Kodi Burns Discusses Recruiting Pitch at Tennessee

During his time at Auburn, Kodi Burns was known as a developer of talent, but he also displayed prowess on the recruiting trail, consistently winning out for his top targets at the receiver position.

Burns was a standout at Auburn as a quarterback and receiver, which allowed him a unique experience to sell recruits during his time as a coach on the plains.

"My story is very similar to a couple of guys that we have on our team right now," Burns said during Tuesday's media availability. "I was a quarterback my entire life. That's what I did. That's who I was. I had never caught a pass in my life. Once I was a junior in college, I actually ended up moving to wide receiver. That transition for me was not that difficult because I understood coverages. I understood the run game. I understood the pass game. I understood leverage. I understood what defenses were trying to take away and do. That made me more knowledgeable as a player. I had to teach myself how to catch, which I did. I ended up starting in the league, but I think the transition from quarterback to wide receiver is very simple, from the standpoint of a knowledge aspect of the game."

Now, at Tennessee, Burns will still be able to use his experience, but his "sales pitch" on the recruiting trail will change, and he was very open in how he will recruit to Tennessee.

"To be honest, to sell Tennessee is not very hard at all," Burns said. "Tennessee is one of the most storied traditions in all of college football with just the amount of national titles and SEC Championships. It wasn't that long ago that Tennessee was on the top. The sell is really, 'Why would you not want to be a part of getting Tennessee back to the standard of Tennessee football?'"

"You look at the campus, the facilities, they're second-to-none. Now, coaching the wide receivers here at Tennessee, it's the style of offense. I think that once guys start to see what we're doing in the spring game, in this fall coming up, how we're going to throw the ball, what we do, the tempo with which we play with and how different we're going to be offensively than everybody else in the SEC, I don't think it's going to be a hard sell once we start putting things on film that kids can see. With that being said, outside of the football aspect, Tennessee is a storied tradition. If I'm one of these young guys out there, a chance to play at Tennessee means something. To play here on Rocky Top in front of 102,455, that sells itself. It's a blessing to be here, and I hope those kids really understand that. That's what I'm trying to get them to do in recruiting."