The ultimate guide to the origins of Auburn football’s most popular nicknames

AUBURN, Ala. — There might not be another program in college football with a greater love of player nicknames than Auburn.

In each of the past two seasons, two memorable nicknames — “Big Kat” and “Smoke” — were listed as first names on the Tigers’ official rosters. Their leading rusher in both of those campaigns was rarely called by his real name on broadcasts. Several assistant coaches on Gus Malzahn’s staff are known by names other than their first ones.

Auburn’s affinity for nicknames goes back for decades. The Tigers’ most famous player and their longest-tenured head coach were both known for nicknames they picked up when they were children. Past rosters have included a “Captain Crunch,” a “Juggernaut,” and a “Little Ball of Hate.”

This is The Athletic’s ultimate guide to the origins of Auburn football’s most popular nicknames, from those that currently dot the Tigers’ roster to several notable selections from the history books. They are listed alphabetically by nickname. If a favorite isn’t included in this guide, please drop it in the comments below.

Markaviest “Big Kat” Bryant (DE, 2017-present)

Bryant officially went by his first name until he signed with Auburn, which listed him as “Big Cat Bryant” early in 2017. The 6-foot-5 buck defensive end requested the C be changed to a K as a nod to his first name.

Bryant’s mother first gave Bryant the nickname “Cat” when he was growing up. He added the “Big” as a junior in high school, when former coach Shelton Felton yelled at him during a practice.

“He was like, ‘Big Kat, bring your ass here,’” Bryant recalled last year. “And I was looking around — at the time, I wasn’t the biggest person on the team, because I was a junior. And I was like, ‘He’s not talking to me.’ So I looked around, and he was like, ‘No, I’m talking to your ass.’ So, ‘Oh, I’m Big Kat!’ So, every college then, every recruiting visit I went to, my name was Big Kat. That stuck. My mom doesn’t even call me Markaviest.”

Vincent “Bo” Jackson (RB, 1982-1985)

The greatest athlete in Auburn history is named Vincent Edward Jackson. But the world knows him as “Bo,” which is a nickname he picked up as a young child.

“When I was a boy comin’ up, I was a real bad kid, the bully of the neighborhood,” Jackson told The New York Times in 1984. “My older brothers said I was mean as a boar hog. ‘Bo’ is short for boar hog. My real name is Vincent, but nobody calls me that anymore. Even my mother calls me Bo.”

Fifteen years after Jackson’s college career came to an end, a former Auburn quarterback named his son Bo — not Vincent. And that Bo went on to become the first true freshman quarterback in the Tigers’ modern history to start a season opener.

JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow (RB, 2017-2019)

Whitlow’s nickname was so well known that there was officially a “Boobee Whitlow Day” in his hometown of Lafayette, Ala., before he enrolled at Auburn.

According to Phillip Marshall of Auburn Undercover, Whitlow was first called “Boobee Doo” by his father at a young age, but the “Doo” was eventually dropped. During his three years with the Tigers, everyone from teammates and coaches to broadcasters and opponents referred to him as Boobee instead of JaTarvious.

“It’s like ‘Friday Night Lights’: When you put Boobee in, we gonna win,” former left guard Marquel Harrell said in 2018. “That’s kinda what reminds me of Boobee.”

Anders “The Bookstore” Carlson (K, 2017-present)

Note: This is a nickname that a certain Auburn beat writer for The Athletic has tried to get to stick for Carlson since he arrived on the Plains. (For those outside of Auburn, Anders is also the name of a bookstore near campus.)

It is not widely used, but gets a spot here anyway.

Arryn “The Boomin’ Onion” / “The Crocodile Punter” Siposs (P, 2018-2019)

Auburn’s first Australian punter, who recently left the program for an early entrance into the NFL Draft, was given two strong nicknames by fans during his time on the Plains.

Both were suggested shortly after Siposs was named Auburn’s starting punter in September 2018, and they competed valiantly online throughout his two-year tenure.

