AUBURN, AL — Ella Langley’s sold-out Auburn homecoming became something even more personal when she reunited backstage with the teacher who helped guide her earliest days as a musician. Maury Popwell, known to many as “Coach Pops,” once spent Friday mornings before class helping Langley sharpen her guitar skills at Hooper Academy.
The moment carried extra meaning because Popwell had already played a quiet but lasting role in Langley’s path to country music. Years ago, when she left Auburn University to chase music full time in Nashville, he gave her his 12-string guitar as a parting gift. On Saturday night, that relationship came full circle in front of thousands of fans and a backstage photo that captured just how far both of them had come.
How Coach Pops helped shape Ella Langley’s early sound
Popwell, a history teacher at Hooper Academy for 57 years, described how Langley’s musical interest started long before fame. She had sung for most of her life, often putting on kitchen concerts for her grandparents and singing at her local church. But he helped her deepen the guitar side of her talent.
He said he and Langley would meet early every Friday morning to practice before the school day began. During those sessions, she became especially drawn to his 12-string guitar. He recalled that she fell in love with its distinctive sound, and he believed that sound stayed with her as she continued to grow as a performer.
That kind of steady encouragement mattered during the years when Langley was still figuring out where music would take her. Popwell’s support was not just about lessons. It became part of the foundation that helped her move from a student with promise to an artist with a clear direction.
The guitar gift that marked her move from college to Nashville
Langley’s path took a major turn after two years at Auburn University, when she decided to leave college and pursue music full time in Nashville. Popwell said he learned she was headed there and called her before school started, asking her to stop by campus that day.
When she came by, he handed over the 12-string guitar she had loved so much. He later said she took it with her as she set out for Tennessee, giving her a piece of the guidance and encouragement he had already offered in the classroom. For a young artist leaving home, the instrument became both a practical tool and a symbol of belief.
That gesture stayed part of their story over the years. Langley and Popwell remained in touch, and he even appeared at one of her Birmingham shows in the past. Their connection did not fade as her career expanded; instead, it became one of the personal threads that continued to tie her success back to Alabama.
A sold-out Auburn crowd and a backstage reunion
The reunion reached a new level on Saturday night, August 29, when Popwell watched Langley perform at Neville Arena in front of roughly 9,000 fans. It was the second night of her Auburn shows, and the atmosphere was especially emotional because she was returning to the school she once left behind, this time as a rising star drawing a packed arena.
Hooper Academy’s Booster Club shared a backstage photo of Langley and Popwell from the night, and the image showed both the celebration and the memory behind it. Popwell wore his “Choosin’ Auburn” hat and a T-shirt in support of his former student, making it clear he was still cheering for her from the front row and beyond.
He was also seen in the crowd with his wife, watching Langley sing fan favorite “Be Her.” For a teacher who had followed her progress for years, the night gave him a front-row view of how far her voice, and her career, had carried her.
The new guitar from Langley made the memory complete
Langley added another sentimental layer to the reunion by giving Popwell a guitar of her own. This time, he was the one holding the instrument, a Dandelion guitar that she signed on the top alongside an image of her album artwork. She also wrote, “Love you, Coach Pop!!” on it.
The backstage photo from Auburn echoed a 2019 post showing Langley with the guitar Popwell had once given her, his arm around her shoulder. Nearly seven years later, the roles had reversed. The teacher who once handed over an instrument to help a student chase a dream was now receiving one back from that same student, only now she was the one at the center of a sold-out show.
The exchange gave the night a warm symmetry. What began as a classroom connection had turned into a lasting friendship, then into a public celebration of how one educator’s encouragement helped echo all the way to arena-sized success.
What comes next after Langley’s Auburn weekend
After the Auburn shows, Langley has a few days to rest before returning to the road on Thursday, September 10, in Newark, New Jersey. Her upcoming schedule also includes stops in State College, Charleston, Oxford, Athens, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Columbus, Moline, Morrison, Tulsa, Lubbock, and two nights in Los Angeles before later dates in Des Moines, Lincoln, and Saint Paul.
The timing comes during a stretch when her profile continues to rise quickly. Her song “Choosin’ Texas” recently became the longest-running non-holiday No. 1 hit ever on the Billboard Hot 100, adding even more momentum to a year already filled with major milestones. But for one weekend in Auburn, the numbers and charts took a back seat to a personal thank-you between a star and the teacher who helped start it all.
For Langley, the homecoming was not just about the crowd or the venue. It was about returning to the school community that knew her early, and honoring the mentor who believed in her before the larger world did.
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