At least in one sense, it will be like 2004 all over again on Auburn football Saturdays next fall.

The backfield from that undefeated SEC championship team has been reunited in a way, with Jason Campbell — the Tigers’ quarterback 18 years ago — heading into the radio booth as color analyst for the Auburn Network. Ronnie Brown will be reporting for the eighth straight season from the sideline, the domain of fellow former running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, Auburn’s associate head coach and running backs coach.

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“We’re trying to recreate 2004, see if we can rub some of that camaraderie off,” Brown said last week while in Mobile for the Senior Bowl Summit. “Jason and I were roommates (at Auburn). Carnell and Carlos Rogers were roommates. When you’re at Auburn, you talk about the Auburn family, and that’s an example of it. Guys get the opportunity to come back and give back. It’s really important for all of us.

“When Carnell was the interim coach last year, that was pretty fun. Just seeing guys that we played with come back to support Carnell — I tell a lot of the young guys, that’s what it’s about.”

Brown, Williams, Campbell and Carlos Rogers — an All-America cornerback on the 2004 team — were all first-round picks in the 2005 NFL draft. Williams, Campbell and Rogers had also teamed up in that year’s Senior Bowl in Mobile.

Brown and Williams were among three running backs taken in the Top 5 picks that year, Brown No. 2 by Miami (he was the first player drafted by then-Dolphins head coach Nick Saban), Texas’ Cedric Benson No. 4 by Chicago and Williams No. 5 by Tampa Bay. To show how much different the NFL is nowadays, no running back was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, with Iowa State’s Breece Hall going at No. 36 in the second round to the New York Jets.

“The game has changed a lot,” said the 41-year-old Brown, who played 10 NFL seasons with five teams. “It’s become more of a passing league. The rules have changed in favor of the offense, so that you can’t touch (receivers) at the line of scrimmage after five yards. Linebackers and defensive ends are faster and more athletic, so you’re seeing a lot of former basketball players at the tight end position to try to block those guys. You won’t see three running backs go in the Top 5 again. You still need great running backs, but now those guys are going in the second and third rounds.”

Campbell was the third of three quarterbacks selected in the first round in 2005, after Utah’s Alex Smith went No. 1 to San Francisco and Cal’s Aaron Rodgers No. 24 to Green Bay. Campbell went with the next pick to Washington, where he played the first five of 10 NFL seasons in a career that also took him to Oakland, Chicago, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Campbell retired from football after the 2014 season, and joined the Auburn Network as pre- and post-game host in 2016. When long-time color analyst Stan White stepped down following the 2022 season, Campbell was chosen to replace his fellow former quarterback in the booth alongside play-by-play man Andy Burcham.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Campbell, also 41. “Stan’s done an exceptional job for 22 years, and that’s a long time to be doing color analysis. He was a guy that played before me, so I always feel like I’ve been in ‘chase mode’ with him. He started 45 games at quarterback, most in Auburn history, and I was next at like 40 or 41. He’s ahead of me in passing yards, but I’ve got him in wins as a quarterback. We’ve had some really fun conversations through the years. He’s been a great mentor to me, helping me along the way. He told me to just be yourself, do it the way you know how, not try to be someone else.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s the closest thing to suiting up without actually playing, because you’re involved in every play.”

Campbell is not the only newcomer around the Auburn athletic department these days, obviously. The Tigers are embarking on a new era, with head coach Hugh Freeze having come on board in late November.

Freeze took over after Bryan Harsin was fired at the end of October, two-thirds of the way through his second season. The interim was filled by Williams, who reinvigorated the Auburn program during his 3-game tenure running the football team, Campbell said.

“Cardell’s an Auburn man,” Campbell said. “It’s all about toughness and hard work, and that’s what he does. We came through there and throughout our years together, we always pushed each other, we always worked hard to beat the next team. But I think guys got a chance to see it at this stage, a coach that’s actually played it already, now being able to step up and be in a coaching position where now they see it on both sides. And when Carnell talks, it has a real meaning behind it. And I think the kids saw that.

“The kids saw it when they were 3-6, playing another 3-6 team (Texas A&M) and there was a sold-out crowd on national TV. That just doesn’t happen. That’s just part of Auburn family support, another member of the family that wants to get Auburn back in the right direction. And that’s winning football games and being in competition and being in the (playoff) conversation at the end of the season.”

Freeze returns to the SEC after five years in exile, including four seasons as head coach at Liberty. During five season at Ole Miss from 2013-17, Freeze went 37-25 and famously beat Alabama in back-to-back years.

One of Freeze’s first moves was to hire Williams permanently to his staff. The new Auburn coach is pushing all the right buttons so far, Brown said.

“I think we’re making progress,” Brown said. “There’s an excitement, lot of that due to Carnell. It’s weird, you had a losing season, but he brought the excitement back. I talked to a lot to hear a lot of people, Alabama fans as well, calling and saying they appreciate what he was doing. … And then for Coach Freeze, offensively, what he brings to the table, he’s been on the recruiting trail, obviously you’ve seen what they’ve done in the (transfer) portal. So there’s excitement.

“We need some guys in the trenches, offensively, defensively, building that thing from the inside out. But the important thing is the feedback that I’ve been getting in terms of his presence at some of the local schools and getting out and making those relationships. I think that’s the most important part, because in this league you have to have players. And if you don’t have the players, it’s hard to win. You need to get out and beat the pavement and build those relationships with (recruits) to compete with Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and other schools.”