Hugh Freeze put a part of the decision up to his current defensive line. Jeremy Garrett had left for the Jacksonville Jaguars, so Auburn was looking for a new coach for the men up front. There were plenty of good candidates with years of experience.

Auburn's defensive line only wanted one person: Vontrell King-Williams.

"I know I advocated for him specifically," Jayson Jones said. "I love Vontrell and his energy. Even last year, it was never about him. It was always about somebody else. You really saw that and he really meant that. When you see that as a player, you want that person as your coach. That's the reason why I advocated for him."

King-Williams was the choice, and when Freeze called him to announce the news, the new defensive line coach was emotional. It was a moment he had worked for since starting his coaching career as an intern at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2017. Rising the coaching ranks has been quick for the Chicago native, who first worked for Freeze at Liberty in 2020 after a stint at Eastern Michigan.

Now, he was an assistant coach in the SEC, and no one was happier than his players.

"I'm glad that Coach Freeze brought him back," Zykeivous Walker said. "With him being up under Coach JG last year, he got close with all the guys. And he knew what we could do, what we couldn't do — learned everyone in the room. So them bringing him back, it was big for the whole D-Line, because we didn't feel like we had to start over. We had a coach who already knew us, and knew what we were good at, what we wasn't good at. So it was pretty big for us."

Auburn's defensive line lost some production from last season, including a stalwart in Marcus Harris. Still, the Tigers are building talent and depth at the position with high school recruits and the transfer portal. Jones and Walker have been around the block on the Plains, so they know when they have something good.

"In the past, we didn't really have too much depth, but this year we're three, four deep at every position, so that gives everybody enough chances to breathe, and it gives everybody enough work," Jones said.

And it is King-Williams leading the charge for the guys in the trenches.

"At the end of the day, you want a coach that you feel like has your best interest," Walker said. "Someone that, you know, is going to put you in the right situations at the right time. Someone that's not going to tell you what you want to hear, but what that you need to hear. And I think Coach Vontrell was a big fit for that."

"I love him," Jones said. "I wouldn't want anybody else to coach me this year."