Burns spent last season as the wide receivers coach for Tennessee.
He started his career at Auburn as a player from 2007 to 2010 and won a national championship under Gene Chizik.
He caught 16 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in his time at Auburn. He also ran for 799 yards and 14 touchdowns on 214 carries.
After his playing career ended, he followed Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State and became a graduate assistant. Burns joined Auburn’s staff as a graduate assistant before returning in 2016 as co-offensive coordinator and to coach the wide receivers. In 2019 he was promoted to passing game coordinator.
In his time at Auburn, he coached future NFL receivers Darius Slayton, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz. When Auburn moved on from Malzahn, Burns was not retained and wound up with the Tennessee Vols as the wide receivers coach.
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Dennis Allen’s search for new assistant coaches took an unexpected turn on Monday, when former Tennessee wide receivers coach Kodi Burns accepted the same position with the New Orleans Saints. It’s an interesting move that goes against the past additions Allen made to his staff — Burns doesn’t have any real connections with the previous Sean Payton regime, having exclusively coached at the college level before.
He’s also very young for an NFL position coach at just 33, compared to other recent hires like offensive line coach Doug Marrone (57), Allen himself (49), and retained offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael (50), who returned to the role after initially choosing to step down. It’s an interesting dynamic, but that youth has been an asset for Burns so far. Let’s get to know him a bit better:
Sources: University of Tennessee WR coach Kodi Burns has accepted the New Orleans Saints wide receivers job. Burns is a former Auburn player who has also coached at Middle Tennessee, Arizona State and Auburn.
This is exciting: the New Orleans Saints are hiring Tennessee Volunteers wide receivers coach Kodi Burns for the same position on Dennis Allen’s coaching staff, as first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Just 33 years old, Burns spent four years with the Auburn Tigers before moving to Tennessee in 2021, with previous stops at Samford, Middle Tennessee, and Arizona State.
And he’s a really intriguing addition for New Orleans. Burns is a former player himself — he was college teammates with Cam Newton at Auburn — and that has done a lot to help him connect with young players. But he’s also handled big responsibilities at Auburn on Gus Malzahn’s staff, coaching the receivers while also handling duties as passing game coordinator and co-offensive coordinator.
So he’s a smart young coach with a reputation for recruiting and developing talent. That’s a big get for addressing maybe the shakiest position group on the roster, where the Saints are putting a lot of pressure on Michael Thomas to return to form after he missed most of two years with an injury. Bringing in Burns’ fresh perspective to work with ascending players like Deonte Harty and Marquez Callaway could be big.
He’s certainly got big shoes to fill. Burns will be replacing longtime receivers coach Curtis Johnson, who was let go upon Allen’s promotion to head coach. Pete Carmichael was retained as offensive coordinator but he’ll be working closely with Burns in scouting, drafting, and developing receivers. The Saints still need to figure out their future at quarterback, but this is a good start to tackling one of their other highest priorities right now.
Burns will serve as the Saints’ wide receivers coach in 2022, according to ESPN.
Burns came to Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season, joining head coach Josh Heupel’s first coaching staff with the Vols.
He served as Auburn’s co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2016-20. From 2019-20, he was also the Tigers’ passing game coordinator.
Burns came to Auburn after serving as running backs coach at Arizona State (2016), Middle Tennessee State’s wide receivers coach (2015), overseeing Samford’s running backs (2014) and was a graduate assistant at Auburn (2013) and Arkansas State (2012).
Burns played quarterback and wide receiver at Auburn from 2007-10, earning four varsity letters.
Lashlee served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn from 2013-16. Tennessee’s wide receivers coach Kodi Burns served as a graduate assistant at Auburn under Lashlee. Lashlee served as a graduate assistant during the 2009 and 2010 seasons when Burns played for the Tigers.
First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed Burns on his staff in October.
“I actually recruited Kodi out of high school,” Heupel said of Burns. “I had a pretty good background of who he is and what he is about. Then watched his success as a player at multiple positions, in his coaching career as well. We actually hired him at UCF before we came up here to Tennessee.
“He’s smart, he’s competitive. He understands it from multiple perspectives, having played quarterback and wide receiver — extremely smart. He, just like all the guys in that staff room, are a big part of how we game plan and what we do each and every Saturday. He’s got a great future in this business.”
Tennessee’s offense in 2021 parallels 2013 Auburn through six games.
Tennessee (4-2, 2-1 SEC) concluded its first half of the 2021 regular season schedule following a 45-20 victory against South Carolina in Week 6.
The Vols’ offensive production under first-year head coach Josh Heupel has been similar to Auburn’s in 2013.
The Tigers had a dominant rushing attack and offense in 2013 under then-first-year head coach Gus Malzahn and transfer quarterback Nick Marshall.
Current Tennessee assistants Rodney Garner (defensive line) and Kodi Burns (graduate assistant) served on Malzahn’s staff in 2013.
Ahead of Tennessee’s win against South Carolina, Heupel discussed Burns being on the Vols’ staff and his expertise he brings in game planning, bouncing ideas off of each other and experience playing quarterback and wide receiver at Auburn in the Southeastern Conference.
“I actually recruited Kodi out of high school,” Heupel said on the SEC teleconference. “I had a pretty good background of who he is and what he is about. Then watched his success as a player at multiple positions, in his coaching career as well. We actually hired him at UCF before we came up here to Tennessee.
