The 2024 season will be Kurt Hettinger’s 16th as an assistant coach for the Tigers, serving as the recruiting coordinator, bars coach, and assists on floor and vault.
 
During his time with at Auburn, Hettinger has been recognized multiple times for his efforts in the program’s continuous growth.  In 2015, he was named the NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year. Hettinger was also selected as the NCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2019.
 
In 2023, Hettinger guided two Tigers to All-SEC on bars in Cassie Stevens and Aria Brusch. In addition, Sunisa Lee earned All-America recognition in the event. 

Hettinger helped guide Auburn to a Final Four finish at the 2022 NCAA Championship and break multiple team and individual records. 

He coached Sunisa Lee to two 10.0s on bars in 2022, including a perfect score at the 2022 SEC Championship to win the individual title. At the conference meet, Lee, Derrian Gobourne and Aria Brusch secured All-SEC honors as they helped the team reach a program-record 49.675. 

Lee and Gobourne were All-Americans on bars with Gobourne finishing as NCAA runner-up in the event. In addition Lee was named SEC Freshman of the Year and Gobourne was awarded her second-straight SEC Co-Specialist of the Year. 

A trio of Tigers won All-SEC honors in 2021 in Drew Watson, Gobourne and Cassie Stevens. In addition, Gobourne was named SEC Co-Specialist of the Year for her efforts on floor, bars and vault. 

In 2020, Hettinger coached Gobourne to Second Team All-America honors on bars. That recognition marked the first time a Tiger has earned the national honor in the event at the conclusion of the regular season. Gobourne also received All-SEC recognition in the event.

In 2018, Hettinger guided Samantha Cerio to her second-straight appearance on bars at the NCAA Championships as an individual. In addition, Cerio picked up her second All-SEC recognition on the apparatus in as many years.
 
At the 2017 SEC Championship, a pair of Tigers captured All-SEC recognition on bars - Emma Engler, Cerio.
 
As the program’s primary recruiter, Hettinger has helped Auburn bring in some of the top recruiting classes in the nation on a consistent basis.
 
In the gym, Hettinger’s expertise on bars has shown through the continued progress of the program throughout the last eight years. Four of Auburn’s top five bars scores have come with him at the helm of the apparatus, including a program-record 49.600 in 2019. In addition, four of the program’s best individual scores have come under Hettinger, including Caitlin Atkinson’s and Gracie Day’s 9.975 in 2015 and 2019, respectively. 
 
During his tenure, Hettinger’s bars corps has finished each regular season among the nation’s top 25. In 2022, Auburn came in fifth nationally with a 49.490 NQS. 
 
Since Hettinger has been on The Plains, the Auburn program has grown to be one of the nation’s top gymnastics teams. Auburn earned a Super Six appearance in 2015 and also picked up its first NCAA Regional win, taking the 2016 Ann Arbor Regional as the top-ranked team in that meet.
 
Hettinger came to Auburn after a five-year stint at Kent State as an assistant coach. He served as the head bars coach while assisting with technique on vault and floor. He helped guide the Golden Flashes to three team records, four individual top-10 scores on bars and eight individual titles on his respective events at Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship meets.
 
Hettinger played an integral role in Kent State’s three NCAA Regional Championship appearances, two MAC Championship titles and three-consecutive regular-season titles.
 
Prior to Kent State, Hettinger spent five years at the Champaign County YMCA, assisting with the development of the junior boys program, shaping Class VI through Elite level gymnasts. A two-time member of  the USAG Region V Junior Elite Boys Team Coaching Staff, he guided former  University of Illinois standout Jon Drollinger to the top of the junior ranks,  which included competition in floor, still rings and all-around finals at the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Junior Olympic National Championships.

Hettinger was a four-year letter-winner with the University of Illinois gymnastics team from 1996-99, helping the Fighting Illini to a  third-place finish at the 1998 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships.
 
A native of Tuscola, Ill., Hettinger graduated from the University of Illinois in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He earned a master’s degree in education from Kent State in 2005. Hettinger and his wife, Katherine, were married in July 2006, and they have three children, one son, Cameron, and two daughters, Audrey and Elise.