Living his Best life: Auburn center brings experience, chip on shoulder

AUBURN, Ala. – After five seasons at South Florida, Auburn center Cole Best wanted a new mountain to climb. Mount SEC.

“I’ve got a chip on my shoulder, 100 percent.” Best said. “I felt like I accomplished everything I set out to do. Coming here in this conference and having the opportunity to showcase my skills and what I’m made of, it means everything and I wake up every day with that chip on my shoulder and that on my mind.

“To show not only these guys but the whole world who I am and what I’m made of.”

The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Best practiced with his new teammates Tuesday for the first time when Auburn began spring practice.

“A lot to build off of, a lot to clean off of but it was as juicy as it can get,” said Best, who earned third team All-American Conference honors last season at USF. “Guys were excited to be out here.”

Because of continuity between Alex Golesh’s coaching staff and 12 of Best’s former South Florida teammates, including 10 on offense, who joined him at Auburn, day one did not feel like day one.

“I remember my true first day in this offense,” Best said after Tuesday’s initial workout. “It was a mess just to get one play going. Today, I was pleased.

“By having players who have been in this system in almost every room, it’s like having an extra coach. To have that example to look at how it’s supposed to look and guys who have been there, done that before, it’s huge.”

Best seeks to help set the standard long before the practice whistle blows.

“The intensity starts the second we walk in the building,” he said. “That’s where it starts right there, you’ve got to get in the mindset. Coach Golesh is huge on that, he preaches on that all the time, and when we come out here, it’s time to work. The energy can’t be in waves, it has to only go up throughout the entire day. The energy, the effort, the intent in how we do everything is going to directly correlate to how we do and how we perform in the season.”

Best followed Golesh from Tampa to the Plains, accepting the challenge to lead Auburn’s offensive line.  

“’We need you to come do the same thing you did at the last spot, come in, be a leader,’” Best said, recalling Golesh’s message. “That obviously comes with gaining trust and building relationships.”

Best wasted no time getting to know his new teammates.

“When I got here, I knew the first thing I had to do was get around as many guys as I could and build authentic relationships and make those guys feel like they can trust me,” he said. “Once I built that side of it, I started showing the true leadership in terms of the football aspect and the accountability aspect.”

Unaccustomed to being the new guy after five years at USF, Best adjusted quickly.

“It’s the first time I’ve been at a different school, but it’s been great,” he said. “I know I have the full support of these coaches, got a lot of really good dudes in the building that I’ve played with before who’ve got my back, and it’s gone really well.”

Best offers unique insight into Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown, Cole’s teammate at USF the past four seasons, including 2025, when the Bulls produced the No. 3 offense in FBS.

“He’s capable of anything,” Best said. “I’m not even going to talk in terms of on the field because his film speaks for itself, what that guy does speaks for himself. In terms of being a leader and a true friend and a guy you want to be around, to me that’s the biggest thing with Byrum.

“That guy’s got a smile on his face every day. He’s the same guy every day. He’s the first one there to lift guys up. Anything you need, you call Byrum, you text Byrum, he’s there. He’s a true leader and I think that’s why guys truly rally around him.

“It makes it easy for me and the rest of the guys on the O-line to block for him because that’s a dude we all appreciate, a dude we all love so when you have a guy like that behind you, it’s extra motivation. We’re going to go do this for not only us and this team but for that guy.”

Entering his sixth season, including a redshirt, a medical redshirt and 39 games played, Best mentors Auburn’s younger linemen like Kail Ellis, who graduated high school a year early and was college football’s youngest player last season as a 17-year-old.

“There are ways I see things and understand things a little differently than a coach would,” said Best, who started his final 20 games at USF at center and logged three starts at left guard. “He’s someone who comes to me, asks me questions. I feel like we’ve truly made each other better.”

Another potential protégé is Kenneth McManus IV, a sophomore transfer from Akron.

“That guy comes in ready to work,” Best said. “That’s all he’s about. He just wants to work, get better and earn a job.”

For Auburn’s offensive line to be its best, Best seeks to build camaraderie.

“I’m a huge believer that on the O-line, if you’re not connected off the field, you don’t stand a chance on the field,” he said. “I’ve got to know the guy to the right of me, to the left of me. I’ve got to know what he’s about, where he’s from, I’ve got to know his story. He has to trust me; I’ve got to trust him. That starts with building those relationships through training, in the weight room, off the field and getting together on the weekends.

“I’ve been really happy to see how the whole offensive line as a unit has come together these last couple weeks.”

For someone new to the SEC, Cole Best has already mastered the motto.

“To have the opportunity for another year, it means that much more to me right now,” Best said. “To be around these guys, be with this coaching staff and play the game I love again and being blessed with another year to play at this level, it’s huge. I couldn’t be happier.”

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