“He’s smart, he’s competitive. He understands it from multiple perspectives, having played quarterback and wide receiver — extremely smart. He, just like all the guys in that staff room, are a big part of how we game plan and what we do each and every Saturday. He’s got a great future in this business.”
Through six games this season, Tennessee’s offense has produced 2,844 yards (1,322 passing, 1,522 rushing).
Transfer quarterback Hendon Hooker has totaled 112 passing attempts and 66 rushing attempts in 2021.
In 2013, Auburn totaled 2,845 yards (1,123 passing, 1,722 rushing) through six games, one yard more than Tennessee this season. Marshall totaled 120 passing attempts and 55 rushing attempts through the Tigers’ first six games in 2013.
Below is a breakdown of Tennessee’s offensive yard totals each game during the first part of its regular season schedule compared to Auburn’s through six contests in 2013.
Fall training camp: Assessment of Tennessee’s wide receivers
Tennessee practiced for the seventh time during fall training camp on Wednesday at Haslam Field.
Following practice, wide receivers coach Kodi Burns met with media and discussed Tennessee’s unit.
“Really any rotation, any position, you want to be as deep as you can be,” Burns said of the Vols’ depth in the wide receiver unit. “It’s clear that we run up-tempo offense, we play extremely fast. There’s not going to be a whole lot of time for substitutions, but you would like to be at least two-deep at every single position.
“Two, or really three or four wideouts on the field every single play — as deep as we can get. We’ve got to, obviously, stay healthy. That’s a big key, a big part of it, but we want to be as deep as you can be.”
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Below are more comments and assessments from Burns on Tennessee’s wide receiver unit through seven practices during fall training camp.
The Vols practiced in pads for the first time on Tuesday. Following practice, Tennessee wide receivers coach Kodi Burns met with media and discussed the Vols’ offense.
On Tennessee’s sophomore receivers
“We’ve got to really bring those guys along. They’re all very talented. Right now, I’m really focusing on developing those guys, teaching them how to practice, how we do things at Tennessee, how to play up-tempo, simple things that we call ball mechanics. We’re teaching those guys how we play. There’s no question that all four have talent. We’ve just got to truly grow them and develop them into the wide receiver position. A guy like Malachi Wideman was a dual-sport athlete as a basketball player who also played football. Then, you talk about the two Jimmy’s (Jimmy Calloway and Jimmy Holiday), both of those guys were quarterbacks in high school. Really, it’s just about translating those skills to the wide receiver position. It’s my job to develop and bring those guys along.”
On if there’s any offensive players that have stepped up early on this spring
“In the past, there have been a couple of guys. Obviously, we’ve got one right now that just went through the Pro Day and also a guy like Jauan Jennings that played a lot of football here. When you talk about leadership, those guys have a lot of time on task. Now, you’re walking into a really young group. I think by default and just by personality, time on task as far as him starting at a different school and coming here to Tennessee and doing the same thing, Velus Jones Jr. has kind of stepped up and emerged as one of those guys that can truly grow these young guys. He can teach them how to practice, teach them what the standard is and what we’re looking for. He’s really taken right after me as far as what I’m asking and teaching those young guys exactly what we’re looking for. He’s done a good job thus far.”
March 27, 2021 – Wide Receivers Coach Kodi Burns of the Tennessee Volunteers during practice on the Robert E. White indoor field in the Anderson Training Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
On 2022 recruiting and the ‘sales pitch’ for Tennessee on the recruiting trail
“To be honest, to sell Tennessee is not very hard at all. Tennessee is one of the most storied traditions in all of college football with just the amount of national titles and SEC Championships. It wasn’t that long ago that Tennessee was on the top. The sell is really, ‘Why would you not want to be a part of getting Tennessee back to the standard of Tennessee football?’ You look at the campus, the facilities, they’re second-to-none. Now, coaching the wide receivers here at Tennessee, it’s the style of offense. I think that once guys start to see what we’re doing in the spring game, in this fall coming up, how we’re going to throw the ball, what we do, the tempo with which we play with and how different we’re going to be offensively than everybody else in the SEC, I don’t think it’s going to be a hard sell once we start putting things on film that kids can see. With that being said, outside of the football aspect, Tennessee is a storied tradition. If I’m one of these young guys out there, a chance to play at Tennessee means something. To play here on Rocky Top in front of 102,455, that sells itself. It’s a blessing to be here, and I hope those kids really understand that. That’s what I’m trying to get them to do in recruiting.”
On how he feels having played both quarterback and wide receiver is has helped him as a wide receivers coach
“My story is very similar to a couple of guys that we have on our team right now. I was a quarterback my entire life. That’s what I did. That’s who I was. I had never caught a pass in my life. Once I was a junior in college, I actually ended up moving to wide receiver. That transition for me was not that difficult because I understood coverages. I understood the run game. I understood the pass game. I understood leverage. I understood what defenses were trying to take away and do. That made me more knowledgeable as a player. I had to teach myself how to catch, which I did. I ended up starting in the league, but I think the transition from quarterback to wide receiver is very simple, from the standpoint of a knowledge aspect of the game. For me with my coaching philosophy, I like to teach the wide receivers the position as a quarterback, because I think it makes you a better wide-out when you truly understand the game as a quarterback and not just what you do. Understanding the big picture makes you a better player overall.”
