A 'star' in the making: Nick Ruffin shines early

AUBURN -- Nick Ruffin set the proverbial bar high.

A heralded four-star recruit out of St. Pius X in Duluth, Georgia, Ruffin was a U.S. Army All-American and among the top 20 defensive back prospects in last year's recruiting class.

Every player wants to contribute as a true freshman, but Ruffin is one of the few newcomers to make significant contributions immediately in his Auburn career, serving as a backup at "star" safety and playing as the middle safety in the "Cinco" package in all six games this season.

"Some of us kind of expect to be top tier. Every guy comes in as a true freshman and wants to be the best, Freshman All-American, the whole nine," said Ruffin, who had five tackles and two pass breakups. "I think when you have guys that have that mentality when they come in, they already understand what they're getting themselves into and it's not anything they didn't expect for themselves."

Recruited as a cornerback, the 6-foot 174 pound Ruffin was asked by the coaching staff to learn the "star" position at the start of fall camp. It was a somewhat unusual request given Auburn's depth at "star" with Robenson Therezie and at the time, Justin Garrett, and Ruffin's comparatively diminutive size for the role – Therezie and Garrett are 212 and 224 pounds, respectively.

"I was more than happy to accommodate them, anything that they needed," Ruffin said. "Anything that would have assisted in making us a better team, I was happy to do it."

Ruffin wasn't expecting much playing time early on, he was focused on learning the defense and his new position, which is far more physical inside the box than as a corner in coverage.

"Originally I just wanted to come in and be more of a student, learn under Cadillac Therezie and Justin Garrett at the time," he said. "That was really my main goal; was to learn as much as I could and if playing time presented itself, I would definitely do everything I could and play as hard as I could. … As a corner, you're more of a cover guy. You're dealing with guys more so your size. (At "star"), you're dealing with linemen, tight ends."

Ruffin was a fast learner; not unexpected from an engineering major with a brother who graduated from Brown.

"(Safeties coach Charlie) Harbison says that quite often he can hear him, he's making a lot of adjustments back there, talking and communicating," Auburn defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said. "Really, one of the more bright ones, picking up on things and getting us lined up."

The production came against Kansas State and Louisiana Tech, when Ruffin made two and three tackles, and then came his next learning experience.

During the first half against LSU, Ruffin was called for targeting and ejected for a high hit on a defenseless receiver. He says he's learned to aim for the "strike zone" moving forward.

Therezie, who Ruffin refers to as a "big brother," has helped guide him along the way.

"He's been amazing from day one," Ruffin said. "He's worked on my footwork. He worked on how I get off blocking, the techniques that we use here as opposed to the things I had a bad tendency to do prior."

Ruffin says his comfort level at "star" is "about an 8" on a 10-point scale and wants to use this open week to develop further at both "star" and the deep safety in the "Cinco" package, which requires him to make plays moving forward, as opposed to backpedalling as a corner.

There's no question Ruffin's learning curve won't be too steep.

"He's not playing like a true freshman," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's getting real confident and the thing that has impressed me is his tackling. He's a physical guy that doesn't mind sticking his nose in there.

"He's really smart too, so that definitely helps."