When it comes to Rutledge, he is an Ole Miss graduate who has worked his way to this spot after beginning as a football manager for the Rebels. He was a graduate assistant for special teams and receivers at North Carolina in 2014 and 2015, before his stops at Missouri and Auburn.
Auburn did get some things done in the return game while he helped in coaching those units, with Larry Porter holding the title of Auburn's special teams coordinator the past two years.
Christian Tutt averaged 13.6 yards on his 23 punt returns, ranking seventh in the country in punt return average and second among all players with at least 20 returns last season. It's also noted in his bio that Noah Igbinoghene averaged 35.2 yards per kickoff return. Igbinoghene fell just short of the required minimum to be included in the NCAA statistical rankings, but the 2019 national leader averaged 33.2 yards per return, two fewer than Igbinoghene.
Auburn had a good punter last year in Arryn Sipooss, (43.5 yards per punt) who entered the NFL Draft early after the 2019 season, though the Tigers did have some troubles covering punts, ranking last statistically in the FBS, giving up 17.3 yards per average punt return by the foe.
During Rutledge's first year at Auburn, the Tigers proved a menace to opposition at blocking kicks – with seven of them, including four on punts. Auburn also also ranked fifth in net punting that year after being 115th the year before. The Tigers were particularly good at covering punts.