Tag: Bradyn Joiner

SEC names four Tigers to All-Freshman squad

Several freshmen are being rewarded for their efforts this season with their first conference honors.

The Southeastern Conference has released its postseason awards for the 2024 season, and four Tigers have found a place within the All-SEC Freshmen team.

Auburn relied heavily on several freshmen this season, and they are being rewarded by earning their first conference honor. Wide receiver [autotag]Cam Coleman[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Demarcus Riddick[/autotag], and cornerback [autotag]Jay Crawford[/autotag] were named to the SEC’s All-Freshman team, the league office announced this week.

Coleman had a spectacular first season on the Plains, ending the year as Auburn’s second-leading receiver behind Penn State transfer [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag]. The freshman from Phenix City logged 37 catches for 598 yards and eight scores in his debut season. He played a vital role in Auburn’s late-season wins over ULM and Texas A&M by hauling in over 100 receiving yards in both games.

Joiner saw action in 10 games as a redshirt freshman for the Tigers in 2024. After participating in 158 snaps over the first eight weeks of the season, Joiner took over the starting role at left guard over Auburn’s final five games. In 486 total snaps, Joiner allowed 11 pressures with three sacks.

Riddick played in 10 games this season in three different positions. He earned his first start in Auburn’s 31-13 loss to Georgia in October and would record two more starts by the season’s end. Riddick’s freshman campaign concluded with 27 tackles, three sacks, and a pass deflection. He made a season-high six tackles in Auburn’s loss to Oklahoma on Sept. 28.

Crawford wraps up Auburn’s representation after making 15 stops with seven pass breakups and an interception. According to Pro Football Focus, Crawford is the fifth-highest-graded freshman cornerback at 77.3. He earns the grade after allowing just 40.3% of passes to be caught and allowing just two opposing touchdowns.

In addition to Auburn’s four all-freshman nods, running back Jarquez Hunter and wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith secured All-SEC honors earlier this week.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

2026 Auburn High running back Omar Mabson earns Auburn offer

Hugh Freeze jumped at the early chance to offer this up-and-coming local product.

After enjoying a breakout season in 2023, Auburn High School running back Omar Mabson has become a hot name on the recruiting trail.

The 2026 running back has fielded several offers this month from programs such as North Alabama, USF, UAB, and Missouri. The latest program to offer is the most notable as they are the hometown team. Auburn offensive coordinator/running backs coach [autotag]Derrick Nix[/autotag] recently visited Mabson and offered him a scholarship.

Of course, the “local factor” is important, but the swiftness of the offer could be a difference-maker in the long run. As a 10th grader during the 2023 season, Mabson led the “baby Tigers” in rushing with 1,283 yards and 16 touchdowns. He reached those numbers by competing in Class 7A, the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s highest classification. He rushed for over 100 yards in nine games last season, including twice over eventual state champion, Central-Phenix City.

In a recent interview with Auburn Undercover ($), Auburn High head coach Keith Etheridge says that Mabson can play running back or receiver, and is working every day to improve.

“(Mabson) came to me at the end of the year and said ‘coach, what do I need to work on?’ I said to work on the breakaway speed and you go from a group of five kid to a power four kid,” Etheridge said. “He was running in the 4.5’s and comes back and gets on the laser and runs a sub 4.4. I make him run it again and he runs it again. He’s really put the work in. He eats, breathes and sleeps it.”

Due to his age, Mabson has not received a rating yet from 247Sports. There are six former Auburn High players on Auburn’s 2024 roster including safety [autotag]Griffin Speaks[/autotag], offensive lineman [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag], and A-Day hero [autotag]Towns McGough[/autotag]. Hugh Freeze appears to be working to build a strong relationship with Auburn High in an effort to strengthen the recruiting pipeline with the hometown high school.

Cadillac Williams resigns from position as Auburn’s associate head coach

The former Auburn running back resigns after spending five seasons as an assistant coach under three different head coaches.

The latest move regarding Auburn’s coaching staff involves a program legend.

[autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag], who played for Auburn from 2001-04 and served as an assistant coach for his alma mater over the last five seasons, resigned from his position as associate head coach and running backs coach late Thursday evening.

Williams shared his reasoning for the move in a press release. He says that he is looking to pursue other opportunities.

