Kent Austin has been named the quarterbacks coach at Auburn University after serving as a special assistant to the head coach this past season.
“I feel very honored and blessed to be given this new position and am thankful for the trust Coach Freeze has placed with me to develop our quarterbacks at Auburn,” said Austin in a statement.
The 60-year-old played quarterback for a decade in the CFL as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, B.C. Lions, Toronto Argonauts, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, throwing for 36,030 yards and winning two Grey Cups.
He got his first coaching job with the Ottawa Renegades, serving as their quarterbacks coach in 2003. He served as the offensive coordinator of the Argonauts from 2004 to 2006 before becoming the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007.
Austin led the Riders to a Grey Cup in his lone season with the team before leaving for the collegiate ranks to become the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, his alma mater. He served two years with the team before becoming the head coach at Cornell University, a role he held for three seasons.
The native of Natick, Mass. was hired as the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2013 and spent five years in Steeltown before resigning to focus on his duties as vice president of football operations. He helped the team make two Grey Cup appearances but finished his tenure with a losing record of 36-44.
Austin became the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator at Liberty University in 2019 and held the role for four seasons under head coach Hugh Freeze, who now works at Auburn.
“I’ve known Kent for a long time and worked with him at multiple schools,” said Freeze. “He is a great teacher and developer of quarterbacks and has been a valuable resource to our program this past year.”
