Auburn’s offensive staff is set for 2024. What’s the final product look like?
The first shoe dropped on Jan. 5 as Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze announced he wouldn’t be retaining Philip Montgomery, who served as Auburn’s offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.
However, Montgomery’s exit wouldn’t be the only staff change Auburn’s offense saw as associate head coach and running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams abruptly announced his plans to resign on Jan. 11, forcing Freeze to do a bit more restructuring as it pertains to the Tigers’ offensive coaching staff.
And as of Wednesday afternoon, barring any unexpected changes, Freeze has filled out his offensive coaching staff for his second season at Auburn.
More: A timeline of all of Auburn football’s staff changes
Here’s a look at the final product:
Offensive coordinator — Derrick Nix
Nix comes to The Plains after spending the past 16 seasons at Ole Miss, which included five seasons under Freeze, who served as Ole Miss’ head coach from 2012-16.
Quarterbacks coach — Kent Austin
Prior to taking his off-the-field role at Auburn last season, Austin served as Liberty’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach under Freeze. Austin also spent two seasons serving as Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator 2008-09, as well as coaching stints in the Canadian Football League.
Austin spent his college playing career at Ole Miss, where he quarterbacked the Rebels in the 1980s and is recognized as one of the program’s leading passers behind the likes of Eli Manning and Bo Wallace.
Running backs coach — Derrick Nix
With the resignation of Cadillac Williams, Auburn also needed someone to coach running backs.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Nix comes to Auburn having spent 12 years coaching running backs at Ole Miss, as well as a successful running back career at Southern Miss.
At Southern Miss, Nix became the first Golden Eagle to notch 1,000 rushing yards in each of his freshman and sophomore campaigns and is the only Southern Miss and Conference USA player to have rushed for 1,000-plus yards in three seasons.
Wide receivers coach — Marcus Davis
Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis remained cemented in his current post as wide receivers coach throughout the Tigers’ staff shakeup.
Davis, a former Auburn wide receiver himself, returned to his alma mater in December of 2022 as a part of Freeze’s inaugural staff at Auburn. Before his return to The Plains, Davis spent stints coaching receivers at Georgia Southern, Hawaii and Florida State.
Davis played for Auburn from 2013-16 and helped the Tigers capture an SEC title and make an appearance in the BCS National Championship as a freshman.
Tight ends coach — Ben Aigamaua
Ben Aigamaua was also brought on as a member of Freeze’s inaugural staff at Auburn to serve as the Tigers’ tight ends coach. Aigamaua tagged along with Freeze after serving as Liberty’s tight ends coach for four seasons.
Before his time at Liberty, Aigamaua spent seven years at Ole Miss and held a number of roles including graduate assistant, offensive analyst and assistant athletic director of community relations. Freeze was the head coach at Ole Miss during Aigamaua’s first five seasons in Oxford.
Aigamaua spent his playing career on the defensive line at Lambuth and played under Freeze for two seasons when he was head coach.
Offensive line coach — Jake Thornton
Coaching Auburn’s guys along the offensive front is Jake Thornton, who was brought to Auburn as part of Freeze’s first coaching staff in December of 2022.
Thornton’s jump to Auburn came after spending two seasons at Ole Miss — also as the Rebels’ offensive line coach.
Thornton also spent time at Gardner-Webb and Tennessee Tech, as well as serving as an offensive line graduate assistant with Alabama’s national championship-winning team in 2017.
After getting his start in Division II football, Thornton made the jump to Division I and played three seasons at Western Carolina.