If you thought Eugene Asante and his “Let’s work!” catchphrase were going anywhere in 2024, think again.

Asante, who was Auburn’s leading tackler by 35 tackles during the 2023 regular season, announced his return to Auburn for his senior campaign on Friday in a post on Instagram, giving the Tigers’ defense another massive boost ahead of their 2024 campaign.

Asante’s announcement comes on the heels of the decision of defensive back Keionte Scott, who announced Monday that he’d be returning to The Plains, and the decision of defensive lineman Marcus Harris, who announced Wednesday that he’d be foregoing his final year of eligibility and instead head to the NFL.

During the 2023 regular season, Asante led Auburn’s defense with 84 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, five sacks, a forced fumble and five quarterback hurries.

Asante arguably posted his best game of the 2023 season against the Cal Golden Bears on Sept. 9, when he strung together a heroic performance which featured a season-high 12 tackles, in addition to 1.5 tackles for a loss and a sack as Auburn went on to squeak out a 14-10 win in Berkeley, Calif.

“Eugene Asante played his tail off,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said the Monday following Auburn’s win out west.

Following his performance in the hills of California, Asante was recognized as the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week.

Come Week 4, when Auburn opened SEC play in a road game against Texas A&M, Asante outscored the entire Tigers’ defense as he returned a fumble for a scoop-and-score, giving the Tigers their only touchdown of the game, while narrowly missing out on plowing over former Aggies’ coach Jimbo Fisher.

Perhaps more than Asante’s on-field contributions, however, were his contributions as a leader in Auburn’s locker room.

“From the time I got hired, I don’t know if anybody had better energy than he did, maybe on our whole team,” said Auburn linebackers’ coach Josh Aldridge in the preseason. “He just doesn’t have a bad day in terms of his attitude, ever. He plays the next play when he screws up. I think he’s made those guys around him better. Because Eugene brings it every single day, those guys have no choice but to bring it every single day too. It has been a really good domino effect with Eugene.”

Needless to say, returning those qualities to the Auburn locker room comes a big advantage to Freeze and the Tigers.

With Asante returning for his senior campaign, he’s set to lead Auburn’s inside linebacker room, which will feature the likes of 4-star commit D’Angelo Barber, sophomore Powell Gordon, senior Austin Keys, senior Jake Levant, 5-star commit Demarcus Riddick, fifth-year senior Cam Riley, fifth-year senior Wesley Steiner and sophomore Robert Woodyard Jr.