Chizik speaks ... early

Hey everyone. Here is a closed-door run with Your Head Coach.

• On his summer: ``We were busy with a lot of camps. Recruiting is an op-going process. We've had a ton of recruits coming through. We've had a very busy summer."
  
  
• "We're extremely, extremely excited about August 4."
  
  
• "The majority of our football team have never had ... the same coordinator twice. We were able to keep the continuity of our staff, which was a priority for me. A lot of teams weren't able to do that. We know the players; the players know us. This time last year, we were trying to break the huddle and learn what our team was."
  
  
• On the new guys: ``I met with all the freshmen yesterday. The message was: We recruited you guys and we expect you to play. If you prove to me that you can't, we'll proceed form there."
  
  
• On Zac Etheridge: ``He's very blessed. It's been a journey. A lot of ups and downs. We're going to take this one step at a time. We're going to be very prudent. He has a high level of respect from his teammates. It was big for this team. We'll always be on constant consultation (with the doctors). It will always be hand-in-hand with our medical staff."
  
  
• On almost everyone qualifying: ``That's a rarity. We're looking for the right guy. It was a highly ranked class on paper. We know that. What we're excited about is that they're student-athletes. They've all been doing really, really well this summer. Hopefully, that's the way it's going to be every year."
  
  
• On being near the 85 limit: "We're really close. We're not quite there yet. We brought in 30 and we're still not at 85. We'll be losing a class of 20+ seniors. We have a small class behind him. Next year, we'll be in that same situation where we sign 25 again. We need multiple years like this."
  
  
• On Aairon Savage: "We brought him (to Media Days) because he's a great story. Aairon has a very special place in my heart because of what he's been through."
  
  
• On linebackers: "We'll want to set our three guys in there and say: These are the three we'll play. Last year, it was getting real challenging going two deep. It was a revolving door. We're hoping it won't be like that. You don't know how it unfolds in this league. We're not out of the woods when it comes to depth. We have young guys."
  
  
• On agents: "Our compliance staff ... do a great job of agent education. We've taken extra measures with outside people coming to talk with our guys. We're probably not any different than anyone else. A lot of this has to go back on the young guy. He's got to have an allegiance ... to his university. If they know right from wrong and they choose wrong, they don't really have an allegiance. You have to look at the young man. They know right from wrong."
  
  
• More on that: ``This is not a new problem. It's an ongoing issue that everyone is aware of."
  
  
• On meeting with fans and gauging expectations: "It's been awesome going around talking to all our fans. I know there's a sense of excitement. It seems like to me an extreme sense of excitement ... in terms of how they feel about the future of Auburn football. I think it's rightly so. I'm glad the Auburn people have something to be excited about. Obviously, we have to go on the field and give them something to be excited about."
  
  
• Can Auburn get to Atlanta? ``If you have half the penalties we had at critical times, we win more games. It's that simple. It's a consistency issue. I've been on undefeated teams. It's team chemistry. It's how well your team comes together. There are times in that season where there's the one time when it changes this season. Maybe it's that one loss. Our team changed today. There's a lot of potential variables."