What's a jack linebacker and why does Auburn football's defense under Ron Roberts have one?
AUBURN — After spending three years coaching the defensive line at Liberty, new Auburn football linebackers coach Josh Aldridge was promoted to be a co-defensive coordinator for the Flames in 2022. He also served as Liberty's interim head coach when Hugh Freeze left for Auburn.
Freeze ultimately opted to bring Aldridge with him to the Plains to be a part of his inaugural staff, but it required the 33-year-old assistant to take a step back from overseeing the entire defense, and rather focus on a single position group with the Tigers − the linebackers. Aldridge accepted, with one of the main reasons being his fascination with the defense Ron Roberts ran at Baylor.
"We played a really tough schedule last year at Liberty and I knew we needed to be aggressive and I switched a few things and the defense I studied was Baylor, actually," Aldridge told reporters Feb. 2. "I actually copy and pasted Baylor's defense basically and hired some guys who had ran that system. That's what we did.
"I had a pretty good idea that Coach (Freeze) was going to hire Coach Roberts. I mean, that really sealed the deal for me about wanting to come here and learn from him. He's one of the best minds in college football, and it's going to be really neat for me to be with him this year."
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Roberts, who was hired as Auburn's defensive coordinator in December, spent the past three seasons leading Baylor's defense. Aldridge said he appreciated watching how multifaceted the Bears were during Roberts' tenure in Waco, Texas: "He's got a lot of answers on how to attack people week to week based on the offense you face. ... You've got to have a big enough toolbox to have answers."
There's some uniqueness to Roberts' defense, too, including the use of a jack linebacker. Luckily for Aldridge, he should be well-versed in the scheme after emulating it at Liberty last season.
What is a jack linebacker?
Similar to what's been called an edge in previous systems at Auburn, a jack is essentially an outside linebacker whose main priority is to rush the passer, but also possesses the ability to drop into coverage when asked. It's up in the air who's going to be tabbed to take on that responsibility next season, but spring practice should bring some clarity.
The defense, which new defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett said is "built off 3-4 type personnel", is set to feature three down defensive linemen with the fourth player on the line of scrimmage being the jack.
"That gives us an ability to play three-down fronts and the ability to slide him down and play four-down fronts in the same package," Roberts said.
Other positions
The two linebackers in the middle of the field will be tabbed as a mike and a will, with some of the front runners to assume those roles for the Tigers in 2023 being Cam Riley, who had 16 tackles against Mercer last season, and newcomers Austin Keys and DeMario Tolan.
Others like Eugene Asante and Robert Woodyard Jr. could be in the mix, too.
"It seemed to me like watching the tape, (they) mainly had two guys who took the majority of all the snaps at linebacker last year," Aldridge said. "I'm not that way. I want to have about four or five that play."
Aldridge also mentioned the occasional use of a sam, a linebacker that would line up on the strong side of the formation.
How the front seven will be coached
The off-ball linebackers in the middle of the field will be coached by Aldridge. The outside linebackers/jack position will be headed by Roberts, and the down defensive linemen with their hands in the dirt will be Garrett's responsibility.
"(Assistant) Vontrell (King-Williams) will be working along with me," Garrett said. "We’ll have those inside guys and we’ll probably have them all as pass rushers once we get to our four-down world. We’ll be multiple up front, so anybody at the line of scrimmage, I’ll probably have my hands on them at some point.”
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: What's a jack linebacker and why does Auburn football defense have one?