 Carnell “Cadillac” Williams (2001-2004 as RB, 2019-present as assistant coach)

During Williams’ high school career in the late 1990s, an area sportscaster gave him the nickname “Cadillac” because of the way he ran the ball.

Even though Williams didn’t like the name at first, it stuck and followed him to Auburn, where he became one of the best running backs in school history. After his NFL career came to an end, Williams quickly became “Coach Caddy” or “Coach Lac” to a new generation of players.

Mike “Captain Crunch” Kolen (LB, 1967-69)

Kolen was one of Auburn’s best defensive players of the 1960s, and he went on to start for the Miami Dolphins during their legendary undefeated 1972 season. At Auburn, the hard hitter picked up the nickname “Captain Crunch” from one of his teammates, Robert Margeson.

“(Margeson) put ‘Captain Crunch’ on me,” Kolen told AL.com in 2015. “I wasn’t all that thrilled initially, but as time goes on, even today, I run into people who go, ‘Hey, Captain, how you doing?’ Or, ‘Hey, Crunch.’ So it’s still fun to be remembered as that. I could have been remembered for a lot of other things, so I’m very grateful that it was ‘Captain Crunch’ instead of something else.”

Wesley “Crime Dawg” McGriff (Assistant coach: 2016, 2019-present)

Throughout his coaching career, which has featured stops across college football and even a brief run in the NFL, McGriff has been referred to almost exclusively as “Crime Dawg” or “Coach Crime.”

But there’s no backstory of illegal activity here — it’s simply a reference to “McGruff the Crime Dog,” a famous character in public service announcements since the 1980s.

K.J. “Downhill” Britt  (LB, 2017-present)

Britt’s nickname was given to him by assistant coach Travis Williams early in his career. It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but the moniker is quite fitting for his ability to “get downhill” and stop the run quickly.

“We call him Downhill Britt,” Williams said in 2018. “That’s his nickname, Downhill Britt. He’s physical. He’s a coach-pleaser. He tries to do everything you ask him to do. He takes pride in being physical. He definitely doesn’t want to be mistaken as soft, and I like that about him.”

Braden “Drago” / “The Terminator” / “The Hulk” / “Gigantor” Smith (OL, 2014-2017)

Take your pick of the nicknames for the former All-SEC offensive lineman, who is now a starting right tackle for the Indianapolis Colts.

“Drago,” a reference to the massive Russian antagonist of “Rocky IV,” was the one that stuck around the most. Fellow linemen called him “The Terminator” and “The Hulk” during his first practices with the Tigers in 2014.

However, “Gigantor” — a nod to a cartoon robot from the 1960s — was the one that Smith brought with him from his hometown of Olathe, Kan. It still follows him around to this day.

T.D. “Field Goal” Moultry (DE, 2017-present, nickname now retired)

Tadarian Moultry is one of several players at Auburn who goes by initials — such as Kenney “K.J.” Britt Jr., Octavius “O.C.” Brothers and Dederrian “D.J.” Williams Jr. — but for a short time, he had another name given to him by defensive coordinator Kevin Steele.

“I called him ‘Field Goal,’ and I wasn’t going to call him T.D. until he got his first sack,” Steele said in 2017. “He told me in the locker room the other day after the (Arkansas) game that I could call him T.D. now that he got that sack. ‘No, I can’t. You only got half a sack. So I’m just going to call you T.’”

Moultry got his first full sack a week later in a win at Texas A&M.

Anthony “Flash” Schwartz (WR, 2018-present)

Schwartz arrived at Auburn with the “Flash” nickname already well-established for his record-breaking track career at the junior world level. While it doesn’t have the official roster designation of Big Kat or Smoke, Flash is the name Schwartz is almost always called in interviews with coaches and teammates.

Last fall, he revealed that he didn’t know much about his comic book namesake because “I’m not really a comic guy, and if I am — I’m more Marvel than DC.”

