One day after losing Dameyune Craig to LSU, Auburn has hired another receivers coach.
Arizona State running backs coach Kodi Burns, who was a former receiver and quarterback at Auburn, will be the next receivers coach on The Plains, Auburn announced Monday.
Burns’ hiring marks the fifth addition to the Auburn coaching staff since the end of the 2015 regular season, all of which had to be filled following coaches who left voluntarily.
“I’m really excited to be back home at Auburn,” Burns said. “I was fortunate to be a part of very successful teams at Auburn, and I look forward to helping the program be successful in the future. I appreciate coach Malzahn giving me this opportunity, and I can’t wait to rejoin a lot of familiar faces on the offensive staff. I’m ready to go to work.”
Burns played for the Tigers from 2007–10 and scored a touchdown in Auburn’s 22-19 win over Oregon in the 2010 BCS National Championship.
“We’re excited to welcome Kodi back to our program,” said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. “He was a wide receiver on our national championship team in 2010 and was on our staff in 2013 when we played in the national title game. He is very familiar with our system and understands what it takes to win championships here at Auburn. Kodi is a bright football mind who coached two 1,000-yard receivers last year. He will be a big asset to our program.”
Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson and linebackers coach Lance Thompson left for South Carolina. J.B. Grimes departed for Cincinnati, and Craig bolted to LSU on Sunday.
Burns was recruited as a dual-threat quarterback and saw some time at that position in 2007 and 2008 before converting to receiver in 2009. He was brought back as a graduate assistant in 2013 and became the Samford running backs coach in 2014.
Burns spent 2015 at the same position at Middle Tennessee State before being hired at Arizona State in January.
In fact, the only coaches still on the staff who also served the year before are coach Malzahn, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, special teams and tight ends coach Scott Fountain, running backs coach Tim Horton and defensive line coach Rodney Garner. Add in Ellis Johnson, Charlie Harbison and Melvin Smith from 2014, and eight coaches have either been fired or left voluntarily in Malzahn’s last two years at the helm.
Auburn, which finished 7-6 in 2015 capped by a win over Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl, can now enter spring practice with a full staff. The Tigers will also have a consensus top-10 recruiting class headlined by four wide receivers to help ease the transition into a revamped coaching staff.
Auburn opens the 2016 season by hosting national runner-up Clemson on Sept. 3, the first of five home games the Tigers play to start the season.
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