Auburn head coach Alex Golesh won’t be the only former Tennessee assistant coach in Neyland Stadium on Saturday when the Tigers visit for a matchup against the Vols.

Former Vols wide receivers coach Kodi Burns will also be among the former UT assistants on the opposing sideline on Saturday.

Burns, who served as Tennessee’s wide receivers coach in 2021 before leaving for the NFL, has spent the last two seasons on Golesh’s staff (2025 at USF and 2026 at Auburn).

On Monday, Burns met with reporters ahead of Auburn’s matchup against Tennessee and he was asked about his time working under Josh Heupel.

Burns pointed out that Heupel is “ultra competitive” before pointing out that Tennessee’s head coach is willing to listen to everyone’s ideas.

“What I can say about Heupel is that he’s ultra competitive and really, really smart,” said Burns. “I learned a ton of offensive philosophy and offensive ball from him and Golesh in that year that I spent there at Tennessee. And clearly he’s done a tremendous job at Tennessee. What coach Heupel and (Tennessee AD) Danny White have been able to build there at Tennessee is really special. … I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for Heupel and what they do.”

“What I respect, again, going back to Coach Golesh and Heupel, they really listen to everybody’s ideas,” continued Burns. “And so when you have ideas and you bring it to those guys, they really listen to you, and you can actually put those things in (the game plan). It’s really cool to see how they work. We did a good job of really working together and building that system together. It was awesome to be able to be with those guys at Tennessee.”

There have been some folks who have questioned how willing Heupel is to listen to outside ideas. Based on Burns’ comments, it sounds like he’s always willing to listen to new ideas.

And I’m sure Vols fans are hoping some new ideas get shared in Tennessee’s facilities this week after the team struggled to block the Texas Longhorns’ defensive line last weekend.