Auburn's 2004 Hard Fighting Soldiers reunite: 'It was a family'

AUBURN, Ala. –  As he’d done two decades earlier on 28 occasions from 2002-05, former Auburn receiver Ben Obomanu lined up with his teammates to Tiger Walk down Donahue Drive toward Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The 2004 SEC champions, Auburn’s Hard Fighting Soldiers, returned to the Plains Nov. 1-2 to celebrate and reminisce on the 20^th anniversary of their 13-0 season.

“Some of us still feel like we can play,” said Obomanu, who played seven NFL seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and now practices law in the Pacific Northwest. “Some of us maybe look like we can still play, too. But those stories about some of those big games: the Iron Bowl, the LSU game, which was a turning point in our season. We all still remember those plays very vividly and can describe what we were doing on some of those plays.

“It’s not just being back, but seeing highlights and still pictures and thinking, ‘Hey, I remember that play; I got beat the play before that,’ or ‘I was playing with a torn hamstring and still trying to make a play for our team.’ Those are the stories we appreciate.”

Tommy Tuberville, Auburn’s head coach from 1999-2008, led the Tigers on their journey to the stadium, seeing many of the fans who were there each Saturday 20 years before.

“That was a highlight of my career, to go through that Tiger Walk so many times with so many different teams,” Tuberville said. “This team was special, and the people showed that.”

Many of the players shared Tiger Walk with their children, decked out in Auburn jerseys and orange and blue gameday attire.

“It’s exciting,” Obomanu said. “Some of the guys we see quite often, we hang out and our families hang out together. This is the time when all of us get together, those we don’t see often, we get to share some of the same stories and walk the same steps in the same facilities where we started our football careers.

“It’s been great to see guys and see their families too. We’re friends on social media but now, to put faces with names and see those kids who have grown up, and also see guys mature and how we all turned out 20 years later, has been exciting.”

Auburn began the 2003 season ranked No. 6, but the Tigers lost five games, fueling their commitment to have a stronger showing the next year.

“We didn’t really meet those expectations,” Obomanu recalled. “In 2004, it was about managing expectations but also understanding that we have all talent, skills, and a great group of guys to make a run.

“We built on that season before. It started that offseason and kept building momentum throughout the season and next thing you know, we ended up being undefeated.”

The Friday before Auburn’s 2004 reunion game, the team toured the Woltosz Football Performance Center, where Tuberville addressed the Tigers.

“Buildings like this were built because of people like you,” Tuberville said in his opening remarks. “This is home to all of you.  We became close. People ask me about this team, I say it wasn’t a team, it was a family.

“I coached 35 years. I was on a lot of teams, but I was never with a group of young people who did what you did, and you pretty much did it on your own. It was the easiest job I had in 35 years of coaching because you guys wanted to win.

“We had a lot of people come back for their last year who could have gone on to the NFL. You came back, you played your tail off and you made people proud. You brought a lot of people back to this school. You brought Auburn back together.

“It’s all about relationships. That’s what life’s about. This is a team that put a stamp on the lives of a lot of people. You made your mark here at Auburn University.”

The 2004 Tigers were recognized on Pat Dye Field during Auburn’s game against Vanderbilt, an ovation two decades in the making.

“There’s no doubt that we were one of the best teams and we all got rings for it,” said Tuberville, who remembered how Auburn’s assistant coaches in 2004, particularly O-line and D-line coaches Hugh Nall, Don Dunn and Terry Price, competed to see which group would be the last to leave the practice field.

“You knew how to play and win in the fourth quarter,” Tuberville said. “You can identify a great football team when that team takes over and wins in the second half and the fourth quarter. Y’all did that.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer