Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, offensive line coach Jake Thornton, and assistant offensive line coach Kendall Simmons had the arduous task of quickly rebuilding a depleted offensive line room.

The trio saw an issue with an offensive line with seven returning players after Nick Brahms, Austin Troxell, Brandon Council, and Alec Jackson ran out of eligibility. Freeze likes to carry 16 offensive linemen. Auburn needed at least four capable starters and several incoming freshmen to develop depth.

Before the advent of the transfer portal, this would’ve been a particularly problematic scenario. With the transfer portal and lots of work in recruiting, the Tigers added Gunnar Britton (Western Kentucky), Dillion Wade (Tulsa), Avery Jones (East Carolina), and junior college lineman Izavion Miller.

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Jeremiah Wright is the lone returning starter on the line. He believes that adding Wade, who played at Tulsa under former head coach and new Tigers’ offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, will help build teamwork since the center intimately knows what Montgomery does on offense.

“First of all, D-Wade is an incredible athlete, and I am enjoying getting to know him,” Wright said. “He helps us with the terminology and footwork. He’s been a blessing to our group.”

Tight ends coach Ben Aigamaua works closely with the offensive line since his tight ends also have several blocking responsibilities. He added some insight into the new recruiting philosophies in the transfer portal and NIL era.

“It’s very similar to the NFL, with the free agency and people moving everywhere,” Aigamaua said. “The terminology may differ, but the blocking scheme and the footwork may be the same. I think that’s where you’ve got to make sure that the guys that you recruit fit the mold of your program, fit the mold of your offense, so that when they do get here, it’s not, you know, you go from a pro-style type of run team to a spread, power type of run team, where you’ve got to make sure that the footwork all matches.”

Freeze remembers when college teams wanted offensive linemen to develop together as freshmen into playing by their sophomore or junior year. Winning teams had a constant rotation of developing big men who played in the trenches. Times are changing, and Freeze knows the portal means getting creative on finding quality pass protectors and run blockers.

“I think players by now if they’re realistic, they understand at this level (that) every year we’re trying to out-recruit you. Not many coaches will say that, but that’s the truth,” Freeze said. “You’ve got to compete every year to earn your time, and we’re going to try again next year to go find another even better one, But you still need all of them and forming them together when they’re competing for playing time and also trying to form a great team, that’s probably somewhat of a challenge for sure. But it’s something that we’re used to now.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group