HEALTHY, HAPPY JAKE HOLLAND READY TO COMPETE

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Over the past two football seasons, dealing with pain was an almost daily challenge for Jake Holland. The training room was his home away from home.

Holland, the only senior among Auburn’s linebackers, has dealt with broken bones, a high ankle sprain, a sprained neck, even a torn bicep and more. And he’s played on, missing just one game. Last season, he was fourth on the team in tackles with 73.

As Holland works toward his final Auburn season, he’s healthier than he’s been since he was a freshman, and he’s thrived in strength and conditioning coach Ryan Russell’s program. He’s reinvigorated and excited to be part of head coach Gus Malzahn’s “new day.”

“I’m really enjoying Coach Russell’s workout program,” Holland says. “I’ve seen improvements, and I’m healthy now. I’m really looking forward to this year.”

So many times since he became the starting middle linebacker in 2011, Holland has played at less than full-speed.

“There is definitely a lot of frustration there,” Holland says. “You work so hard to try to be successful. When you have to play so many snaps, your body just wears down. I pray this year I can stay healthy throughout the season. I think that’s going to happen with all the depth we have this year.”

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As Auburn has struggled on defense the past two seasons, Holland has been a lightning rod for criticism. He has been a favorite whipping boy on message boards. He shrugs it off with a laugh.

“Oh, yeah. I know I’ve been criticized,” Holland says. “When you are in a leadership position you are going to be criticized. You just have to expect that. I know I haven’t performed to the level that I expect of myself, but you can only do so much when you are injured.”

Holland says he stays away from message boards, but he hears about the criticism even when he doesn’t see it.

“There are guys that really enjoy talking about something and guys that really want to hate on somebody,” Holland says. I just try to stay away from it. To us, it’s comical. You’ll see comments here or there or sometimes people will even message me on social media. I’ll be like ‘Good Lord, you think you know what you are talking about, but you have no idea.’”

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“The eagerness is definitely there,” he says. “Last year was very rough, not just for the fans but us, too. We have worked very hard this summer just to get back out there and prove everybody wrong.”

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