SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 21, 2026

Champ Anthony

Auburn Tigers

Press Conference

Q. Team goals are obviously at the top of your list. What individual goals are you aspiring for this year to help that team get better?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Of course, I've had two seasons where I haven't finished the whole season. So that's my biggest goal. I want to finish the whole season healthy, play good, and just allow myself to be the best version of myself for the team.

Q. Coming off two injuries, what are you hoping to accomplish this season that you weren't able to last season?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Like I said, just complete the full season and just be the ball player I know I can be. We have a great medical staff around us, surrounding us, so I'm just leaning on them.

Q. Coach Golesh has talked about your position versatility. Obviously you've played in a lot of different spots at Auburn. Where are you kind of feeling like you might fit in this secondary now that you're healthy and ready to go for fall camp, or is it just a matter of where Coach Durkin Derrick asks you to be?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Yeah, it's a week-by-week thing. Like I play where I'm needed that week. Different teams have different schemes and they run plays different ways. And I have a skill set to where I can play all five. I can play boundary, free, star and corner. So wherever I'm needed at that week, that's where I'll play.

Q. You've seen a lot of guys come through Auburn. That group that came in last year at DBs -- Newboy, Eric, Blake -- just how impressive have they been, and how much have you seen them kind take that step forward here at year two now that they got that season under their belt?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Yeah, it's not very often you see three freshmen get real burn, especially at DB. DB is say hard position and we had three freshmen that got real burn last year. Blake going down on third downs, AnQuon started a couple of games, and Eric started a couple games too. And those guys have just taken a real huge leap and they got stronger, bigger and faster. So I can't wait to see them guys succeed.

Q. What's Tennessee getting in Kayin Lee that you played with?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Yeah, a Hoover. Like he's a baller. K. Lee has a knack for the ball like it's not too many people. I don't know if people realize how hard it is to jump while running backwards. K. Lee, he high points the ball, he has a knack for the ball and he works hard. That's all he does is love ball.

So you're getting a hard worker who loves to ball. He is a smacker too. Like he hit it hard. Most corners don't want to come down and put their nose in it. Like, K. Lee, you gotta keep them out of it. Like, K. Lee, he's chill. You're getting a hard worker and hard hitter.

Q. I want to kind of go back to your recruitment when you're making the jump to Division I. What do you remember, Sam Houston was one of the schools there recruiting you, how I guess how much were they in the mix. What do you remember about that program?

CHAMP ANTHONY: So the coach that recruited me that juco, Coach Rocco, he was a special teams coordinator there. And he was our head coach, he was the head coach at Tyler Junior College. And so he had left right before I got there that summer.

And so I had a great season and he came that spring and he recruited me. And it was really good catching up to him. And I just got different offers and decided to go a different way, but it was really good to see him.

Q. As a DB, is there a specific receiver or team that you're most excited to line up against this season?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Not really. Like whoever steps in front of me, I'm excited to play. I just can't wait to show my skill and show scouts and show everybody what I can do.

Q. Coach Golesh told us last night that he thinks Gavin Jenkins is a future NFL guy and he was a guy who turned a lot of heads in the spring. What have you seen out of him being a guy who didn't play a ton last year at USF, but looks like he's going to have a chance to really get in the mix?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Yeah, he's a fast guy. He's pretty long. He has super long arms. He knows how to play his technique. He knows how to play his own way.

But he is a hard worker. All he does is work. All he knows is work. He's in there early. He's staying there late. He's a really hard worker. And with his natural ability and his work ethic. He's going to be somebody to watch out for the next few years.

Q. How do you see Deebo (phonetic) Atkins grow throughout last season and what makes him such a special player?

CHAMP ANTHONY: He's a football player. I know he's listed as a linebacker, but he's a real football player. I know third downs, I know what I'm getting with him. I know he's going to get that quarterback. And I know him and Elijah Melendez is gonna stop that run. Like Deebo, he's a real ball player.

Q. What's your journey been like when growing up in Texas, starting out at a junior college and then now making it into the SEC?

CHAMP ANTHONY: It's crazy, but I always knew I was going to be here. I always knew. In my heart of hearts I knew I was going to be playing on the biggest stage in college football and eventually playing in the NFL. I just thank God for allowing me to be able to make it and see through my dreams.

Q. Going up against Coach Golesh's offense, what are some of the specific challenges and difficulties that it presents maybe even that most people don't see?

CHAMP ANTHONY: The thing you see the most is tempo. It's very hard to play a tempo offense, especially when the tempo is ran the right way. They do it the right way.

But also the hardest quarterbacks are the ones that can run and throw. And we've got one with Byrum. Not only can he dissect defenses and throw it deep, but he's a real run threat on first down through fourth down. Like he's a real run threat -- short yardage, we need a big play, he's a playmaker.

So when you have a playmaker back there like that, then you've got Jeremiah Cobb in the backfield, it's very hard to just really want to understand where you want to put your focus at. Because if you want to put your focus on a run, we'll throw it behind you. If you want to put your focus on the pass we're going to run it right through you.

Q. Standing in the tunnel at Jordan-Hare Stadium. You look out there, you see the Eagle flying, you look on the sidelines, you see Bo Jackson, you see Charles Barkley, you still get goosebumps?

CHAMP ANTHONY: Oh, most definitely. Especially Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley, I love his shoes. Like, I had a pair of his shoes since I was young. Like, I love his shoes. Charles Barkley, and then man I didn't know how big he was. He's huge. And so then seeing Bo Jackson, he's a legend. Definitely get goosebumps.

Q. You go through a coaching transition, but a lot of the defense ends up sticking around. What were those conversations like with your team of kind of keeping that core defense together?

CHAMP ANTHONY: It was what everybody think it was. Like, Coach Durk stayed, so we stayed. Coach Durk, he's the heartbeat of our defense. Like, he's a guy, like, who motivates us day in and day out, no matter what, he's the same person, he's the same man. You gotta commemorate a man like that, because in college football you don't see a lot of real men like that. And man, it's fun playing for Coach Durk. Like it's fun, like, he calls players not plays. He calling on your number. It's a real sense of pride when he calling on my number. I know I gotta go execute and he gonna keep calling on that number. If you hot, you hot, man, and he keeps it going. So he puts you in a position to make the best plays, and that's what you can ask for out of a DC.

Q. Where does your nickname, The Pirate, come from? Are you going to go to the Buccaneers pirate ship while you're here in town --

CHAMP ANTHONY: I don't have enough time. But one of my friends from juco, he gave me that nickname because, man, I sail the seas. I do what I want. I take what I want. That's why I'm called The Pirate.

Q. You've been on the last couple teams, and you've been talked about as a leader, helping people, you know, teams stay together through some tough times. You get a new coach, get a reset, a lot of new guys. How much have you seen this team kind of grow together maybe from where it was the last few years over the summer? I know AG's talked about how much he's liked seeing you guys kind of come together over the summer.

CHAMP ANTHONY: I want to start by saying, talent has never been, like, a problem. You're in the SEC. Like, you're in the SEC, finding talent isn't hard. What's hard is getting that talent to grow together and bond together.

This year, I really feel like this is the closest team I've ever been with. We enjoy hanging out together. Like, we are all at the facility all day. Just love being around each other. We're at each other's houses all the time. This is a real tight-knit team and when you got a tight-knit team with a bunch of talent and a head coach who got some fire under him and a DC who's going to call the plays and an OC who gonna call the shots, you understand, that's all you can ask for.