Auburn analyst RJ Fleming to be hired by Toledo to coach receivers

Auburn analyst RJ Fleming is on track to become the wide receivers coach at Toledo, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. It will be his third coaching gig in as many years.

In 2022, Fleming was the Texas State running backs coach and in 2021 he coached wide receivers at Eastern Michigan. He had been slated to coach receivers at Jackson State prior to joining the Auburn staff as an analyst, serving a weeks-long stint at JSU.

Fleming had joined the new staff on Feb. 1 but resigned on Mar. 22 to join Hugh Freeze’s new staff at Auburn. He was an offensive quality control coach and wide receivers coach with Freeze for two seasons at Liberty in 2019 and 2020.

When Fleming took the Auburn analyst job, he shared a message on Twitter thanking Jackson State.

“Although our time together was brief, I am thankful to have served at the pride and joy of the state of Mississippi. Coach Taylor, all administration, staff, fans, supporters and especially thee young men of JSU – Thank you,” Fleming said.

As for how Freeze will continue to shape his staff, having former Auburn players has been something he’s keen on. With coaches like Carnell ‘Cadillac’ Williams and Zac Etheridge on staff, Freeze sees the benefits.

“I lean on Cadillac quite a bit, and Zac,” started Freeze. “There’s a lot of things that we’re saying in staff meetings, ‘Was this a big issue last year?’ And I wouldn’t know that without knowing those guys. Not just them, there’s some in off-field roles that we’ve kept that have connections to the other side of campus, and do different responsibilities for us.

“I value all of their input, as I’m trying to make decisions as to what do we change, what do we try to get a lot better at or this was pretty good, and how did it work and maybe we want to do that too. Their input is valuable to me.”

And when it’s come down to brass tacks on the coaching staff, new offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery has left Freeze impressed.

“I’m pleased with what we’ve put in the spring,” Freeze said. “Obviously, with it being totally new verbiage, totally new schemes to what they were used to, you know, it’s not everything. But it was enough for us to kind of figure out we have a chance to be decent at this run scheme or  this RPO scheme or this pass game. Fall camp and game planning, I think we’ll be able to get more in but I’m pleased with what we got in the spring and we’re gonna be a mixture of tempo and non-tempo and some of that is still to be determined and how much of it is based on, I think you’ve got to play complimentary football.