“After taking time to pray and reflect, I have made the decision to resign from my position with Auburn football to pursue other opportunities. I love Auburn, the players and AU family with all my heart, but this decision is what is best for me, my wife and sons. I am extremely grateful for the coaching opportunity given to me first by Coach Malzahn and most recently by Coach Freeze. These past five years on the Plains have been nothing short of incredible. Auburn is and always will be a special part of my life.”

War Eagle!

Williams first joined Auburn’s football staff during the 2019 season under head coach [autotag]Gus Malzahn[/autotag], and would go on to serve on the staffs of [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] and [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag]. Following the firing of Harsin during the 2022 season, Williams was named interim head coach. During his time as interim, Williams led the Tigers to a 2-2 record which included an emotional home win over Texas A&M.

Williams is also known as an effective recruiter, as he played a role in landing running backs [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag], [autotag]Damari Alston[/autotag], and [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag]. He was also the primary recruiter for offensive linemen [autotag]Clay Wedin[/autotag] and [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag].

Williams’ resignation marks the fourth assistant coach to leave the staff since the offseason began. Defensive coordinator [autotag]Ron Roberts[/autotag] is now a member of the staff at Florida while defensive backs coach [autotag]Wesley McGriff[/autotag] has joined Mike Elko’s staff at Texas A&M. Auburn has also parted ways with offensive coordinator [autotag]Philip Montgomery[/autotag].

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Experienced OL from Eastern Michigan earns offer from Auburn

Hugh Freeze and staff are continuing to work towards building the best OL in the SEC by offering talented options from the transfer portal.

[autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] and staff are continuing to address its need for experienced offensive linemen by extending an offer to a three-year starter.

[autotag]Marcellus Johnson[/autotag], who has spent the last three seasons as Eastern Michigan’s starting left tackle, received an offer from Auburn over the weekend.

Signing day was kind to Auburn in the form of offensive linemen, as the Tigers were able to secure [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag], [autotag]Clay Wedin[/autotag], [autotag]Connor Lew[/autotag], [autotag]Tyler Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Izavion Miller[/autotag] during the early signing period as well as [autotag]Dillon Wade[/autotag] from the transfer portal. However, improving the offensive line is a dire need, and Freeze wishes to lay the foundation for his younger linemen by adding experience, which can be found in Johnson.

Johnson was the fourth-highest-graded blocker for Eastern Michigan last season with a grade of 71.6 according to Pro Football Focus, with his strong suit being pass blocking, which goes together with Freeze’s offensive philosophy.

Johnson tells Jeremy Werner of Illini Inquirer, a division of 247Sports, that he will take visits to programs that he is interested in between the dates of Jan. 4 and Jan. 8, although he has not stated publically his intent to visit Auburn during those dates.

“I plan on taking all of my visits from the 4th through the 8th, and I will make my decision while I am either on a visit or soon after,” Johnson said. “I will try to hit East Coast to West Coast first. But the biggest deciding factor for me is the O-line coach. I want to make sure I have a great connection with him.”

Since entering the portal, Johnson has received 18 offers, which include Colorado, Wisconsin, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Troy in addition to Auburn.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=]

[listicle id=59329]

Jeremiah Cobb did not sign with Auburn on Wednesday. Why is that?

Auburn inked 18 players on the first day of the early signing period, but one important name was missing.

When [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] took over the head coaching job at Auburn on Nov. 28, he entered a tough situation on the recruiting front.

After spending time near the bottom of the SEC rankings, the Tigers ended the day with a top-20 class. The bump was a testament to the hard work of Hugh Freeze and staff to make up for what Freeze felt was unacceptable.

“It’s been a wild two weeks for us,” Hugh Freeze said Wednesday. “We came into this considerably behind what I think Auburn should be in recruiting.”

Loyal commits such as [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag], [autotag]J.C. Hart[/autotag], and [autotag]Terrance Love[/autotag] all signed with Auburn on the first day of the early signing period, while [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag], [autotag]Connor Lew[/autotag], and [autotag]Stephen Jackson[/autotag] signed with Auburn after previously committing elsewhere.

Despite the excitement surrounding Wednesday’s signees, there was one important name that was not announced as an early signee.

[autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag], a four-star running back from Montgomery, did not sign on Wednesday, making him the only 2023 pledge that did not make his commitment to Auburn official.

Should this be a concern for Auburn fans? Christian Clemente of 247Sports says that fans should not worry, as Cobb is still a strong Auburn commit.

Clemente says that Cobb has elected to wait until February to sign his letter of intent so that he can enjoy the special occasion with his teammates at Montgomery Catholic. Although he is waiting an extra six weeks to sign with the Tigers, Clemente is confident that Cobb is locked in with Auburn and does not see another program in the hunt.

Cobb is the No. 12 running back from the 2023 class, and the No. 16 overall prospect from the state of Alabama. Cobb has been committed to Auburn since July 1 and visited the campus three times during the 2022 season.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=]

[listicle id=59234]

Auburn Football reels in top 20 class during early signing period

A program scraping the bottom of the SEC barrel just one month ago now sports a top-20 class.

One of the biggest surprises of the early signing period’s first day was the Auburn Tigers.

A program scraping the bottom of the SEC barrel just one month ago now sports a top-20 class thanks to the efforts of [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag], [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Zac Etheridge[/autotag], and the new-look staff that has been constructed over the last three weeks.

Auburn nailed down several of their most loyal commits on Wednesday, including OL [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag] and CB [autotag]J.C. Hart[/autotag]. The Tigers also received a couple of surprises in the form of CB [autotag]Kayin Lee[/autotag] and EDGE [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag], who flipped from Ohio State and Florida State on signing day respectively.

After the dust settled, Freeze said that he felt recruiting was “considerably behind” Auburn’s standard, and called the last two weeks of recruiting “wild.”

“It’s been a remarkable job by our on-the-field coaches who were actively out getting after it, but also the people who serve this program here in the building and made the families that came on the visits feel like there’s something special occurring here.I thought we really did well with the DB room and made some dents in our needs in the offensive line room. Edge guys I thought we did really well with on defense; we still have some work to do on the interior and on O-line. We’re really not through anywhere. We still have some big targets out there that hopefully we can close on now or in January.”

Out of the 18 signees that Auburn secured on Wednesday, seven of those are rated as four stars according to 247Sports, ranking them 20th overall according to the outlet’s recruiting rankings. Auburn’s signing class impressed the experts at On3, as they have the Tigers ranked No. 16 overall.

The early signing period continues through Friday, with national signing day taking place on Feb. 1, 2023.

[lawrence-related id=59257,59253,59229]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=]

[listicle id=59234]

Auburn commits announce early signing period plans

Five Auburn commits have announced their plans for the early signing period.

The early signing period is among the most important dates in college football, and it is just days away. It opens Wednesday, Dec. 21 and numerous college football recruits will sign with their future team. Several Auburn commits plan to do just that.

Auburn’s 2023 recruiting class has 13 commits and ranks 42nd in the country according to the 247Sports team rankings. Since arriving, [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has put an emphasis on recruiting the trenches and it has paid off, the Tigers have four commits along the offensive line and three along the defensive line.

As of today, five of Auburn’s commits have announced their plans for the early signing period. Here is a look at when they will sign with the Tigers on Wednesday.

Auburn commit to play for state championship on Wednesday night

Four-star OL Bradyn Joiner will get a head start by playing his final high school game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

One member of Auburn’s 2023 recruiting class will play his final high school game at his college home, Jordan-Hare Stadium, on Wednesday night.

Four-star OL [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag] and the Auburn High School Tigers will face perennial power, Thompson, on Wednesday night for the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A finals.

The “baby Tigers” as they were once known avenged an earlier loss to Central Phenix City last Friday by defeating the Red Devils, 14-13 at Garrett Harrison Stadium in Phenix City. With the win, Auburn High was able to knock former Auburn commit, [autotag]Karmello English[/autotag], and former Auburn quarterback [autotag]Patrick Nix[/autotag], who is the head coach of Central Phenix City’s program, out of the playoffs.

Joiner has been a commit since Jan. 1 of this year, becoming one of the first players to pledge their commitment to Auburn. Since committing to Auburn, Joiner has been a frequent visitor to the Plains. He has made six visits to campus this calendar year according to 247Sports, and was on site for Auburn’s games against Penn State, Missouri, and LSU at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Joiner is the No. 25 recruit in the state of Alabama for the 2023 cycle according to 247Sports and is the No. 54 interior offensive lineman in the country.

