Auburn University Football

Earnest Thomas III joined the Auburn Football staff in January 2026. He is an assistant cornerbacks coach for the Tigers. Prior to coming to Auburn, he spent five years (2021-25) at Tennessee as a defensive assistant working closely with the team’s secondary. He was instrumental in the development of Jermod McCoy, a 2024 All-American, and Colton Hood, a 2025 All-SEC performer. He originally joined the Tennessee staff in 2021 as a graduate assistant before being elevated to assistant secondary coach. Thomas also spent time as a defensive graduate assistant at UMass from 2019-20. He also spent time coaching high school football St. Mary’s Preparatory in Orchard Lake, Michigan. A native of Southfield, Michigan, Thomas was a standout defensive back at Illinois from 2010-14. He earned a degree from Illinois in 2014.

George Courides joined the Auburn football staff in December 2025. He currently serves as the Director of Football Performance. A Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Courides came to Auburn with 13 years of experience in the industry, most recently serving the last three years as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach (2023-24) and Director of Football Sports Performance (2025) at South Florida. Working under head coach Alex Golesh, Courides was at the helm of USF’s strength and conditioning efforts that helped prepare the Bulls for their high-octane offensive playing style and fast and physical defensive playing style. In three years, USF finished the season ranked in the top 20 in the country in total offense on two occasions and won 23 games after winning one game the season prior to Golesh and his staff’s arrival. Along with working under Golesh for all three seasons at USF, the two overlapped for three of Courides six-year tenure at Iowa State (2017-22). Courides helped foster incredible improvement during his time in Ames, where the Cyclones qualified for five-straight bowl games, annually appeared in the national rankings and totaled five of ISU’s six above-.500 conference seasons in the history of the Big 12 Conference (1996-present) since 2017. Prior to his arrival in Ames, Courides served two seasons as a full-time intern in the NFL, working for the New York Jets (2015-16) strength and conditioning staff. He assisted with the Jets player nutritional ne

Four-year Auburn letterwinner and national champion Kodi Burns returned to his alma mater in December 2025. He serves as the Associate Head Coach, Co-Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers coach. Burns returns to the Plains for his third coaching stint with 11 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including seven in the Southeastern Conference, and three years in the NFL. Burns won a national title as a player and an SEC Championship as both a player and coach at Auburn. He also has national championship game appearances as both a player and coach. Most recently, Burns served as the assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under head coach Alex Golesh at USF in 2025, where he helped lead the Bulls to the second-best total offense (501.7) and fourth-best scoring offense (43.0) in the country. Under Burns, USF receivers accounted for 243 receptions, 3,315 yards and 32 touchdowns. Four receivers hauled in 20 or more passes, 400 or more yards and three or more touchdowns. In three years at the highest level with the New Orleans Saints, Burns played a role in the continued development of receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, who combined for nearly 300 receptions and more than 4,000 receiving yards in their first three seasons with the organization. Before joining the Saints, Burns spent the 2021 season at Tennessee, where he played a major role in the production of a top 10 offense and the breakout of receiver Cedric Tillman. U

Kumehnnu Gwilly joined the Auburn football staff in December 2025. He currently serves as the assistant running backs coach. Gwilly comes to Auburn after spending the last two seasons under head coach Alex Golesh at USF, first as a graduate assistant in 2024 before spending the 2025 season as the assistant running backs coach. During his time in Tampa, the Bulls rushed for more than 5,000 yards and totaled 63 rushing touchdowns in 26 games, helping lead the team to 16 wins and back-to-back bowl appearances. Before arriving at USF, Gwilly spent parts of two years as a quality control assistant at his alma mater Central Michigan. He joined the CMU football staff after spending the first half of the 2022 year as a weight room assistant at Fresno State. A Central Michigan letterman from 2016-21, Gwilly was a versatile, all-around player as he saw action on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Over his five-year, 53-game career, he rushed for 572 yards and three touchdowns on 158 carries, caught 14 passes for 76 yards and totaled 26 tackles (14 solo) with two tackles for loss. A native of Shelby Township, Michigan, Gwilly earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan in 2022.

Larry Porter re-joined the Auburn Football staff in December 2025. He serves as running backs coach. A 29-year coaching veteran, Porter came back to The Plains following one season as running backs coach at West Virginia in 2025. He previously worked at Auburn from 2017-20 as special teams coordinator and coached the tight ends/H-backs. Before WVU he served as the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at North Carolina from 2021-24. It was his second stint at UNC after also serving as special teams coordinator and running backs coach from 2014-16. He is a two-time national recruiter of the year, a three-time Broyles Award nominee, has developed numerous NFL running backs and special teams prospects and has been part of 21 bowl teams since 2002. During the 2024 season, the Tar Heels were led by two-time All-American and two-time Doak Walker Award finalist and eventual first-round draft pick Omarion Hampton. It was his second stint Porter also had stints as running backs coach at Texas (2013), Arizona State (2012), LSU (2005-09), Oklahoma State (2002-04), Arkansas State (1999-01) and Tennessee-Martin (1998) and was the head coach at Memphis (2010-11). Porter developed two 1,000-yard rushers at LSU in Jacob Hester (2007) and Charles Scott (2008) and produced six NFL Draft selections (Hester, Joseph Addai, Quinn Johnson, Charles Scott, Trindon Holliday, Stevan Ridley). He coached 1,000-yard rushers for three straight seasons while at Oklahoma State. In 2004, Vernand M

Tim Greene joined the Auburn football staff in December 2025. He currently serves as a quarterbacks analyst. Greene comes to Auburn from South Florida, where he spent the last two years as the assistant quarterbacks coach. During his time at USF, Greene helped mentor Byrum Brown, who became the 12th QB in FBS history to pass for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in 2025. In two seasons, the Bulls averaged 36.3 points per game and 448.5 total yards per game and finished the 2025 regular season ranked top five in FBS in scoring and total offense. Prior to his time in Tampa, Green spent two years at Eastern Illinois, first as a video coordinator/special teams quality control coach (Mar. 2022-23) and then as an offensive graduate assistant (Mar. 2023-Jan. 2024). Green also has experience as a defensive analyst/DB assistant at Framingham State (2021), football video scout for Sports Info Solutions (2019) and training camp intern with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2018). A native of North Port-Sarasota, Florida, Greene earned his bachelor’s degree in commerce and business administration from Alabama in 2019.

Blending NFL experience, Auburn roots and Atlanta ties, the Tigers' front office helps Auburn transition to college football's revenue sharing era.