AUBURN, Ala. – Eric Kiesau uses a baseball analogy to describe his rapid ascension from Auburn football analyst to receivers coach to offensive coordinator.
"You were sitting in the outfield, now you're in the infield," said Kiesau, entering his 23rd season coaching college football. "You roll up your sleeves. If it's your passion and you love doing it, it's very easy to jump into that seat and go. I thought the transition was very smooth. We've got to keep that trajectory going."
Kiesau came to the Plains as an analyst in 2021 from Boise State where he served as Bryan Harsin's offensive coordinator. Four games into the season, Harsin promoted Kiesau to coach
Auburn's receivers. After the season, Harsin again promoted Kiesau, this time to OC and quarterbacks coach.
"To have this opportunity in front of you, you lean back on your training and what you've learned over the years to get to this point," Kiesau said. "It's about the people in this building, it's about Bryan Harsin, the philosophy and vision he has for his program, and I really want to be a part of that.
"We all forge together. We use the term having all of our arrows going the same way. We're all going to do this together. It's my job as the coordinator to keep it focused and keep it going in the right direction to put ourselves in the best situation on Saturday."
Kiesau previously coordinated offenses at Colorado, Washington, Kansas, Fresno State and Boise State before joining Auburn's program in a non-coaching role.
"You get reenergized and refocused," he said. "To get back on the field with the receivers, it was awesome and I loved it. Now that next step of being the coordinator, running the offense and being with the quarterbacks, it's that natural progression. I love it. I've been doing it for a long time."
One season at Auburn is all it took for Kiesau to get a feel for the program's prominence.
"I don't truly believe people can understand Auburn until you're here in the building," he said. "You get in this building, you put this logo on, you go to high schools, you talk to people and you shake hands. There is a genuine passion for this place in a different way. A family environment. There's a connection here. It's really cool and very genuine on a different level. It's very, very special."'Very special': Auburn offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau transitioned from analyst to receivers coach in 2021
When spring practice begins March 14, Kiesau hopes to further instill Harsin's "1-0" approach focused on daily improvement and maximum effort.
"You can teach a lot of things, but you can't teach your mentality and how you work," Kiesau said. "Work, hard work. Roll up your sleeves. It's something you can't teach in books. It's something you have to go do.
"Our kids are learning that. They're understanding what it takes to execute and win at a high level. You have to outwork people. That's essential. Our guys are starting to get that.
"I'm excited to get this thing going and can't wait to get into spring ball and see how we develop moving forward."
In the quarterbacks he coaches, Kiesau looks for leadership and precision.
"An absolute technician," he said of the ideal candidate. "Being very sound in all of the fundamentals, our footwork, our ballhandling, our reads. The non-football piece: being a good leader, how you lead this offense and how they look to you. Those are the things I'm going to help develop in this position.
"We're going to find out who truly wants to compete, and who truly wants to step ahead as a leader. It's wide open. If I'm a young player, I'm going to go all in and go compete."
Describing Auburn's offense as "pro tempo" – a blend of pro-style with the ability to operate quickly – Kiesau boils down the Tigers' attack to basics that have characterized Auburn's best teams for decades.
"it's going to start with our O-line up front, our quarterback making great decisions, and then running the ball," he said.
Looking out the window in his office in the Auburn Athletics Complex, Kiesau sees daily progress on the Auburn University Football Performance Center, scheduled to be completed later this year.
"It shows the commitment and dedication to the football program," he said. "If I'm a young athlete, I walk into that building and I see I'm going to have a place where I can really develop myself as a football player, as a person, a place to study, a place to sleep, a place to lift and get stronger. It's a one-stop shop for everything you need to develop into a great athlete."
Overseeing that development stands Bryan Harsin. The 2022 season will be Kiesau's sixth straight working for Harsin.
"The cool thing about 'Hars' is – he wants to put a great football product on the field and have a great, sound program – he's really in the business of developing young men," Kiesau said. "I think the football piece is the byproduct of that development.
"That's very unusual nowadays because he's built a staff and created an environment where it's truly all about developing young men as football players and the men they are when they leave this place. That's what I really like because, yes, the football piece is important, but some day at some point, that football is going expire, and it's what you do after those football years. I think that's what 'Hars' is really good at developing."
That development begins when prospective student-athletes commit to Auburn, an opportunity Kiesau and Auburn's coaches are constantly pitching.
"The first year, building a foundation, now we're going to build off that foundation," he said. "They can be a big part of building this thing into the future to see where we're going and how we're going to get there.
"That can be very intriguing to some student-athletes. The people who want to build, be part of something, and get this going in the right direction, those are the kind of guys we want."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer