Auburn football: B/R calls Josh Bynes an “irreplaceable leader” of 2010’s CFB

Auburn football’s National Championship team from 2010 had two irreplaceable leaders, but Bleacher Report’s Brad Shepard shone a spotlight on the less glamorous end of the football’s top Tiger.

Josh Bynes–a 10-year NFL veteran who has played for four different franchises–was the subject of Shepard’s piece honoring the heroes of college football throughout the last decade that was.

You know, the one that had packed stadiums and lacked a global pandemic forcing the world to eliminate large gatherings.

In his piece, Shepard noted that Bynes’ presence on the Plains was about more than just the 240 tackles (over half of which were solo tackles) that he punished opposing offensive skill players with.

Bynes was a charismatic figure who knew the game in and out, as well:

"Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy and deservedly got all the attention, and powerhouse defensive tackle Nick Fairley received a chunk of the headlines too. But arguably the biggest leader on coach Gene Chizik’s Tigers went on to have a solid NFL career, during which his personality continued to blossom.Bynes led the team in tackles that season with 73 and had 5.5 tackles for loss. He added a sack and three interceptions and was a key cog for a team that came out of nowhere to win a national title.During that magical season, Bynes made play after play, and he was an insightful, go-to quote for the media during that huge run. He also was a veteran force who’d been at the program and helped incorporate new faces with some holdovers while Chizik rebuilt, and ESPN.com’s Chris Low said he was the team’s “rock”."

Bynes’ junior season, the one that preceded his championship senior year, was even more impressive. The MLB out of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida recorded over 100 tackles in an 8-5 season that lacked the pomp and pageantry that the 2010 season provided.

Bynes was an All-SEC Second Teamer who has gone on to earn several million-dollar contracts in the NFL. While Cam Newton may garner all of the attention, Bynes was the backbone of a defense that helped Auburn football outscore their SEC opponents by 108 points in the most successful season in program history.