Storylines that will define Hugh Freeze's second spring practice with Auburn football

AUBURN — Auburn football came up short in 2023.

That's not really up for debate. The Tigers impressed on the recruiting front — the incoming freshman class is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 10 haul in the country — but consistently struggled between the white lines on Saturdays.

Coach Hugh Freeze even admitted it after Auburn fell in embarrassing fashion to Maryland in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30: "I don't think I did a very good job in a lot of areas this year," Freeze said. "... We can all say we need to improve our roster — and we've said that and we're working on that and we're going to do that — but even with the roster we had, I felt like we could've gotten more out of it I had done a better job."

Luckily for Freeze, the 2023 season is now history. He and the Tigers have a chance to redeem themselves in 2024, starting with spring practice from Feb. 27 to April 6.

Here are three storylines surrounding the program that will dominant airtime through A-Day.

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Quarterbacks, of course

Let's get the easy one out of the way: Will Payton Thorne be Auburn's starting quarterback for another season?

Freeze said in the same Music City Bowl news conference that the QB position was "wide open," and he added it would be "an interesting one" in spring practice. The competition between Thorne, redshirt sophomore Hank Brown, redshirt sophomore Holden Geriner and four-star freshman Walker White will likely bleed into the fall, though Freeze would like to have someone step up sooner than that in a perfect world.

So, who's calling plays?

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, as he usually does, did a bit of trolling when Freeze hired Derrick Nix to be his offensive coordinator/running backs coach at Auburn. Nix, who had spent the previous 16 seasons with the Rebels and was Kiffin's associate head coach/wide receivers coach, had a clause in his contract that stipulated he would owe Ole Miss a buyout if he took a college football job without "primary play-calling duties."

"Acknowledging the opportunity to become a first-time playcaller with full-time playcalling duties as offensive coordinator at Auburn University, we extend our sincere well-wishes to the Nix family in his new endeavor," Kiffin said in a statement. The issue, however, is ESPN's Chris Low reported in January that Freeze would be calling his own plays.

With all the confusion, Freeze didn't do much to clear it up at the Reese's Senior Bowl: “I think it’s too early (to tell)," he said when asked who will be calling plays.

New defensive staff, new system?

Staff changes weren't limited to the offensive side of the ball. Freeze hired DJ Durkin to replace Ron Roberts as his defensive coordinator, and he also added Charles Kelly to be a co-DC/safeties coach. Players such as senior linebacker Eugene Asante excelled and had career years under Roberts. Will Durkin's scheme change that? Will he mold his scheme around his personnel to prevent that from happening?

And how involved will Kelly be? An ace recruiter who's had a hand in landing dozens of blue-chip prospects throughout his career, Kelly should be an asset on the trail. Will he, as a former defensive back, have much of a say on how things are run in the secondary?

That seems to be the case, or at least that's the plan: “To know DJ’s speciality is the front, and Charles Kelly’s speciality is the backend, I feel really comfortable with those two guys," Freeze said Jan. 31.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football storylines to watch in upcoming spring practice