All five new offensive assistants under Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel participated in a Zoom call earlier this week, where they expressed their excitement in working for such a tradition-rich program and in building an attack that will be both entertaining and productive.
All five seemed genuine in their euphoria and gratification, but nobody has the recent weeks to prove it like Kodi Burns.
Burns this past December was the receivers coach at Auburn, his alma mater. He had been a receiver on the 2010 national championship team, and his five years as a Gus Malzahn assistant had yielded two Iron Bowl triumphs and the 2017 Southeastern Conference West Division title, but Malzahn was fired after a two-touchdown win at Mississippi State capped a rather bland 6-4 regular season.
“I’ve learned a lot since being in this league, and obviously this is the SEC for a reason,” Burns said. “It’s the best conference. You have the best players. It’s the best football played across the country, so being let go at Auburn was a little bit of a disappointment but not necessarily a shock, because you know the expectations that come with this league.”
Burns helped coach Auburn during its lackluster Citrus Bowl loss to Northwestern but wasn’t retained by new Tigers coach Bryan Harsin, though he found a landing spot a month ago with Heupel at the University of Central Florida. Of course, Heupel was just days away from being hired by the Volunteers, and Burns was happy to join him on a second occasion.