Larry Porter will take over as Auburn's special teams coordinator when spring practice begins Thursday, a source confirms to AL.com.

Porter, who has served as Auburn's tight ends and H-backs coach for the last year, takes over the position from running back's coach Tim Horton, who was the Tigers' special teams coordinator last year following the departure of Scott Fountain.

247Sports was the first to report the change in roles.

Auburn's special teams struggled at times last season without Fountain. The Tigers had three field goals blocked, had trouble finding consistency in the punt game and were among the nation's worst kickoff coverage units, ranking last in the nation among 130 FBS teams while allowing 27.2 yards per kickoff return.

This season, Auburn will break in a new kicker in Anders Carlson -- the younger brother of SEC all-time leading scorer Daniel Carlson -- as well as a new long snapper in Billy Taylor and a new holder following the graduation of Tyler Stovall. Auburn could also have a new starting punter come fall after signing Aussie rules punter Arryn Siposs in the 2018 signing class.

James Crepea contributed to this report.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.