Heading into this weekend's matchup between Auburn football and Tennessee, the headlining story is the return to Rocky Top for several Auburn staffers and wide receiver Chas Nimrod.
Auburn Head Coach Alex Golesh spent several years coaching under Josh Heupel at Tennessee, and he recruited Nimrod to Knoxville and then coached him as offensive coordinator in 2022. Golesh had nothing but great things to say about his former head coach ahead of the big game.
“Man, I got so much respect for Coach Heupel," Golesh said. "Gave me an opportunity in 2020 and brought me with him to Tennessee. Man, changed in a lot of ways how I look at offensive football, how I look at just running a program. Man, really, really high-end, high-end smart, really phenomenal leader. I got a ton of respect. Has certainly been a really good friend, was really, really good to me when I was with him. Helped me in a lot of ways, to one, get my first opportunity to be a head coach, supported me all through that. Really, really good human being. Incredible family, really good people. I’ve rooted for him from a distance. And obviously, this week, the challenge at hand is to go get the win.
“But a ton of respect. And not just Coach, but so many people on that staff, majority of that offensive staff, we were all together. There’s guys on that defensive staff that I got a ton of respect for. Got nothing but high-end things about Coach.”
For Nimrod, it's a return to the place where his college football career began, and he's thankful for the foundation that was laid during his time in Knoxville.
“I’m excited to go back,” Nimrod said. “It will be really cool to see my old coaches. On my side, there’s no bad blood. They poured everything into me and gave me a very strong foundation and an understanding of what it takes to have success. It will be cool to play in front of everybody.
“It will be full circle, because there are a lot of people on our staff who were there. I’m excited to get back in that atmosphere and put out what I’ve always been capable of.”
Also a former member of Heupel's staff, wide receivers coach Kodi Burns echoed Golesh's sentiments about the return to Tennessee.
“I’ll tell you what, man," Burns said. "I grew a ton as a coach. I think every stop that you end up at, that you take things that you like, leave things that you don’t love. And what I can say about Heup, man, is he’s ultra-competitive, really, really smart. Learned a ton of offensive philosophy and offensive ball from him and (Alex) Golesh in that year that I spent there at Tennessee. And clearly, he’s done a tremendous job at Tennessee... I got nothing but the utmost respect for Heup and what they do, Joey (Halzle), the entire staff. They’ve done a tremendous job.”
The Tigers and the Volunteers are set to kick off from Neyland Stadium at 2:30 p.m. central time.
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