Q&A: Payton Thorne on being Auburn football’s starting QB, expectations, leadership and more
AUBURN — Michigan State transfer and new Auburn football starting quarterback Payton Thorne met the media on Wednesday for the first time since arriving on campus. Thorne was recently named the Tigers’ starting signal caller for the opener against UMass on September 2.
Head coach Hugh Freeze said Thorne always led the quarterback battle. However, “pressing” during the first scrimmage resulted in Freeze wanting to name Thorne the starter sooner rather than later. The move would hopefully relieve pressure and allow Thorne to return to operating with efficiency leading into the season opener.
Here’s a lengthy Q&A with Thorne on preparing for Auburn’s season opener, leadership, offensive expectations and much more.
Q: What was it like hearing Coach Freeze relay that you will be the starting QB?
Payton Thorne: It was good to hear that from coach. It wasn’t a long conversation. To hear that and get past the whole competition of everything, hearing about it and wondering about it. I’m always going to be competing and trying to play my best, but to know what group you’re going in practice, that definitely helps and is good for the mind.
Q: Were you pressing early in fall camp?
Thorne: Scrimmage one, I didn’t have a great day. I made a couple of mistakes that I wasn’t making in practice and hadn’t been doing, which was frustrating. It was a frustrating day. Second scrimmage, I played well and thought I played like I had been in practice. I’m excited that we’re done with scrimmages so I can be live again and the whistles aren’t blowing, sometimes I’m sacked and sometimes I’m not.
Q: Why did you choose Auburn?
Thorne: I’ll steer clear from talking about anything that happened at Michigan State. It was a quick thing that happened. If you had asked me before I got in the portal if I was transferring, I would have said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ There’s a few things that happened. When I entered the portal, talking with Coach Freeze and the coaches here, I thought it was a no-brainer to come here. I thought it was a great opportunity. It’s been great being down here.
I’m on like three months being down here, but I love it down here. It’s my kind if place. I love it down here.Everybody has been very welcoming, just good people. People are nicer down here. A lot of people say that. It feels like everybody is friendly. Everybody goes to church, which is what I believe in. It’s been great. Everybody has been very welcoming and it’s been fun.
Q: Talk about the offensive fit at Auburn…
Thorne: When I came down here on my visit, me and my dad were down here for like nine hours. We were watching film and talking through the offense, seeing the players we have down here. That was all really encouraging. He’s had success with all types of quarterbacks. Last year, they were down to their fourth-string quarterback and still winning games. Seeing that and the way he game plans, hearing about how he calls games. Then looking at Coach Montgomery and his track record — he had explosive offenses ranked in the top two in the country…it’s exciting for me to play for an offensive head coach and a lot of people devoted to quarterback development.
Q: Was Auburn’s recent offensive struggles any concern to you?
Thorne: I didn’t look at the offensive stats from last year. I heard about things they did with the old staff and the old team, but I wasn’t really focused on that. I was looking at Coach Freeze’s past and guys he’s worked with, same with Coach Montgomery. It seems like they were doing good stuff. That’s what I was focused on. I wasn’t focused on last year’s stats.
Q: Do you anticipate staying for one or two years?
Thorne: I didn’t think too much about that. I’m trying to play well and put myself in a situation where I have a decision at the end of the year. That means things went well for us as a team. When you win games, everything else takes care of itself. We have a team that can win games for sure.
Q: What’s your relationship been like with Coach Freeze?
Thorne: It’s been good. It’s different having an offensive head coach and having someone that’s called plays before. I think it’s been good. I expect coach to push me. That’s something he’s done and will continue to do. I love everything coach is preaching, I believe in what coach is preaching. I think our relationship will continue to grow and move in a positive direction.
Q: Are there advantages to coming from a “football family?”
Thorne: It’s a big advantage to grow up around it. I was riding the team bus with my dad when I was five, sitting watching film and in meetings when I didn’t know what was going on, I was just hearing it. I was taught at a young age, he played quarterback…gettin to have that wealth of knowledge, that’s definitely something I”m fortunate for and thankful for.
Q: How good is the running back room?
Thorne: I think our running back room is loaded. Jarquez is a special player. He’s an awesome dude. Damari is also a great guy. He has a unique set of skills. He can catch the ball, he’s quick, he gets in and out of his cuts really well. He’s just a great guy to be around. Brian Battie, he’s a running back of his own. His vision, sometimes he gets lost back there. These little windows, he can split through it. Then Jeremiah, he’s been making plays all fall. I think we have a great running back room.
Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne speaks with the media on August 23, 2023. (Photo by Justin Hokanson/Auburn Live)
Q: Do you think you’re more successful when the running game is dominant, like at Michigan State?
Thorne: I do believe we can run the football. Our offensive line definitely has that capability. They’ve shown that so far during the fall. I think if you look at my two years of playing, we ran the ball better two years ago than last year. A lot of things go into that. Offensively, what you can and can’t do depends on your personnel, really. We had different guys up front, a lot of things play into that. If you want to be straight about it, my two years, my stats were better when we ran the ball, but you can look at that a lot of different ways. I’m focused on executing our offense.
Q: How different is this Auburn offense than what you’ve run in the past?
Thorne: It’s different. Everyone talks about the RPO and that’s a big part of our offense. We did some RPO stuff at my last place, but not a ton. People want to call Michigan State pro-style, it’s more pro-style than what we run here, but the pros are changing, too. It’s more spread offense, more up-tempo, all those things. I’ve done a little of in the past, but it’s not a staple. Getting used to it, talking to coach and learning what he wants and what he’s looking for and had success with in the past — there’s differences and some similarities. I’m just trying to play well.
Q: Is there pressure to fit in when you’re a transfer quarterback?
Thorne: The biggest thing I wanted to do is be myself. It’s a different part of the country, different conference, but I think if you go into a new place and try to be something you’re not, everyone can tell. I wanted to come down here and do what I do, work hard, prove myself in workouts and get to know guys. I feel like I’ve been able to do that and build relationships.
Q: What was the competition like with Robby Ashford?
Thorne: I thought it was good, healthy competition. I don’t think it was anything that was toxic like sometimes quarterback competitions can be. I have respect for Robby. It was good competition.
Q: What do you expect Ashford’s role to be?
Thorne: That’s not up to me. I’m sure coach will figure that out. I’m going to leave that up to him.
Q: What do you think you do well that translates into this Auburn offense?
Thorne: I think I’m an accurate quarterback. I feel like when we go fast in my past, we were efficient doing that. With up-tempo stuff, that was a plus in my game the last two years. Seeing defenses, diagnosing defenses, seeing things quickly, that’s something you have to do in this offense and I’m able to do that. I’m trying to perfect coach’s offense.
Q: What’s your view on leadership?
Thorne: It goes back to being me. Some guys hear the word leadership and think they have to go yell at everybody or do something crazy. Leadership comes in different shapes and sizes. There’s different ways of doing it. Sometimes you do have to get onto guys, and sometimes you have to put your arm around a guy and whisper something to them. In terms of command, that comes back to knowing your stuff. You can’t command a room if you don’t know your stuff, know how hard you’re working and all that. Showing up every day, being consistent, while striving to be the best I can be. Leadership is different than command, in my eyes.
Q: Talk about this “book of faces” that you asked for in order to learn everybody’s name inside the Auburn football building?
Thorne: Nobody gave me advice to do that. Leadership, you can’t lead within an organization if you don’t know most people’s names. If you walk past someone in the hallway, I feel uncomfortable if I don’t know their name. I’d be lying if I said I knew everybody’s names already. It’s a weird feeling. I don’t like working with people if I don’t know their name. It’s disrespectful in some ways if you don’t know their name. I’m trying to get to know people and getting to know someone starts with their name.
I had asked that for that at Michigan State and that’s not something that was given to me. I’m not trying to hate on anybody, we just didn’t get around to it or didn’t have everyone’s pictures. I was there for four years, so I pretty much knew everybody’s name.
Q: Is there any “relief” in knowing the quarterback job is yours now?
Thorne: It’s not like you get the job and think you can relax and do nothing. You’re still playing and trying to play well. I’m focused on playing well for our team to win games, not so I can keep my job. I don’t think that’s, if you’re looking at it like that, why are you looking at it like that? You play to win. I’ll be working as hard as I’ve ever worked right now. There’s no relaxing, chilling. We have a big season ahead of us with a lot of great opponents.
Q: As a transfer player with potentially just one year on campus, how do you view your legacy?
Thorne: You always want to leave al legacy wherever you’re at and you want to leave a place better than you found it. Whether that’s sitting down and eating at a table or showing up to win football games. My focus is coming in and winning. There’s a lot of things that go into winning. When you win, people remember you. When you win a lot of games, people really remember you. You leave a legacy by doing things the right way and working hard.
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