Kenny Dillingham's hair is on fire as Auburn's OC

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Kenny Dillingham likes to hop.

It’s difficult to avoid the cliche of a young and energetic coach, because it certainly fits the 28-year-old Auburn offensive coordinator. He hops and skips on his way to the practice field; and he yells as he sprints after a big play.

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“Well I mean, I’m 28,” Auburn’s first-year offensive coordinator said. “I better be jogging around. I mean, when I’m 58 maybe I’ll get a Segway or some new technology and go around. But right now, you know, that’s kind of who I am. I mean, I’m an all-in type of guy. I’m energetic, on the field, off the field, whatever I do. That’s kind of who I am. So when I hit the field, I’m going to be who I am. And I’ll always be that way, as long as my un-athletic knees allow me to.”

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Even when he didn’t quite know what was happening on the practice fields during his first day on the job in December as Auburn prepared for Purdue in the Music City Bowl, his confidence was oozing all over the field.

“His first day his hair was on fire,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “He didn't care if he was coming in and we were bowl prepping and all that. His energy is infectious. That's really the big thing for me: watching him do his work. The quarterbacks were flying around like their hair was on fire, too, so it was a really good thing.”

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His energetic personality bleeds into every drill. He didn’t see much enthusiasm when he arrived (or hear about it in the past) when he replaced Chip Lindsey as the Tigers’ coordinator.

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“And at the end of the day, football’s a game where you’ve got to be focused, and you’ve got to be intentional with everything you do, detailed, but you’ve also got to be able to have fun,” Dillingham said. “You’ve got to fly around and be — play who you are. You have to play to your personality. I thought that was the fun thing for me, was to get to know the guys, get to know their personality, and then try to bring out their personality with how they play.”

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“Everybody’s really confident in their play, and when coach Dillingham came, each day he preached on being great in the details, and that’s what we did this spring,” running back Kam Martin said.

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