AUBURN | It was 16 months ago that Matthew Hill lit up the A-Day game as a redshirt freshman, catching five passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He looked every bit a star in the making at wide receiver.
Hill may very well become a star at Auburn, but it won’t be as a receiver. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native has moved to defensive back for the start of his sophomore season.
“A lot of people recruited Matthew to play defense, so it was kind of one of those things that that’s what he wanted to do,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn explained. “I think he’s done some good things, and I think he’ll have a chance to help us on that side of the football. The thing about Matthew is he’s a good football player; he was one of our best special teams players last year and that usually equates to being a good defensive player too.”
Hill, 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, caught eight passes for 46 yards last fall including two for seven yards in the Iron Bowl. He also had two tackles on the kickoff coverage team, which was tied for third on the team.
"I feel like Matthew Hill is going to be a big contributor to the defense because he’s very athletic,” safety Smoke Monday said. “He can run. He has nice hips. I feel like he’s learning the playbook very well and I feel like he can help us in a big way this year.”
Hill has been working at both safety and cornerback as the Tigers try to build depth in a secondary that must replace four of five starters from last season.
“No one plays one position, so everybody's learning every position on the back end,” said Monday of AU’s secondary. “But Matthew Hill, he's been practicing at safety and corner, both. He's getting good reps at both. And I feel like he's really doing good to pick up where we left off last year. Because without key faces, a lot of things, a lot of pieces go into it, and he's picked it up really fast.”
After taking off Sunday and Monday, Auburn will return to practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. The Tigers will hold the second of four scheduled scrimmages on Saturday.
