AUBURN | While Auburn is preparing for the an exceptionally busy summer on the recruiting front, there’ll also be plenty of important work getting done on the practice fields.

The Tigers current players including the newest enrollees have the potential to make a lot of progress over the next two months.

“June’s going to be — we talked about June’s going to be a crazy month. We’re still focused on our players, even though we’re bringing in a lot of new faces and people that are going to be the future of our program, we still got to stay focused on our guys,” said Auburn coach Bryan Harsin.

“And July, fine-tune and really get into being prepared for August. I’ve always believed that summertime, I think it’s good that we can be out there as coaches for certain things. I like the fact that the football part is really on them, I really do. I think that’ where you develop your chemistry as a team, is letting those leaders and letting those guys that are in positions to drive the practices in the summer, let them go out there and do that.”

Harsin, Auburn’s first-year head coach, and his new staff put the team through 15 practices this spring. The veteran players will have a chance to teach the newcomers the basics, review what they’ve learned and even add to it as captain practices get underway in July.

“I think there's a good enough foundation right now that the players can go out there and run these practices and they can help each other; still communicate with their coaches and just develop themselves through the summer. And we need that,” said Harsin. “New players that just got here, some of those freshmen that were here in the spring, spring for them is always -- their eyes are that big. It's just, it goes fast. And they don't know left, right. They're trying to figure things out.

“It’ll slow down this summer. They’ll have a better understanding of what we’re doing, and then the new players coming in who haven’t been here, you’re going to count on those leaders like Owen (Pappoe) and guys that to pick these schemes up a little bit faster and do a good job preparing themselves to help lead these guys in the summertime.”

Since 2014, coaches have been allowed eight hours a week to work with the players. Up to two of those hours can be on film review or meetings. That allows the coaches to structure summer and build up to the start of preseason practice in August.

“We’ve got to maximize June and July,” said Harsin. “We got to maximize the summer, the practices, the player-run practices—all those things in order for us to really hit those checkmarks along those two months, to when we get in August. We got 25 practices that are going to go like that, and then we’re playing. Those 25 practices have to get us ready for the season. I’ve always felt that way.

“I think the summer’s no different. New faces coming in, and they’re going to have to go quick, so the guys who have been here for the short amount of time, they’re going to have to help those guys and lead them in the summer.”

Auburn opens the season against Akron in Jordan-Hare Stadium Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. CT.