Auburn promoting defensive analyst to special teams coordinator

The Auburn Tigers are promoting from within to fill some open roles on the coaching staff. According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Auburn is promoting Roc Bellantoni to become the Tigers new outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

“Sources: #Auburn is promoting defensive analyst Roc Bellantoni to outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator,” Rittenberg tweeted. “He has coordinator experience (defensive or special teams) at Utah State, Washington State, Florida Atlantic, Buffalo and elsewhere.”

Auburn Live confirmed the news of Bellantoni’s promotion shortly after the report emerged.

Bellantoni began his coaching career in 1993 at the high school level. Since 1995, he has served in a number of defensive assistant roles across college football. Bellantoni has served as defensive coordinator at Drake, Eastern Illinois, Florida Atlantic, and Washington State. He has also been the special teams coordinator at at Buffalo and Utah State.

Auburn first hired Bellantoni as a defensive analyst ahead of the 2021 season. Bellantoni’s promotion comes after a number of changes to Auburn’s coaching staff since the end of last season.

How Bryan Harsin can right the ship at Auburn

Bryan Harsin’s revamped coaching staff is coming together at Auburn, but it comes after weeks of speculation surrounding his job security. Harsin will remain at Auburn, at least for this season, and now Bellantoni has filled a key role below him.

After a turbulent first season and full offseason at Auburn, Harsin has some work to do in order to turn things around. ESPN analyst Booger McFarland believes that some simple honesty is the best way for Harsin to move forward.

“I think the easiest way, Paul, is really simple,” McFarland told Finebaum. “You walk in your team meeting and you say, ‘Hey, guys, I made some mistakes. I did some things I probably shouldn’t have done.’

“You see, Paul, football is really just a microcosm of life, and we are a second-chance country in America. We’ve seen people do things way worse than what Bryan Harsin’s accused of being done and they’ve survived. So he’s got to walk into his team meeting room and regardless of whether he thinks he’s done something wrong or not, the perception is he has. So you walk into your team meeting [and] you say, ‘Hey guys, I have failed you. I have said the wrong things, I have talked to you the wrong way, I have treated you the wrong way. I apologize, I’ll do better.’”