Council's last season opens in familiar company

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Now healthy, Auburn OL Brandon Council's last season opens in familiar company

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

5-7 minutes

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Auburn offensive lineman Brandon Council (71) goes through a drill during practice on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 in Auburn, Ala. Todd Van Emst/AU AthleticsTodd Van Emst/AU Athletics

When Brandon Council takes the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday evening, it will mark a fresh start for the senior offensive lineman, as well as a reminder of the journey that led him to this point.

Not only will Council be making his return from a midseason ACL tear he sustained in October and an offseason labrum tear, but he’ll be doing it against the team with which he spent the first four years of his career — Akron.

“My time at Akron — I don’t take it for granted, but I definitely could say I improved by coming to Auburn as a player,” Council said.

The 6-foot-4, 335-pounder was a three-year starter with the Zips — making starts at left and right tackle, left guard and center across the 2017-19 seasons — before joining the Tigers last season as a graduate transfer who felt like he had “something to prove” at the Power 5 level. He quickly established himself as a valuable piece to a retooled Auburn offensive line, earning a starting job at right guard during fall camp and proving to be the most consistent lineman for the Tigers during the first half of the season.

He made four starts at right guard and one at right tackle — stepping in for an injured Brodarious Hamm at that spot against Arkansas — before sustaining a season-ending knee injury during the second half of Auburn’s win at Ole Miss on Oct. 24, 2020. Council underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, with Dr. James Andrews performing the procedure, and Auburn was forced to shuffle its personnel along the line for the remainder of the season.

“It was just really a mental game coming back from that injury,” Council said last month. “Dr. Andrews fixed me up really well. Rehab was tough in the beginning, but I got through it. I’m back probably better than ever, I just have to get back in that game shape now. My knee has been fine, really.”

As Council rehabbed his knee, his spring was further complicated by an offseason shoulder injury. He sustained a tear in his right labrum, which resulted in him missing spring practices — and leaving the Tigers without a key piece of their offensive line during an offseason transition with a new coaching staff and new offensive system.

Council’s health heading into the season was arguably the biggest wild card for Auburn’s offensive line, which returned eight players with starting experience, as it tried to sort out its bet five-man lineup for this season. Though Council was the starter at right guard when healthy last year, his positional versatility presents Auburn with lots of flexibility personnel-wise up front. He opened fall camp rotating between right guard, right tackle and center, but he ultimately settled in at left guard — his primary position during the 2017 and 2019 seasons while at Akron — and was listed as a co-starter there along with Alec Jackson this week.

“He worked really hard this summertime and this fall camp too just trying to get back in shape just from not running as much as he would have liked to in the springtime,” starting center Nick Brahms said. “Really, he studied hard, got the offense down pretty well. He’s smart. He knows what to do. He’s an asset to the offensive line, for sure.”

Council has fared well in his recovery from those two significant injuries over the last 10-plus months, and he’s eager to put them behind him and focus on the future — even as he prepares to stare down his past on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He’s still pretty close with some of the guys on the Zips’ roster, including quarterback Kato Nelson — and while he has been able to provide Auburn with some insight into its opening opponent, Council is more excited about the what of his return than he is about who it’s coming against.

The full-circle nature of Council’s journey, starting his final season against the program he started his career with, cannot be ignored, but Council has bigger things on his mind as he heads into his sixth and final college season.

“My expectations this season for me, I plan to dominate and finish the season healthy,” Council said. “That would be the biggest thing for me is finishing the season healthy, but also don’t have that injury in the back of my mind when I’m playing this year and don’t worry about my knee. Just focus on the game.”

Clearing any mental hurdles remaining after the knee injury could take some time, with Auburn coach Bryan Harsin acknowledging that it could take a few games for Council to fully settle back into the swing of things. The more game reps he gets, the more Council will feel like his old self.

And it begins Saturday where it all started for the former Zip.

“He’s a good player,” Harsin said. “He’s smart, he’s got experience. Always have liked just his approach and mentality…. but I’m looking forward to watching him get out there and have a chance to go live and play again. He’s worked very hard at overcoming his injuries, so I’ve appreciated that. I think it’s time for him to go out there and have a really good week leading into the game and have a chance to go play and see where he’s at.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.