Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn was the first to take the stand Monday to speak about the upcoming football season. He opened up with remarks about his theme for the 2015 season. It’s called “count on me” and that means players should be able to count on each other, on and off the field. Malzahn then went into his offense, saying that they only have four starters returning for this season, but that nonetheless there is a lot of young talent that will get better with every game.

Will Muschamp was the next topic of discussion. The former Florida head coach was hired in the offseason as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Coach Malzahn said that Muschamp is one of the greatest defensive minds in all of football, not just college. He added that having a former SEC head coach like Muschamp has really helped him in a lot of aspects of his game. Malzahn answered a question later, saying that Muschamp’s enthusiasm and energy has inspired all coaches and players to be better.

The questions then opened up for Malzahn. One of the first questions asked Malzahn if his offensive philosophy was going to change with Jeremy Johnson at the quarterback slot. Malzahn responded by saying that Johnson is a better runner than most people think, so the philosophy will still be the same with running being a priority. He added that Johnson can throw the football anywhere you need him to, so that should be a deadly weapon against all opponents.

Another question was brought up about the Tigers’ running game, and how losing key backs has set them back. Malzahn said that the losses are not going to impact them greatly, as they still have plenty of talent to go like Roc Thomas, Peyton Barber, and junior college transfer Jovon Robinson. He said that it will take time to figure out who the key back will be, but the job is still going to get done.

Malzahn talked about the SEC West and how it is without a doubt the toughest conference in college football. The West has defeated the East six years in a row and there’s just no competing with the talent that the West has. But with the toughness of Auburn’s schedule, it will be best to tread lightly. Auburn takes on Bobby Petrino‘s Louisville in Atlanta to open up the season. Malzahn knows how talented Petrino is as a coach and he knows that his players will have to give everything to win that game. Auburn takes on the LSU Tigers in Death Valley in 2015, where they have not won since 1999. Malzahn hopes that their victory over LSU last season will bring momentum into that game this year.

Gus Malzahn ended on a light note, talking about the new jumbotron that’s being introduced at Jordan-Hare this fall and how it will affect the players. He said that he will personally take advantage of the jumbotron and use it for replays. He added that it will only help the atmosphere at Jordan-Hare and he plans to use it at practice to get the team used to so that it will not be a distraction come opening day.