Player spotlight: Kodi Burns

KODI BURNS
Age: 20 (born 10/24/88)
Class this season: Junior
Hometown: Ft. Smith, Ark.

Playing career:
•2008, sophomore: Played in 10 games. Began the season as a backup. Became a full-time starter after Chris Todd's struggles. Played well at times, played very poorly at times.
•2007, true freshman: Played in 10 games as a rushing complement to struggling senior Brandon Cox. Wasn't allowed to show much.

The basics: Burns was a highly touted signee in 2007, when he became coach Tommy Tuberville's favorite recruiting target. Tuberville saw greatness in Burns and vowed to make the Arkansas schoolboy a major cog of an Auburn revival.

Burns shared time under center with Brandon Cox as a freshman and Chris Todd as a sophomore. Burns finally earned full-time work during the second half of 2008, though the team was in free fall after Tony Franklin's departure.

Burns currently is competing for the starting job along with Neil Caudle and Chris Todd.

The skills: Burns has a strong arm. Nobody disputes this. Burns also has refined running instincts for a quarterback. Though he tends to flee the pocket too quickly at times, Burns is a good ball-carrier and shows little fear when attacking defenses that way.

Burns is fast for a quarterback. He is not fast when compared to wideouts or tailbacks.

Burns' accuracy wanes because of imprecise mechanics. Burns doesn't repeat his throwing motion from one play to the next. During games, it seems like he's in scramble mode too often. He makes rash throwing decisions that contort his body because he wasn't planning to throw two seconds ago.

I've also noticed that he throws with a lot of weight on his front foot in practice, which creates the appearance that he's aiming the ball.

Teammates say Burns is sufficiently intense on the field.

The man behind the mask: Burns is a bright and introspective kid. He's not particularly chatty with strangers. He loves shooting pool near the locker room and will challenge all comers with surplus bravado. Ask him about pool and his eyes will light up.

I don't consider Burns a commanding leader. He isn't an angry person. I'm not saying he's lazy or apathetic. He just isn't the guy who will roll through the locker room and blast a teammate who needs blasting.

Some coaches want that in a quarterback. Some don't.

I've heard some people suggest, based on the way Al Borges used Burns in 2007, that Burns struggles to understand the playbook. I never have heard that from anyone inside the program. Intellect isn't a problem. Learning to make serially accurate throws and feeling comfortable in the pocket are where he needs improvement.

The crystal ball for 2009: Burns again plays second fiddle.

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Coaching snapshot: Trooper Taylor

TROOPER TAYLOR
Age: 39 (born 2/20/70)
College: B.A. from Baylor, 1992.
Playing career: He played defensive back for Baylor from 1988-91. He also was a return specialist.

Coaching career:
•Auburn, wideouts (current)
•Oklahoma State, co-offensive coordinator/wideouts (2008)
•Tennessee, various offensive roles (2004-07)
•Tulane, wideouts (1999-2003)
•New Mexico, running backs (1998)
•Baylor, various roles (1992-97)

Mentor:
Grant Teaff ("taff"), long-time Baylor coach who later became The Guy at the American Football Coaches Association. "I don't make very many decisions in this business or anything, even with family, without talking to (Teaff)," Taylor said. ``He's like a second father to me."

Previous Auburn experience:
None.

Coaching philosophy:
He likes to keep it simple. The first time I met him, I asked about his approach to the game. He said his only goal is to have one more point than his opponent at the end of the day.

Duh.

The statement makes more sense now that I have seen him work. Taylor isn't one to get bogged down on techniques and intricacies. He's a big-picture guy. He believes the better team on a given day almost always is the one that works harder on that given day. His goal is to build a group of players who bring life, heart and energy to the field at all times.

He is a hands-on guy during practice. He's simultaneously cheery and terse, rarely holding back on the observations that rattle through his head. It's one big stream of consciousness when Taylor opens his mouth. It's like someone reading a CNN crawl out loud: A short comment and then it's on to the next topic.

Taylor has an unusually low tolerance for loafing. This works in concert with his overall approach to the game. He believes players should be at full speed all the time when practice or play is involved.

Personality profile:
Taylor has the most infectious personality on the Auburn staff. He smiles all the time, laughs loudly and laughs often. Taylor has a million andecdotes. Every topic has some kind of parallel in his world, which helps him gain trust easily.

