Hudson Kaak enters his senior year at Auburn with a new coach in his corner and a clearer path to finish strong.
The 6-foot-1, 222-pound punter from Seymour, Australia was Auburn’s starter in 2025, a season defined by uneven results. The Tigers averaged 42.04 yards per punt, which ranked 14th among the SEC’s 16 teams. Even so, new special teams coordinator Jacob Bronowski isn’t backing away from Kaak - he’s leaning into what he thinks the senior can still become.
“I think he’s really, really talented,” Bronowski said. “He led the SEC, I think, in fair catches, top three in return yards allowed in this league is really special. So, I’m just excited to kind of build on that with him.”
Bronowski also pointed to Kaak’s value beyond the stat sheet.
“I can’t speak highly enough about how he is as a teammate, and really the sky’s going to be the limit this year. It’s exciting when you have a senior like him who’s obviously had some ebbs and flows in his career, starting at Oklahoma State, being here. It’s just exciting to see what he’s going to do.”
Kaak’s college journey began at Oklahoma State, where he spent his first two seasons and averaged 41.2 yards per punt. His career long is 54 yards, and he has placed 31 punts inside the 20.
He arrived in Stillwater through the ProKick Australia program and was ranked the No. 3 punter in the 2023 recruiting class by 247Sports.
Auburn added another Australian punter this offseason in freshman Max Bourke, who joins rising sophomore John McGuire in the room behind Kaak. Bronowski sees that mix as a chance to keep the position stable going forward.
“Then bringing over Max Bourke was an exciting deal, just because, again, you look at the room, you have a senior, you have John McGuire whose kind of - he’s a multiple, combo-type guy," Bronowski said. “You bring in a Max Bourke piece from Australia, then you have Hudson who can kind of groom him, help him through some of the struggles of early on that he’s going to go through.
I think it just sets you up for longevity in that room, which is really exciting to have. Not that we want to punt a whole lot.”
In Other News...
Alex Golesh Just Drew A Line Auburn Fans Will Notice
College footballs gambling crackdown has already forced plenty of programs to draw hard lines, and Auburns latest stance makes the message even clearer. Alex Golesh said his program would not bring back any player caught wagering on a sporting event, putting the Tigers squarely in the camp of zero tolerance as the sport keeps dealing with the fallout from betting-related scandals.
The timing matters because the issue has not stayed theoretical. Around the country, schools have had to navigate eligibility questions, discipline and public trust all at once, and Auburn is making sure there is no ambiguity about where it stands if a similar case ever lands on its doorstep. For a program trying to build stability, the policy is as much about protecting the locker room as it is about drawing a bright line for everyone watching. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Golesh Just Faced Auburns First Real Culture Test
Alex Golesh has wasted little time trying to define what Auburn football is supposed to look like under his watch, and the word he keeps circling back to is accountability. For a new coach inheriting a roster with plenty of moving parts, that means more than just demanding effort. It means building a room where players are expected to look out for one another, accept criticism and understand that selflessness is part of the job if the culture is going to change.
The challenge, of course, is that accountability is easier to preach than to prove, especially when a team is still learning how to trust itself. Golesh has talked about tough situations as the real test of whether those standards stick, and Auburn is already being asked to navigate one early off-field issue involving transfer edge rusher DaShawn Womack. However that is handled, it will say plenty about how quickly the Tigers can turn a familiar coaching message into something more durable. [Read more 🡒]
Cole Skinner Sees The Auburn Identity Fans Have Been Waiting On
Cole Skinner arrived at Auburn with a clear sense of what the Tigers want to be up front, and that matters as much as anything for a program trying to sharpen its identity. The offensive lineman spent his previous stop at South Florida working at multiple spots, then followed head coach Alex Golesh to Auburn for his final collegiate season, bringing the kind of versatility and experience that can help settle a line still taking shape.
What stands out most is how Skinner talks about the job in a tempo-driven, run-first offense. Auburn is trying to build an edge with physical play and consistency, and the line will have to set that tone from the start. Fall camp opens in August, and the competition there should tell a lot about which linemen are ready to turn that vision into something more than a talking point. [Read more 🡒]