AUBURN NOTEBOOK: Still no rush on last assistants

There’s been seemingly no rush out of coach Gene Chizik to fill Auburn’s two vacant defensive assistant positions.

But as long as it results in the right fit, defensive coordinator Ted Roof said he has no problem waiting.

“It’s more important to get it right than getting it done for the sake of getting it done,” Roof said Thursday. “When it’s right, it’ll get finished.”

It’s been nearly a month since Chizik hired an assistant. Then, when he brought in offensive line coach Jeff Grimes from Colorado, there was only one vacancy to fill, which was assumed to be a defensive secondary coach of sorts.

But when linebackers coach James Willis abruptly bolted for a similar position at Alabama, Chizik, who has repeatedly said he has a tough time multi-tasking, was left with another morsel on his plate.

“There haven’t been any concrete decisions made yet,” Chizik said at his National Signing Day press conference. “But we certainly know the direction we’re going.”

Though certainly a hiccup in Chizik’s plan, Willis’ departure may allow him to get the most out of his nine allotted positions.

Roof and Willis both specialized in linebackers, so it appeared Roof would just be an overseer to the defense. Now, though, Chizik has the ability to let Roof supervise the linebackers and bring in two coaches whom he can divvy up between the secondary or defensive line at his discretion.

Roof said he and Chizik are “in the process of figuring all that out.”

“We’ve discussed a couple potential candidates,” Roof said. “Ultimately, he’s the decision-maker. He’s going to make a great decision. We’re going to finish this thing up and we’ll move forward.”

Luper named recruiting coordinator
Running backs coach Curtis Luper will quarterback Auburn’s recruiting efforts as the team’s recruiting coordinator, wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said Thursday.

Luper’s added title has yet to be officially acknowledged by the university.

Taylor said Luper will collect information from each member of Auburn’s coaching staff to assess the glaring areas of need heading into the 2010 recruiting season.

“I think some schools get in trouble and you’ll see them dip off because they’ll go and try to get the highest-ranked kid or just the highest-ranked player, regardless of position,” Taylor said. “And then you stack them up, you fall short somewhere else.”

Taylor said the coaches have not yet been assigned a specific recruiting area, but have been asked to submit a “wishlist.”

“We’ll put those together based off that and based off whatever we need to get covered,” Taylor said. “I think that’s smart rather than say, ‘Look, you’re going to have this. You’re going to have this,’ and don’t know who has relationships.”

Benton good to go, Taylor says
Taylor said Thursday that highly touted recruit DeAngelo Benton should be “fine,” as far as the Bastrop, La., wide receiver’s eligibility is concerned.

“DeAngelo didn’t get it done in time to come in in December, but it’s already done,” Taylor said. “So he’ll be fine.”

Benton failed to qualify academically at LSU in 2007 and 2008.

Taylor remained confident that Benton, formerly a five-star recruit according to Rivals.com, still had big-play capability.

“You don’t go to sleep a circle and wake up a square,” Taylor said. “If he could play ball, he can play ball.”

Injured players garner respect
Neither Taylor nor Roof delved into many specifics regarding current Auburn players Thursday, but both were adamantly impressed by the rehabbing efforts of two Tigers.

Taylor said wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis, who injured his knee on the opening kickoff to the 2008 season, “looks like he’s fine.”

“He’s got that big brace on that weighs as much as he does,” Taylor said. “He’s not as big as this bottle as it is, so he can’t afford too much extra weight. He’ll be another kid who will find out what he can handle.”

The 5-foot-8, 155-pound speedster should have no trouble receiving a hardship waiver from the NCAA and will retain all four years of eligibility.

Roof, meanwhile, said junior cornerback Aairon Savage, who tore up his right knee in fall practice and missed the entire 2008 season, is “working his rear end off to get back.”

“I’ve gained a lot of respect very quickly for him by the way he works — his attitude, his consistency,” Roof said. “If anybody can make it back, it’s going to be him. And I sure hope it’s him, because he was a good player before he got hurt.”

agribble@oanow.com | 737-2561

Read Andrew Gribble's blog here.