Nick Marshall, Cassanova McKinzy among group at Navy SEALs leadership conference

HUNTSVILLE --Nick Marshall, Cassanova McKinzy, Gabe Wright, Sammie Coates, Alex Kozan, Corey Grant and Marcus Davis are among a group of Auburn players who went with strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell to San Diego for a leadership conference with the Navy SEALs this week.

"We had a group of nine of 10 that went out there for a leadership conference," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said during his Tiger Trek stop in Huntsville on Monday. "Real excited about it. We'll see how it goes."

Malzahn said the opportunity to send some of his players to work with the SEALs stemmed from a relationship with Capt. Tom Chaby, who once commanded SEAL Team 5 and spoke to the team at the start of fall camp.

Chaby actually spoke to both Auburn and Florida State before last season.

As useful as this week's training of "leadership development" will be to Auburn's players, it is also beneficial to Chaby, who heads the Preservation of the Force and Family Initiative, a program the military is using to better prepare special operations soldiers for battle.