I've said before that Auburn has the sellers and the truthers when it comes to recruiting. Taylor is the No. 1 seller. He's the guy who's laughing, shaking hands, dropping references, patting people on the back and creating a party atmosphere.

He is the best seller I've seen at Auburn. He can seem trendy to a 17-year-old kid and seem genuine to his 70-year-old grandmother in the same sitting. Taylor is a politician.

He is the heart and soul of the Tigers' recruiting effort. He works closely with Curtis Luper, Jeff Grimes to represent the selling side of Auburn's enterprise.

At the same time, he doesn't strike me as being all that cavalier when the curtain drops. I don't think he's as happy-go-lucky as he seems. He is task-oriented. Taylor works through a list each day because things can get away from him. His conversational style, by definition, can lead him into tangential enterprises. He's a guy who can engage and disengage quickly. It has to be that way.

I haven't yet gotten a strong feel for Taylor's ultimate professional goal. He officially is an assistant head coach. He handles business at Auburn when Gene Chizik is away, which creates the image that Taylor is ready to take that next step. Before that day comes, though, surely he'll need some time as an offensive coordinator.

I'm not sure his big-picture approach would work well as a coordinator. Those guys typically are really into strategy. Maybe Taylor is a magical Xs-and-Os guy who is hiding behind a shrewdly constructed facade. Time will tell.

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.

Monday reset

Hey everyone. I am back from vacation and feeling lovely.

It rained in Montgomery last night. For that, I am very thankful. I bet you Gumpians/Lee Countians feel the same way.

So what will we do now that the HABOTN is back for real? I still owe you a Trooper Taylor coaching snapshot to round out the staff. I have lots of Gene/Jona Chizik quotes to share. We need to do some player scouting reports/evaluations.

And we need to run a Pre-Media Days campfire to make sure our messaging system still works after some offseason tweaks.

We'll get things rolling this afternoon ...

UPDATE: I will be an in-studio guest on WMSP's The Roundtable program this afternoon. Of course it streams on the Interwebs.

Friday chatter

Hey everyone. I have moved south from Cincinnati to Louisville and will be headed home to lava-hot Montgomery on Saturday. The high here today was 75.

I may need to move soon. Not sure I can continue to handle three months of 95-100 degrees every year. It gets old. You current and former Gumpians/Lee Countians know what I mean.

Bryan Matthews, don of AuburnSports.com, reported Thursday that Harry Adams is headed back to cornerback. The move ostensibly was necessitated by T'Sharvan Bell's move back to safety. He had been been at cornerback.

Not sure what to tell you here. I heard nothing but high praise of Adams' receiving skills during spring camp. Everybody knows Auburn needs some playmakers at wideout. Maybe the Tigers' brass is prepared to cast its lot with DeAngelo Benton and Emory Blake.

Today's question: What is Auburn's worst opponent matchup in 2009? Alabama? LSU? Georgia? How about a resurgent Tennessee?

Thursday chatter

Hey everyone. Another late night for the Tates in Cincinnati. I won't go into details. Maintaining marital bliss is a high priority.

I saw where Charles Goldberg, in his fine Gold Mine blog, notes that De'Shaun Barnes and Andre Wadley are no longer on the team. This allegedly is the result of career-ending physical issues.

We all know Wadley had a tough go of it last fall.

I'd like to have a conversation with Barnes someday about this hip injury of his.

Today's topic: Who will be the first current assistant to flee for a better gig?

Wednesday chatter

Hey everyone. Sorry for the minor delay here. One could say Wifey and I had a little too much fun last night and I forgot to pre-load the 8 a.m. thread.

Just to recap: The Diamondback at Kings Island is terrifying. I'm not one to be terrified by coasters. I'm an enthusiast. The first three hills really messed me up.

Here's what it looks like: The Diamondback

Note that there are no cars. You sit in a seat with armrests. There is nothing else to the car. Your feet dangle. That added to the drama. The second half of the above video illustrates it.

We also rode The Vortex, but didn't have a chance to hit another favorite, Invertigo. We ran out of time.

TODAY'S AUBURN QUESTION: Will Auburn's offense average more than 30 points per game this season? The Tigers averaged 17.3 in 2007.