Welcome to a new era on Auburn's defensive line

The Tigers are overhauling what they do in the trenches defensively — from the fresh faces on the staff and the roster to a different scheme.

DE Colby Wooden (Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics)

Moving from the eight-year tenure of Gus Malzahn to the new styles and schemes from Bryan Harsin should be a major transition for every aspect of Auburn football.

And while Harsin has an offensive background, the area that might look the most different moving forward is the Tigers’ defensive front.

For five seasons with Kevin Steele as the defensive coordinator, Auburn mostly ran what was a four-man defensive line — two tackles, one defensive end and a stand-up Buck edge rusher. The Buck was inherited from the switch to Will Muschamp’s defense in 2015, and while the position could make the defensive front alternate between 3-4 to 4-3, the Tigers primarily used the position as a defensive end who didn’t start plays with his hand in the dirt.

Before that, Auburn ran a 4-2-5 system under Ellis Johnson, even before the nickel defense became the widely used defensive set at all levels of football. The Gene Chizik and Tommy Tuberville eras were a…