AUBURN | In Tommy Tuberville's inaugural address to the Auburn football team just after my sophomore season in 1998, he told us he would be hiring two strength and conditioning coaches that could "physically throw" every player out of the weight room.

The first of those two men was Phillip Lolley, hired as the conditioning coach, but in reality served as a defensive analyst. The second was Strength and Conditioning Coach Kevin Yoxall. Both left innumerable indelible footprints on Auburn football and Auburn players for years to come.

Coach Lolley would become a mentor for me. When Coach Tuberville changed our defensive philosophy from a 3-4 to 4-3, suddenly I was positionless. I was coming off of a Coaches Second-Team All-SEC year at strong safety and eager to take over as the top strong safety in the league. Suddenly, the strong safety position did not exist in our new defense. Coach Lolley was the coach I would express frustration to about my new role as a blocking dummy and zone defender as a "Rover."

He hated what we were doing. He did not agree with our defensive coordinator. He would go to bat for new thought, challenge strange techniques, argue tactical elements that were unsound. He wanted us to be comfortable and confident in our play and advocated on our behalf on the practice field, in the film room, in coaches meetings, and in the locker room during halftime adjustments. It was almost like he was hired to play devil's advocate to the defensive coordinator, to say the things we wished we could but knew better than saying.

Don't get the impression he was a push over for players or not loyal or subservient to his coaching superiors. He was intense on the field. He expected you to work your tail off and demanded effort and discipline daily. He had a plethora of coaching knowledge and experience to share and was a terrific teacher of defensive football. If you find one Auburn defensive back from the last decade and a half that tells you Coach Lolley wasn't a positive influence in life and on the football field, I would be left utterly speechless.

He cared deeply for us, and in a dog-eat-dog environment where both players and coaches are in constant flux, Coach Lolley worked hard to gain our trust and establish lasting relationships. Players that trust their coaches and believe in their philosophy and have faith that coach will stand behind them no matter what will play inspired football, will be better teammates, will win more games than they probably should (look no further than the 2013 Auburn team to prove this point).

I remember walking down to field level prior to the 2011 Auburn-LSU game in Baton Rouge. LSU was a monster and Auburn was a sizeable underdog. Coach Lolley was leaned up against a fence by the benches prior to warm ups and I asked him about the match up. He minced no words. He said, "we're about to get slaughtered!" I asked, "why?" "My guys want to challenge the hell out of these wideouts all over this damn field…and Rob, we could do it! We should make a below average quarterback make difficult throws. But we're not! We're gonna sit back and play zone and they're about to have their way with us. Pisses me off!" LSU went on to win 45-10 throwing three touchdowns. He was loyal to the core. Obedient to the point of pain. He loved Auburn and wanted to see Auburn on top.

When he left the field for his liaison role with high school coaches, he thrived and Auburn benefited immensely. It was hard for a high school coach from the black belt to relate to Eddie Gran or Trooper Taylor. Charismatic guys, but lifelong college coaches. In Coach Lolley, they saw the realism and understanding of a high school guy. They saw themselves. He could relate to where they were coming from. Remind you of anyone? It's the reason Gus Malzahn is so well liked by the high school coaches. They're a fraternity and Coach Lolley was not only one of them, he was one of the all-time greats. His teams were his proof.

Whenever someone you're close to walks away from Auburn, you feel as if a piece of you is leaving with him. I felt that way with Coach Bill Oliver. To a lesser extent with Coach Tuberville. But I certainly feel it with Coach Lolley's departure. He has been a loyal Auburn advocate, a dynamic piece of the puzzle, a guy called upon to fill a number of roles, a constant in the midst of tremendous change, a friend to many. Auburn is losing a valuable component when Phillip Lolley walks out the door. I know he'll succeed wherever he goes. I hope Auburn is prepared to hire a prodigy because the shoes he is asked to fill will be quite large.

Thank you Coach for your service to Auburn. You'll be greatly missed.