Coaching snapshot: Tommy Thigpen

TOMMY THIGPEN
Age: 38 (born 3/17/71)
College: B.A. from North Carolina, 1993 (political science)
Playing career: Signed with North Carolina in 1989. Played four years there, started three at linebacker. Earned All-ACC accolades three times. Played briefly in the NFL and World League.

Coaching career:
•Auburn, safeties (current)
•North Carolina, linebackers (2005-08)
•Illinois, defensive backs (2003) and linebackers (2004)
•Bowling Green, defensive backs and special teams (2001-02) **under Urban Meyer**
•Tennessee State, linebackers (2000)
•North Carolina, graduate assistant (1998-99)

Mentor:
Mack Brown. Though he's now in his 12th season at Texas, where he's enjoyed a lot of success, Brown spent nine years as North Carolina's coach beginning in 1988. Brown recruited Thigpen to UNC and played a pivotal role in Thigpen getting his coaching start with the Tar Heels.

Thigpen also credits Ron Case, who was a defensive assistant at UNC during Thigpen's days as a graduate assistant. Case favored a highly aggressive, man-to-man approach to secondary work.

Previous Auburn experience:
None.

Coaching philosophy:
Thigpen is a cerebral kind of coach. He's not a screamer. He doesn't coax effort from his players through tantrums. In fact, Thigpen may go five minutes without saying a word on the practice field.

That doesn't mean he's a wallflower. Thigpen, who still is in excellent shape, has no problem running alongside his players as they work through a drill. He may say something. He may not. Thigpen simply likes reminding the players that their work, even the mundane stuff, is being cataloged.

``To me, you lead by bringing your pads," Thigpen said during spring drills. ``I'm not into that rah-rah. I know a lot of people are. If you go out there and knock somebody out, the crowd will do all that for you."

His primary concern, as you can see through that quote, is making sure Auburn's safeties understand their administrative responsibilities. He believes shrewd recruiting and practice time will hone the physical end of things automatically. Teaching players how to think analytically in real time, he believes, is the difference between a good player and a great one.

Personality profile:
Trooper Taylor gets all the publicity for being Mr. Friendly -- nearly all of it deserved -- but Thigpen also has surplus congeniality. He's a happy guy. He smiles more than Taylor, in fact, and has no problem striking up conversations.

If I was a recruit, Thigpen is the guy I'd want as my primary contact.

With that said, he's not exactly outgoing. Thigpen isn't one to skip down the hall whistling Cameo's "Word Up." Thigpen is relatively quiet, but will open up quickly. He doesn't mince words. He'll assess players pretty evenly.

I haven't yet gotten a strong feel for Thigpen's contribution to the program's recruiting enterprise. My guess is that he plays a role similar to Tracy Rocker. They're both straightforward guys who provide little sheen with their opinions. That provides a useful change of pace to the unabashed optimism found with Taylor and offensive line coach Jeff Grimes. Promoting itself with an array of different personalities likely is playing a role in Auburn's recruiting renaissance.

Thigpen's hiring intrigued me. He is a '93 UNC grad. He was a successful and popular player there. He coached there for several years in two different stints. Why would he leave that and come to Auburn?

He hasn't fully addressed this on the record, but Thigpen has said Brown gave Chizik a sterling recommendation. Thigpen probably felt maxed out at UNC. Chizik agreed to let Thigpen coach a different position, provided a modest raise and will teach the neophyte -- Thigpen has only nine seasons of major-college experience -- another defensive approach.

Thigpen and Chizik have a lot in common. They're classically trained defensive guys. They're careful with their words. They're calm people who rarely show raw emotion. If Thigpen indeed was searching for another source of inspiration, following Brown's suggestion could pay major dividends.