Here’s how coach Gus Malzahn rated new Auburn quarterback Cord Sandberg’s practice
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn gave his first assessment of new quarterback Cord Sandberg, who starred in two sports at Manatee High in Bradenton, Florida, before embarking on a pro baseball career.
Sandberg committed and signed with Auburn last week after visiting the Tigers, LSU and North Carolina State. That followed his July 4 decision to end his pro baseball career, where he reached Double-A in the Phillies organization, to return to football.
On Sunday, Sandberg joined Auburn for his first practice.
“Pretty good,” Malzahn told 247 Sports on Sandberg’s performance. “He was a professional player. The ball comes out pretty natural. It’s just going to take him a little bit of time to get used to a bigger ball. He’s kind of a timing thrower-type deal anyways. For the first day, I thought he did a solid job.”
According to AL.com, Sandberg will practice in shorts before moving to shells when the rest of team goes to full pads on Tuesday.
“I think he had a good day so far,” wide receiver Darius Slayton told AL.com. “... I think he had a solid day. I saw him throw a couple of balls.”
Sandberg, a dual-threat quarterback, led Manatee to a state championship in 2011. The 23-year-old left-hander played under legendary high school head coach Joe Kinnan, who later became a special assistant to help usher in the Gulf Coast offense under Willie Taggart at USF.
Sandberg operated Manatee’s offense with efficiency. He never had a season with less than a 70 percent completion rate, and racked up more than 110 total touchdowns.
After graduating in 2013, Sandberg decided to pursue pro baseball after the Phillies drafted him in the third round, instead of playing college football under Dan Mullen at Mississippi State.
When deciding to return to football in 2018, Sandberg received scholarship offers and preferred walk-on statuses at various programs. Eventually, Auburn, LSU and N.C. State became his finalists, with Auburn being the school he chose to attend.
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This story was originally published August 6, 2018 at 12:06 PM.