AUBURN | Champ Anthony knows what it takes to overcome the odds and exceed expectations.

He did it by spending a tough year at junior college after not having many options out of high school. He did it again by signing with Auburn just a couple of months before the start of fall practice and going on to play in every game last fall.

Less than a year later, Anthony finished spring practice as a likely starter at nickel and a burgeoning team leader. That leadership role is something Anthony takes very seriously.

“I do pride myself on being a leader,” said Anthony. “I feel like, if I can try to give the people on the team my mentality, and we can all be in one set mentality of hard work and you get out what you put in, and the team will progress a lot faster.

“You gotta kinda wait til you get on the field to really express those leadership qualities because people don’t listen to somebody who doesn’t understand what they’re going through. But as the time goes on and I gain more trust from the coaches, I’ll ultimately gain more trust from the players.”

Not surprisingly, Anthony is a player that AU’s coaching staff can rely on to do things the right way on and off the field.

“That’s another guy that’s trending as a leader,” said defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff. “He’s one of those guys that he’s gonna try to do 99 percent of things the right way. He plays with a lot of effort, very attentive.

“He’s one of those players I’ve looked at that’s really high production, low maintenance. I’m looking for him to step up and be one of the guys for us this year.”

Anthony worked mostly at nickel and safety this spring, starting at nickel in the A-Day game. Both safety and nickel require physical players, and Anthony has spent a lot of time since he arrived adding more size and strength to his 5-foot-11 frame.

He’s listed at 174 pounds on AU’s spring roaster.

“I came in and I gained 20 pounds with Coach Dom and his strength staff,” said Anthony. “That really helped a lot and I can feel it during this spring, it’s a lot easier playing at the weight that I am now than it was last year.

“You can play as fast as you want to, but in that sense, sometimes your weight does hold you back. I felt like I have a certain edge now that I’m stronger.”

Auburn wrapped up spring drills with last Saturday’s A-Day game.