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The minds of teenagers are a strange place and that definitely comes in hand when a high school football player is undergoing the recruiting process.
Minds are made up then changed and then changed again. Last-minute decisions are sometimes made with fan bases just waiting to hear their school’s name called.
Auburn was on both sides of that during the 2021 recruiting cycle as the Tigers won and lost some commits seemingly at the last minute.
One player that the Tigers held onto after he was previously committed to Virginia Tech is 4-star quarterback Dematrius Davis out of Houston. The eighth-ranked dual quarterback in the 2021 class signed with Auburn despite the coaching change on Dec. 16 and enrolled early.
The Tigers’ firing of Gus Malzahn seemingly cost them 5-star running back Armani Goodwin who ended up signing with SEC West rival LSU.
From SI.com’s All-Decommit Offensive Team piece:
For Goodwin, a longtime Auburn commitment from within state lines, the change was initiated by the program moving on from Gus Malzahn after the 2020 season. Several programs made a run at the SI99 back, who just set the indoor 60-meter dash record in Class 7A, but LSU won out in the end.
Landen King, a 3-star tight end from Texas that signed with the Tigers instead of the home-state Longhorns is mentioned as well int he article as one of the under consideration players for the team.