Fountain out at AU

AUBURN | Scott Fountain, a long-time Auburn assistant who has served in a variety of roles during the past eight seasons, won't be retained for the 2017 season.

Gus Malzahn informed Fountain of his plans to replace him Monday night.

Fountain arrived at Auburn in 2009 to serve as coach Gene Chizik's director of player personnel. He was promoted to special teams coach and tight ends coach prior to the 2013 season after the sudden departure of Rich Bisaccia for a job with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Tigers' special teams thrived under Fountain from an individual perspective. Steven Clark was a three-time finalist for the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter. Daniel Carlson is a two-time finalist for the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top placekicker.

Auburn has been a low-risk, low-reward team in terms of punts and kickoffs during the past few years. Punters are instructed to angle kicks toward the sideline to avoid returns; Tigers' opponents have returned a grand total of 13 punts during the past two seasons combined. A league-high 73 percent of the team's kickoffs have gone for touchbacks during the past two seasons.

Tight ends generally aren't a significant element of the Tigers' offensive plan.

Fountain played a major role in Auburn's recruiting efforts during the past year. He was offensive tackle Calvin Ashley's primary liaison for three years — working diligently to keep Ashley committed despite an uptick in national relevance — and served as lead recruiter for six players the Tigers signed last week. That group included defensive end Markaviest Bryant, tight end John Samuel Shenker, defensive back Traivon Leonard, kicker Anders Carlson and defensive back Carlito Gonzalez.

Fountain signed a two-year contract extension during the summer of 2015 that pays him approximately $325,000 per season.