Auburn football: Newly converted linebacker Daren Bates knows Arkansas State well

Tigers open 2010 season at home 7 p.m. Saturday against Arkansas State

By ANDY BITTER

abitter@ledger-enquirer.com

AUBURN, Ala. — When he was choosing which college to attend, there was a good chance Daren Bates would play in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sept. 4, 2010.

As fate would have it, he’ll be doing it as an Auburn linebacker instead of an Arkansas State safety.

Bates, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., who earned the Tigers’ starting right linebacker job after playing safety last year, originally committed to Arkansas State in January 2009.

“Most of my friends were going there,” said Bates, a two-way standout his senior season at Olive Branch (Miss.) High, which is 90 miles from Jonesboro, Ark., the Red Wolves’ home.

“I knew a bunch of them and played against them in high school. We were all going there.”

Not long after committing to the Sun Belt school, however, the SEC came calling. Alabama and Tennessee both made runs at him, although Bates, who had a previous relationship with Trooper Taylor when he was at Oklahoma State, ended up choosing Auburn.

“It’s crazy how I would be playing against Auburn this year and not Arkansas State,” he said. “Coach Troop talks about it all the time. It is a blessing.”

When he takes the field Saturday, it will be at a new position. Bates started 13 games at safety and made 70 tackles his first year, earning SEC All-Freshman honors. But he moved to linebacker in the offseason, part of Auburn’s long-term plan to get faster on defense.

With Zac Etheridge (neck), Aairon Savage (knee, Achilles’) and Mike McNeil (leg) returning to a suddenly crowded safety position and questions surrounding the reliability of Eltoro Freeman, the third starting linebacker last year, the move seemed natural.

At 5-foot-11, 212 pounds, Bates is similar to former Auburn and Shaw High standout Antarrious Williams, an undersized but speedy linebacker who thrived for the Tigers’ 2004 defense, which was coordinated by — guess who? — current Auburn head coach Gene Chizik.

“He’s home now,” Chizik said of Bates.

It helps that Bates has always had a linebacker’s mentality. He often looked for the knockout shot as a freshman, both a blessing and a curse as a safety. Outside linebacker, where his primary duty will be run support, seems like it suits him better.

“You have to be a real head-buster to be in the box,” Bates said. “You’ve got to take on a guy who’s 6-8, 6-9, 300 pounds. You’ve just got to be strong and not be fearful. Just go head first.”

Bates is still trying to get a complete handle on the position. He sat out the spring after offseason surgery for a torn rotator cuff, unable to resume upper body weight-lifting until May.

He spent the summer getting his strength back and learning everything he could about his new position.

Bates has two pretty good tutors. Fellow starting linebackers Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens have made 48 career starts.

“Anytime I have a question, they have an answer,” Bates said. “And it’s the right answer, so I know I can depend on them.”

The starting spot wasn’t handed to him. Bates beat out a host of players who have more experience at the outside position, including Freeman, sophomore Jonathan Evans and a pair of true freshmen who made the two-deep, Jessel Curry and Jawara White.

“He did a really nice job of studying that position and studying the game from that position,” Chizik said. “I think overall, it was really a pretty smooth transition for him.

“He outright won the job and we’re proud of him for that.”