge but can move. I feel like D-end is for me. Every D-end you see is smaller than me. When you think about D-end in your head, you think about Myles Garrett or Rashan Gary. They are 280 (pounds), but I’m 310. I feel like at 310 I can be something we haven’t seen and really great. That’s what I’m trying to be.”

The shift to defensive end, where he has been able to focus on playing just one position, has been beneficial to M’ba’s development as a player. More than just finding comfort in his new structured role, M’ba feels he has the trust of Garrett, his third defensive line coach since signing at Auburn.

“Trust is earned,” Garrett said. “I tell the guys all the time: You’re going to make mistakes; mistakes will be made. What I’m more concerned about is are you willing to fix them, and are you willing to put in the effort? He’s willing to put the work in. He’s doing extra work on his own all the time, and he recognizes his mistakes and puts the work in to improve on that…. That’s trust. Just continue to earn that trust with him daily. It goes both ways: I tell him I’m going to earn your trust daily, you earn my trust daily. That’s how that works.”

M’ba was recruited to Auburn by Nick Eason, who left for Clemson a month after M’ba signed his letter of intent. The 6-foot-6, 307-pounder then spent last season working under Jimmy Brumbaugh before the staff overhaul in the offseason that brought Garrett to the Plains from Liberty, where his defensive line led the nation in tackles for loss (121) and finished third in sacks (45).

M’ba viewed the change as an opportunity to reset things for himself after a trying first year at Auburn. He likened last season to his first year in JUCO, when he struggled to adjust to going against bigger offensive linemen. It led to some anxiety and uneasy feelings whenever he prepared to take the practice field, worried that he wasn’t going to perform well.

“I can restart everything,” M’ba said. “…I can just work and be the player I want to be now. The older coaching staff just got away, and with this new staff, I can reboot everything and be the player I want to be.”

He wanted to be as comfortable on the field as he was off it, where his infectious personality — which describe as “crazy” — colorful hair and fashion-forward sensibilities took center stage.

“I’m just trying to be myself,” M’ba said. “Eight years ago I was in Africa, five years ago I was in France, and now I’m in the U.S. playing football in the SEC. So, obviously I’m going to be happy every day and thankful for everything I’ve got. I feel like people always say I’m laughing. I’m trying to make everybody be happy and understand it’s a struggle to be a football player. But we have so much to get from that.”

When Garrett arrived at Auburn this offseason, he began assessing the returning pieces he was inheriting in the defensive line room. As he evaluated M’ba and his skillset, he decided he wanted the former JUCO star to focus on one position instead of move about the line. After all, football is still fairly new to M’ba, and putting too much on his plate wasn’t going to optimize his development.

Garrett felt that kicking M’ba out to defensive end best suited his combination of size and speed.

“He’s a guy with some really good athletic ability, he’s very physical, and he’s fast,” Garrett said. “So the best combination of that is D-end — you’re a fast, physical guy, so I want you to really focus on that, that position, and get comfortable with that. That’s one thing we’ve been focusing on. He’s been getting better and improving now that he’s locked into that one position and trying to perfect his craft on that.”

As he has settled into his new spot at defensive end, M’ba has learned to hone the techniques necessary to be effective in that role, and it’s starting to become more natural to him. He’s no longer relying on just his strength and his speed; he’s utilizing his hands for leverage and to maneuver his way around bigger and faster players lined up in front of him.

He has finally found his identity as a player.

“At the beginning it was hard to adjust playing technique, doing everything the right way,” M’ba said. “I feel like my teammates really helped me to develop my game. Now I just try to destroy people.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.