AUBURN NOTEBOOK: New, heftier Ziemba putting bad season behind him

When it was time to eat this winter, Lee Ziemba went back for seconds, thirds and fourths.

The tall offensive lineman reported to camp 28 pounds heavier than what he was at the end of a woeful sophomore season. He weighed in at 308 pounds Tuesday and couldn’t be happier.

“I’m feeling a whole lot better,” Ziemba said. “I missed the power.”

Ziemba was one of a number of Auburn offensive linemen who struggled to adapt to Tony Franklin’s spread offense last season. After a strong freshmen campaign, Ziemba regressed, making a number of crucial missteps and uncharacteristic penalties.

Factor in a bum knee, which required offseason surgery, and Ziemba is ready to black out any memories of 2008.

“I can’t think about that,” Ziemba said. “I can’t be thinking about false starts or what techniques we used last year. This is a new season. I feel like I’m a new person.”

To become the shape he is today, Ziemba ate for two. He said he ate around 5,000 calories per day — only half of what Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, allegedly ate during his training — while mixing in upper-body heavy workouts.

“I made myself sick a few times,” said Ziemba, who added that it’s no sweat anymore.

Fannin’s plan
First running back, then wide receiver, then back to running back, now… H-back?

Mario Fannin has bounced all over the place in his time with the Tigers and it’s continued this spring, as the rising junior is now under the supervision of tight ends coach Jay Boulware.

“Right now, I really don’t have a set position,” Fannin said. “That’s something that we’re working on now.”

Fannin said Boulware told him he would play at one of the most versatile positions on the field.

“He says you’re a fullback and you can also go out wide and do stuff like that,” Fannin said.

Slade gets a look
Sophomore safety Mike Slade, who saw sparse action his redshirt freshman season, worked alongside Zac Etheridge and the first-team defense during portions of Thursday’s practice.

“I’m just trying to get a feel for everything and the new coaching staff and how they want us to practice,” Slade said. “I just want to help the team any way I can — special teams, defense — I just want to play.”

‘That frown’
Gene Chizik said there was plenty of sloppy play at Thursday’s practice, but wasn’t upset because he said that’s expected for this time of year.

After just his first day of practice as an Auburn coach, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker wasn’t so sympathetic.

“I woke up the next morning and I had that look on my face, that frown,” Rocker said. “My wife said, ’Hey, remember it was the first day. You can’t build a house in a day.’

“It takes work. But in this time a lot of times we want that microwave success. I understand that process, but everyday we’ve got to get better and approach practice with the right state of mind.”

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