Noah “Iggy” Igbinoghene (DB, 2017-2019)

Igbinoghene’s last name isn’t easy to pronounce at first —  “ig-bin-og-a-KNEE” — so Malzahn said on National Signing Day in 2017 that he would refer to him as “Iggy” during his time on the Plains.

That lasted for three years, as Igbinoghene went from backup wide receiver as a freshman to a two-year starter at cornerback who is currently a dark horse first-round prospect for the upcoming NFL Draft.

“Juggernaut” Jay Prosch (FB, 2012-2013)

According to the Opelika-Auburn News, Prosch was called “Killa” and “The Terminator” during his first two seasons of college ball at Illinois. At Auburn, the preferred nickname quickly became “Juggernaut” for his resemblance to the famous “X-Men” character and his freakish abilities as a lead blocker.

“You know, guys like that are hard to find,” former Auburn running backs coach Curtis Luper told reporters in 2012. “There aren’t many guys who can power clean 400 pounds and run like he can run and block like he can, as flexible as he is, the hands that he has.”

Daniel “Legatron” Carlson (K, 2013-2017)

While his younger brother only has a nickname that one writer made up for him, Carlson’s is fan-inspired, and it received Auburn’s official seal of approval during his junior season. It’s a fitting name for the Colorado native who set basically all of the Tigers’ kicking records during his time with the program.

“The Little Ball of Hate” Tray Blackmon (LB, 2005-2008)

One of the most hyped signees of the Tommy Tuberville era, Blackmon earned the memorable “Little Ball of Hate” nickname from Auburn fans online. It was a fitting name for Blackmon, who developed a reputation for dishing out massive hits on the field.

“The fans gave the name, so I’ve kind of taken it,” Blackmon told the Dothan (Ala.) Eagle in 2008. “I think it kind of describes the way I play. … See ball, hit ball, you know? Run around and be relentless.”

Lionel “Little Train” James (RB, 1980-1983)

At an early age, James picked up an excellent nickname that worked two ways. First, he shared a first name with the well-known toy train company. Second, James himself was a little train of a running back, standing at 5-foot-6 and boasting impressive explosiveness.

The “Little Train” nickname followed James after his days sharing a backfield with Bo Jackson all the way into the NFL, where he held the single-season records for receiving yards by a running back and all-purpose yardage for more than a decade.

“Pickle” Nick Coe (DE, 2016-2019)

The former edge rusher picked up the nickname from Steele early in his time on the Plains because of a feat he accomplished during a water break at practice.

“(Coe) came from a school that he said that just had a water hose at break,” Steele said in 2017. “And of course now, you know, they give them Gatorade and Popsicles… and they give them pickles for obvious reasons. He was so taken aback by the fact that he wasn’t drinking out of a water hose, that they actually had Gatorade, they had pickles and they had Popsicles.

“I think he ate about eight pickles in one break. He enjoyed them very much, and everybody was watching him eat them. And so from then on, his name was Pickle.”

Dontavius “Plugger” Russell (DT, 2014-2018)

A four-year starter on Auburn’s defensive line, Russell did plenty of the dirty work that opened up opportunities for the likes of Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams, Jeff Holland, Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson to post big numbers up front.

Russell’s ability to take on double teams and create traffic down the middle of a line earned him the nickname “Plugger.” It got the official stamp of approval from Auburn, and it’s part of his current Twitter bio for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Daquan “Red” Newkirk (DT, 2018-present)

The origins of this nickname are unknown, but it was widely used by coaches and teammates when Newkirk arrived on campus as an early enrollee in 2018. It was most famously referenced by former defensive tackle Derrick Brown last year when he said, “I don’t know if y’all have seen Red, but he’s got, like, cannons for arms.”

Zakoby “Ricochet Rabbit” McClain (LB, 2018-present)

Another nickname given by Steele, it came from McClain developing a knack for making plays off deflections during his sophomore season of 2019. Then, as fate would have it, McClain would score a 100-yard pick-six off a bizarre deflection during Auburn’s Iron Bowl win. The nickname — a reference to a classic cartoon character — became a quick hit with Tigers fans.

