Former Northview standout leaves Auburn football team

AUBURN — Auburn will hit the practice field with five new early enrollees this spring, but will be without four of its players from 2009, including former Northview standout linebacker Spencer Pybus.

Pybus is one of three players likely gone because of career-ending injuries, head coach Gene Chizik said Saturday. The others are linebacker Adam Herring and offensive lineman Vance Smith. Defensive end Cameron Henderson has left the team.

“Those are three great kids who absolutely love football and there’s nothing that tears them up more,” Chizik said of the injured players. “But you got to look at what your quality of life is going to be like 30 years from now. At the end of the day, that’s what you have to measure.”

Henderson and Pybus (concussion), a 2008 SEC all-freshman team member, did not play in 2009 and Smith saw minimal action in the first two games before going down with an unspecified injury.

Pybus suffered a concussion in the summer and never played after that. Last year, Pybus had 14 tackles, one for loss, in 12 games. He was an honorable mention all-state player his junior and senior seasons and a Dothan Eagle Super 12 member in 2007.

Herring, though, provided major contributions, serving as Auburn’s lone outside linebacker for a stretch while Eltoro Freeman worked through some personal issues. Herring, who had offseason surgery on his heel, wasn’t able to fully practice until August and constantly mentioned the heel injury as something that affected him every day.

Chizik touched on a number of other housekeeping issues during the five-minute session.

n Chizik said he had not been officially contacted by Louisiana Tech for permission to interview offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn for its head coaching vacancy as of Saturday afternoon.

Malzahn’s name quickly emerged on numerous Internet message boards after former coach Derek Dooley signed with Tennessee, but there has been no official indication that Louisiana Tech is interested in him. Malzahn was in attendance for Saturday’s basketball game.

Auburn and Ole Miss are the only two SEC teams not to have any turnover on their respective coaching staffs this offseason.

“Obviously my goal is to keep our coaching staff intact,” Chizik said. “We’ve been able to do that and I fully anticipate being able to do that … Obviously, there’s going to be hearsay and there’s going to be rumors and there’s going to be things of that nature. I fully anticipate having our staff back together.”

n All four of the players Chizik suspended before the Outback Bowl are back with the team and in his good graces, he said.

Quarterback Tyrik Rollison was suspended shortly after the regular season for an unspecified violation of team rules. H-backs John Douglas and Jason King were suspended in the wake of their respective arrests for driving under the influence. H-back Eric Smith was ruled academically ineligible at the beginning of bowl practice.

“They’re back in school. They’re on our football team,” Chizik said. “They’re working with our team. They’ve got a lot of work to do, just like the rest of us.”

n Safety Aairon Savage, who has missed the past two seasons with a torn ACL and a torn Achilles, respectively, has applied for a medical waiver to gain a sixth year of eligibility.

Chizik said he’s not sure how long he’ll have to wait to hear back from the NCAA. Former Auburn defensive tackle Tez Doolittle was granted a sixth year of eligibility for 2008 after tearing his Achilles.

“We’re really hoping we’re going to hear something soon,” Chizik said. “Aaron is very much on board wanting to come back here to play at Auburn, which speaks volumes about him as a person and speaks volumes for Auburn. Guys want to come back and be a part of this. For him, it’s something we really hope we can get done soon.”

n Chizik said his wife, Jonna, has been working with defensive tackle Mike Blanc to get in touch with his Haitian friends and family.

“Right now, there’s still just a lot of confusion there in terms of you know being able to contact people,” Chizik said. “It’s a very hard situation to deal with right now. My wife’s talked with these guys. We’re doing all we can to try to help and we’ve got some good ideas. It’s a tough situation for those guys.”