Auburn enters its fifth year under head coach Gus Malzahn looking to improve upon its 8-5 record from a year ago. The Tigers hope to build upon a promising defense that turned out to be the team's strength in 2016, and the offense has high expectations under first-year coordinator Chip Lindsey and his revamped scheme that will expand the passing game.

Which 10 members of the 2017 team will prove to be the difference between a successful season or a disappointing one? AL.com delves into the topic as it unveils Auburn's 10 MVPs for the 2017 season.

6. Kevin Steele, defensive coordinator

The first non-player to crack our countdown is defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who becomes is the first returning defensive coordinator for Auburn since 2014. That continuity is a big reason why Steele checks in at No. 6 in our MVP series.

A year removed from engineering a drastic defensive turnaround on the Plains, Steele looks to build upon that success while at the same time approaching it like it's Year 1 all over again. Last season, Steele helped lead Auburn's defensive renaissance as the Tigers improved nearly across the board statistically.

Auburn improved against the run (from 81st nationally in 2015 to 27th last season), in total defense (71st in 2015 to 28th last year), in pass efficiency defense (31st to 22nd), on third downs (109th to 25th), in the red zone (15th to 11th) and in scoring defense, where Auburn saw its points per game drop from 26 points per game (54th nationally) to 17.1 points per game (seventh nationally).

Despite those numbers, and despite the fact that Auburn returns up to eight starters on defense, Steele said he and the rest of the defensive staff went back to square one. The reason? Steele understands the importance of having every player, regardless of class and experience, up to speed and at the standard he expects of the entire unit.

That was the goal this spring, as he continued to instill his identity in the defense, which is replacing key contributors Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams, Rudy Ford and Josh Holsey.

This year's group should continue to improve -- especially with an experienced secondary and linebacker corps -- which will only further take pressure off first-year offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey's revamped offense and help keep Auburn in every game it plays this fall.

"People say every team is different," Steele said in March. "That's not just something somebody throws out there lightly. It truly is different, and yes, you do have components of last year that are back that gives them experience, and a lot of that experience last year was good experience. But at the end of the day we have started all over."

Coming Monday: A sophomore on defense starts the second half of our countdown.