“I’m just like Ricochet,” McClain said last December. “Ricochet’s fast. It’s really a rabbit, but he’s moving, though. He’s going fast. It’s a compliment.”

Ralph “Shug” Jordan (Head coach, 1951-75)

If Bo is the most famous nickname in Auburn football history, then “Shug” is a close second. The Auburn legend earned the name as a young child because he loved to chew on sugar cane.

The nickname followed Jordan all the way through his decades as an athlete, assistant coach and head coach for the Tigers. While it’s hard to find many references to “Ralph Jordan,” it’s worth noting that one of the major roads in Auburn is named Shug Jordan Parkway.

Quindarious “Smoke” Monday (DB, 2018-present)

Monday officially goes by “Smoke” on Auburn’s roster as a tribute to his late grandfather, who gave him the nickname when he was a small child.

“I used to run around the house all the time, and he just started calling me Smoke,” Monday said last October. “So when he died, I just let the name stick in memory of him. I play for him. I’d have a football in my hands and would run everywhere. He’d be like, ‘Boy, you’re always running. … Your little nickname is Smoke.’ And it just stuck from there.”

Jaren “Stone” Handy (DT, 2019-present)

Since he first came on Auburn’s recruiting radar as a top prospect from the state of Mississippi, Handy has always been called “Stone.” According to a 2017 story in the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, Handy was given the nickname by his late grandmother because he caused trouble like a certain pro wrestling icon.

“My grandma gave me that name when I was younger because I was real bad,” Handy said. “She named me after one of those wrestlers — Stone Cold Steve Austin.”

And that’s the bottom line.

Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby (RB, 2020-present)

Perhaps the most anticipated potential debut on Auburn’s 2020 roster, Bigsby arrived on the Plains as an early enrollee with plenty of hype and a killer nickname. In an interview late last year with GPB Sports, the Georgia native revealed that his mother gave him the nickname.

“When I was younger, I played rec ball and my mom told me that I run the ball like a tank,” Bigsby said. “I used to just hit people with my head, so she gave me the nickname ‘Tank’ and I’ve been called that ever since.”

Tashawn “Tay Boogie” Manning (OG, 2017-present)

Manning flew under the radar at Auburn during his first few years as he made the transition from defensive tackle prospect to backup guard along the offensive line. Former right guard Mike Horton let the world know the Tigers referred to him as “Tay Boogie.” It’s currently Manning’s display name on Twitter.

Travis “T-Will” Williams (2001-2005 as LB, 2016-present as assistant coach)

Another easy nickname to dissect, the former All-SEC linebacker and current assistant coach hasn’t been referred to as “Travis” or even “Coach Williams” at his alma mater for quite some time. It’s always “T-Will,” which was also the name Williams used during his rap career between his playing and coaching days.

Will “White Lightning” Hastings (WR, 2015-2019)

The former walk-on onside kick specialist turned slot receiver was quickly dubbed “White Lightning” by teammates Chandler Cox and “Trigga” Tray Matthews during the spring of 2017 — a few months after he emerged as a surprise offensive weapon for the Tigers.

“He’s White Lightning,” Matthews said. “He’s White Lightning, man. He’s so quick, fast, and it’s hard to put your hands on him.”

Shaun “Worm” / “Freaky” Shivers (RB, 2018-present)

The first nickname for the 5-foot-7 Iron Bowl hero is rather self-explanatory, and one that he’s had since he was 4 years old.

“Back in little league football, nobody could catch me, and I used to break tackles,” Shivers said last August. “No one could see me and I’d go out the backdoor and score every time. Everyone called me Worm. I’ve always been the shortest one on the team. It’s just who I am. That’s just me.”

Shivers is also called “Freaky” by some of his teammates, and it’s also the South Florida native’s display name on Twitter. Both are fitting for college football’s smallest power back.

(Photo of “The Little Ball of Hate” Tray Blackmon in 2006: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Wire Image)