Auburn’s first full-pads practice of fall camp on Saturday gave Kodi Burns exactly the kind of look he wants from his wide receiver room.
The Tigers closed out the opening week of camp in full gear, and Burns made it clear after practice that the physical edge he’s demanding is not optional. As the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator, he tied that approach directly to what he believes Auburn football should look like.
“You guys know me at this point, man. I’m all about physicality, like that hard-nosed Auburn football,” Burns said after Saturday’s practice.
“We got to get back to that. And if you’re going to play for me, that matters, right?
It matters when you turn on the tape and you see the perimeter, receivers, and tight ends blocking. That’s when big plays happen, right?
“Like, you get here at this level in the SEC at Auburn because you can catch the ball. But everybody can catch the ball at this level.
Everybody’s talented. You win in the margins.
To me, the margins are guys on the perimeter, blocking being a dog and making plays on the perimeter to help the running backs. And oh, by the way we have a dual threat quarterback too.”
That message has already resonated with South Florida transfer Keshaun Singleton, who said earlier this week that he enjoys the dirty work just as much as the catches.
“I love blocking. All of them try to troll and say I’m a tight end,” Singleton said on Thursday. “But I just grew up always wanting to block somebody and putting my hands on someone else.”
Sophomore Jeremiah Koger also pointed to Burns’ style as part of what has helped him settle in and become more steady since arriving at Auburn from South Florida.
“Having coaches that believe in you is probably one of the best things because the more the coaches talk to you, you know that he believes in you, and you know you’ve got to push harder,” Koger said. “Starting from the beginning you’ve got to want it within yourself, but seeing that a coach wants it for you, it makes you want to go even harder because you’ve got people believing in you and the team is depending on you, so you know you’ve got things to do.”
Auburn will be back on the field next Tuesday as fall camp moves into its second week.
In Other News...
Kodi Burns Is Sending A Clear Message About Auburns New Receivers
Auburns 2026 receiver room is taking shape around experience, and it starts with the transfer-heavy group coming in from South Florida. Chas Nimrod, Keshaun Singleton, Jeremiah Koger and Christian Neptune are part of a five-player influx from USF, giving the Tigers a collection of wideouts who have already shown they can produce together and adapt to a college offense.
For a program trying to raise its passing-game ceiling in the SEC, that kind of familiarity matters, and wide receivers coach Kodi Burns sounds comfortable with where the room stands. His confidence in the group suggests Auburn sees these newcomers as more than depth pieces, but the real test will come once they have to translate that USF production against the week-to-week speed and physicality of SEC defenses. [Read more 🡒]
Cam Coleman Is Giving Auburn Fans A Painful Texas Reminder
Cam Colemans move from Auburn to Texas after his sophomore season was always going to linger in the background for Tigers fans, and a viral clip from Longhorns fall camp only sharpened that feeling. The former five-star wide receiver flashed the kind of talent that made him such a coveted recruit in the first place, making a striking one-handed catch that quickly spread across social media and drew attention from around the sport.
For Auburn supporters, the painful part is less the highlight itself than the reminder of what Coleman can look like when everything comes together. Coleman has already said Texas felt like the right fit for him, and he has been building chemistry with Arch Manning in practice, which only adds to the sense that he may be settling in quickly with his new team while Auburn watches from afar. [Read more 🡒]
Keshaun Singleton Sees Something Building In Auburns New Offense
Early in fall camp, Keshaun Singleton has already come away sounding encouraged by what Auburn is putting together on offense. The wide receiver pointed to the growing chemistry with quarterback Byrum Brown and the steady hand of receivers coach Kodi Burns, saying the group is building off the familiarity it developed in spring practices as Alex Golesh installs his system.
Singleton also sees his own role fitting neatly into the way this offense wants to play. He described himself as a physical receiver who takes pride in doing the dirty work, especially as a blocker, and that kind of buy-in can matter just as much as timing routes or clean throws when a new offense is trying to take shape in camp. [Read more 🡒]