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Auburn has made 2 significant additions to its defensive coach staff for the 2025 season.
Hugh Freeze announced on Wednesday the hiring of T.J. Rushing and Roc Bellantoni to his on-field staff. Rushing will coach safeties while Bellatoni will be in charge of outside linebackers at Auburn.
Both coaches have previous ties to the Tigers. Rushing was on Auburn’s support staff in 2024 as a special assistant to the head coach. Bellatoni previously coached at Auburn from 2021-22. More recently, Bellatoni spent the last 2 seasons as Florida Atlantic’s defensive coordinator.
“We’re excited to move T.J. back into an on-field role as well as welcome Roc back to the Plains,” Freeze said in a press release. “T.J. has a Super Bowl champion pedigree and is an outstanding coach who relates very well with our players. Roc has a wealth of knowledge and experienced a lot of success in three decades of coaching at various levels during his career.”
Auburn will be looking to take a big step forward defensively next season against the pass. Auburn’s pass defense efficiency rating ranked 8th in the SEC last season and 45th nationally. An improved pass rush would help significantly — the Tigers ranked tied for 13th amongst SEC teams in 2024 with just 68 tackles for loss this season.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
