Blake Countess steps right in for Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. -- How badly did Auburn's secondary need Blake Countess?

So badly that a competitor at his position helped sell him on Auburn as a landing place, and Josh Holsey started seeing his sacrifice pay off in voluntary summer workouts.

"I saw him make, like, two plays back to back in captains' practices," Holsey said. "I was like, 'He's really going to be able to come in and help right away with the lot that we had in spring.'

"His first day (in fall camp) was even great here. He had, like, three or four PBUs (pass breakups). His first day of camp was awesome."

Two practices into fall camp, Auburn's most picked-on unit in 2014 has help. Countess, the Michigan graduate transfer, enrolled over the summer, picking Auburn over Arizona, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior brings a pedigree as a former top 10 cornerback out of high school. He also brings experience from Michigan.

His transition should go seamlessly. He underwent spring practice under new Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, who coached five years at Florida -- the final two as Will Muschamp's defensive coordinator.

Muschamp was fired as

Florida's head coach after last season, and Auburn hired him to replace Ellis Johnson as defensive coordinator. Muschamp brought Travaris Robinson with him to coach defensive backs.

"The defense that I ran this spring at Michigan is the same defense that we run here," Countess said. "The terminology is a lot of the same stuff, and the learning curve is very small for me.

"Really, I've had the same amount of practices in this defense as the guys that were here have."

That was a factor in Countess choosing Auburn, and so was Auburn's need. The Tigers finished 2014 ranked 68th in Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards allowed per game (230.1).

Also, a new defensive staff meant roster turnover. Five players in the secondary have left the program since last season, and nine scholarship defensive backs remained on the roster before Countess transferred. All-SEC cornerback Jonathan Jones (foot) and backup T.J. Davis (ACL) missed spring practice time.

Auburn's coaches had an easy sell with Countess.

"The coaches were pretty straight-forward on my visit," he said. "They were a new staff here on defense, so coming in and going through the spring, they said there wasn't a guy who really stood out."

Countess also consulted current Auburn players, including linebacker Kris Frost. They played together in the Army All-American Game.

Holsey, who is competing with Countess for playing time, was the player most directly involved in persuading Countess.

"Josh Holsey reached out to me before I even came on my visit, just to see where my head was," Countess said. "He kept it pretty real, too.

"Little things like that are what gave Auburn the advantage when I was making my decision, and I'm happy I made the right decision."

What did Holsey tell Countess?

" 'We need help,' " Countess said recalled. " 'I'd love to play with you. We have no depth right now. We have three freshmen coming in, and we have three freshmen coming in,' and that was the extent of it.

"Hearing it from a player is much different from hearing it from a coach."

Holsey said helping Auburn land Countess was a no-brainer.

"It's just competition," he said. "That's all this game is is competition. The best man gets the spot.

"But we're just really all here for the same common goal, and that's to win the national championship."

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Blake Countess steps right in for Auburn ."