Less than 24 hours after Auburn lost its wide receivers coach Dameyung Craig to LSU, it has found a new replacement. On Monday afternoon, Auburn officially named Kodi Burns as Craig's replacement. Burns comes to Auburn after spending just one month at Arizona State as the Sun Devils' running backs coach, where he was hired in January. Burns was at the receivers coach at Middle Tennessee State last season and was the running backs coach Samford in 2014. He was a graduate assistant for Malzahn at Arkansas State in 2012 and at Auburn in 2013. Burns signed with Auburn in 2007.
"We're excited to welcome Kodi back to our program," Malzahn said in an official statement. "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."
Burns is only 27 years old, so he's a young hire but it obviously makes more since given his connections with both Malzahn's offense and the Auburn program. During Burns' time as a player he played both quarterback and wide receiver. The biggest question mark with Burns would be with recruiting — the now-at-LSU Craig had immense success at both Auburn and Florida State. Burns will have a bit of an edge with him being so young, but with the departure of quality recruiter Travaris Robinson last December, recruiting will be important for Burns.
