T.J. Finley is not satisfied with just being the starting quarterback
Since he arrived on Auburn’s campus as a transfer student-athlete from rival LSU, quarterback T.J. Finley has had goals of winning three achievements.
Win the starting quarterback job, win an SEC Championship, and win a National Championship.
He has officially crossed one item off the list, as he was named Auburn’s starting quarterback ahead of the season opener against Mercer on Saturday night.
Now that he has won the starting job, he knows that it is just a small stepping stone on the path to achieving greater goals.
“I didn’t come here just to win a starting job. I came here to lead this team and win an SEC championship and a national championship,” Finley said during Monday’s press conference. “As soon as I found out the news yesterday, my dad actually punched me in the chest and told me, ‘Son, the job isn’t done. You can be happy now that you won the job and that it’s released, but the job isn’t done.’ I plan on doing my best to lead this team to an SEC championship and a national championship.”
Finley was technically the incumbent in the starting quarterback race after taking over for the final three games of the 2021 season, but with the addition of Robby Ashford and Zach Calzada from the transfer portal, he was hit with the challenge of showcasing his unique qualities in an effort to create separation.
He did just that, not only by doing the right things on the practice field but by continuing to improve off it as well.
“I’m a big guy, so just following through on my release and being pinpoint accurate on most of my throws and really dissecting the offense and meeting with Coach Kiesau and Coach Harsin on what the little things are what we want to accomplish this season to take this offense to the next level,” Finley said. “My maturity has allowed me to get to that level within the offense to where I understand every aspect of the offense. I understand what we want to do on first-and-10, second-and-7, or more.”
Finley admittedly said that he was not mentally prepared to take over the offense for the final three games of last season following Bo Nix’s ankle injury. But now that he has his coach’s trust and has worked hard to fix issues from last season, Finley enters the 2022 campaign with newfound confidence.
“When your head coach tells you that you’re the guy we’re rolling the carpet out with, it definitely brings a level of confidence that nobody wants to see later in the season,” Finley said. “I did some observations after the season, and mentally I wasn’t where I needed to be to lead this team to finish the season out strong. But I strongly believe I’m there this year.”
Finley appeared in nine games last season for Auburn. He completed 70 passes for 827 yards and six touchdowns while throwing only one interception.