Click here to watch Joiner and the Tigers play Thompson for the Class 7A state championship on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. CT. (Subscription required)

[mm-video type=video id=01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf/01gjx6vaz8tcbetbenrf-6b51a8614f2a12246d6428aafe740ec5.jpg]

[vertical-gallery id=58279]

Bradyn Joiner: ‘Everybody that has committed, they love Auburn’

Auburn’s first commit of the 2023 class discusses the ongoing hot seat talk regarding head coach Bryan Harsin.

Every Auburn fan is concerned with the state of the program, and what its’ future holds under head coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag].

There is another class of people who are also concerned with the future of the program, those that have committed to play for the Tigers in the future.

As one of those commits, four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag] hears more chatter regarding Harsin’s job status than anyone. He plays high school football for Auburn High School and plays alongside Harsin’s son, Davis, who serves as the Tigers’ quarterback in several packages as an 11th grader.

In a recent interview with Keith Niebuhr of Auburn Live, Joiner says that the criticism that Auburn’s head coach is experiencing is a tad extreme.

“I just feel like a lot of fans and people that are not even Auburn fans are pressing on Harsin more than he should be pressed,” Joiner tells Auburn Live. “This is his second season. The first year, everybody gave him crap. He’s trying too hard to please everybody.”

While Joiner wishes that the coach that he has committed to play for would not receive as much backlash, he understands that college football is a business and that he needs to consider his personal future.

“You’ve got to be selfish sometimes in the recruiting process,” Joiner says. “(The hot seat talk) kind of bothers me, but at the same time, it’s a business. People say stuff but you’ve got to keep moving forward.”

At the end of the day, Joiner says that he has committed to Auburn, and not to any one coach. The good news for Auburn fans is that the majority of the other ten commits in the class seem to echo Joiner’s sentiment.

“Everybody that has committed, they love Auburn,” Joiner said. “That’s the first thing they say, they love the atmosphere. They don’t really say much about the coaches. We don’t ever really talk about it.”

Auburn Football currently ranks No. 48 in 247Sports’ recruiting rankings for the 2023 recruiting cycle. The Tigers have 11 total commits, with eight currently rated as four stars.

[mm-video type=video id=01gfvcx6rdf2w99bkck7 playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gfvcx6rdf2w99bkck7/01gfvcx6rdf2w99bkck7-8dd0970c6794d67e8210e750d1be9c07.jpg]

[listicle id=55478]

Three Auburn commits to compete in annual all-star game

Three top Auburn commits for the 2023 cycle will get the chance to showcase their skills while representing their home state.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association released the roster and coaches for the 36th annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic, and Auburn will have three representatives on team Alabama.

Four-star running back [autotag]Jeremiah Cobb[/autotag], four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag], and three-star cornerback [autotag]JC Hart[/autotag] are among 40 high school seniors that were chosen to represent the state of Alabama in the annual game that will take place on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile.

Cobb is having a wonderful season to this point, playing a major role in Montgomery Catholic’s 9-0 record. He has rushed for 1,180 yards and 19 touchdowns while reeling in nine catches for 174 yards and four additional scores. Montgomery Catholic has outscored their opponents, 523-57 through nine games, and will compete for a region title this Friday at Andalusia.

Joiner will be joined by his high school head coach, Keith Etheridge in Mobile, as he was named to the coaching staff for Team Alabama. Joiner is a part of an Auburn High School team that is currently 7-1 on the season after dropping their first game of the season last week to Central-Phenix City, which is coached by former Auburn quarterback [autotag]Patrick Nix[/autotag].

Auburn’s third representative, JC Hart, is a vital part of Lochapoka High School’s best start since 2013. The Indians are 7-1 and are expected to be playoff bound for the third season in a row.

Auburn is currently ranked No. 48 in the 247Sports overall rankings for the 2023 cycle with 11 current commitments. Out of those commitments, eight of them are rated as four-star prospects.

[mm-video type=video id=01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb playlist_id=01eqbyzb4ahnasj2m3 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb/01gfgzbayv4cbdxvjxrb-142626ab7ca33245bbf06bff7b805138.jpg]

[listicle id=55478]