How captain Keldric Faulk is leading Auburn post Hugh Freeze era: ‘We’re here to compete’

After the fallout with former coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn football team captain Keldric Faulk is not changing his leadership approach in the Tigers’ final three games.

With the team supporting interim head coach DJ Durkin, Faulk is taking the responsibility of keeping this team focused on remaining gelled together.

“Total responsibility. Like, I take total responsibility for anything and everything that happens. Me, [Champ Anthony], [Jeremiah Cobb], [Connor Lew], [Keyron Crawford] — we all look at this as our team,” Faulk said Tuesday after practice.

“So, I take full responsibility for everything that goes on. Everything that happened throughout the season. Man, just taking that responsibility in, gives me more motivation to go and keep that locker room together. And now I feel like that locker room is even more together than what is used to be,” Faulk added.

During Durkin’s press conference on Monday, he talked about the impact Faulk and Champ Anthony has on the locker room and how having a person like that lead the team made the coaching transition easier for the entire roster.

“He’s our hardest worker; he leads by example in everything he does. He’s one of the best teammates, or probably our best teammate on the field,” Anthony said. “He values every relationship he has with his teammates, so leading by example. And then being servant leaders, they’re not too big for anything, not too big for their teammates. They’re not going to ask their teammates to do anything they wouldn’t do themselves. When you have that, it makes things a lot easier, and guys fall in line. You can see already the way that has trickled down into some of the younger guys on the roster, and especially in their position.”

For Faulk, he looks at this final stretch of the season as an opportunity to compete and finish strong. However, to ensure everyone is on the same page he says it all starts with him whether he’s vocal about it or not.

“With the guys we have on staff and the guys we have in this locker room, we have been through so much adversity that I feel like we just take it day-by-day. I’m going to always lead, but I don’t feel like I have to be that over-the-top leader and have to have my voice heard every day or every second. My guys know the message. We’re still here to compete. We’re still here to finish the season out strong,” Faulk said.

Durkin confirmed that he will continue to call the plays on the defense with offensive coordinator Derrick Nix being the primary play caller on offense.

In Tuesday’s practice, Durkin was mainly on the defensive side for the majority of the media viewing period. Despite taking on dual responsibilities on game days now, Durkin is focused Durkin is focused on getting the entire team prepared for Vanderbilt.

“Our focus is 100 percent on Vanderbilt. We’re trying to go 1-0. Trying to go 1-0 this week, and that will take all of our focus, for sure. That’s a hard enough task on a normal basis,” Durkin said. Then you add in everything going on and distractions and all else, it will take all of us collectively to have our mind fluent on that. These players are counting on myself and our coaching staff to give them a plan that they can have success with come Saturday. And so that is the focus all the way,” Durkin said.

The Tigers game against Vanderbilt is set for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT. It will also be televised on the SEC Network.