Auburn is already benefiting from Hugh Freeze’s knack for recruiting

Despite only being on the job for seven months, Hugh Freeze has led Auburn to a top five spot in 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings.

After dismissing [autotag]Brian Harsin[/autotag] in October of last year, Auburn hired [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] in hopes that he would rebuild a program that had been steadily declining over the last two seasons.

He has yet to coach a game, but Freeze is already proving that he was the right choice due to his success on the recruiting trail. Auburn ended the 2023 recruiting cycle with the No. 18 class, and they did more damage within the transfer portal by landing the nation’s No. 3 overall class.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports recently broke down the top 10 transfer portal hauls of the 2023 cycle and has listed Auburn’s class as one of the most impressive in college football.

Crawford says that Freeze is proving his positive track record in recruiting already.

Auburn’s power brass knew of Hugh Freeze’s ability to recruit and he has made noise ahead of his first campaign. Freeze has convinced 11 four-star transfers to join him on The Plains ahead of the 2023 season, including several defensive linemen that will assist in Auburn’s all-new group of pass rushers. The Tigers landed a much-needed quarterback too in (Payton) Thorne, doing so after the two-week April window. A couple pass-catching additions will provide immediate assistance.

Crawford listed quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag], DL [autotag]Justin Rogers[/autotag], OL [autotag]Avery Jones[/autotag], and WR [autotag]Caleb Burton[/autotag] as the “hot names” of Auburn’s transfer portal haul, but the Tigers reeled in several potential day-one starters in OL’s [autotag]Gunner Britton[/autotag] and [autotag]Dillon Wade[/autotag], LB [autotag]Larry Nixon III[/autotag], and RB [autotag]Brian Battie[/autotag].

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Harsin: Nick Brahms is ‘done with football’

Nick Brahms has decided to end his career due to injuries.

Auburn will be without one of the most experienced linemen in the country.

[autotag]Nick Brahms[/autotag] has started 33 games at center for Auburn but will not be able to play in the 2022 college fotball season due to knee issues head coach [autotag]Brian Harsin[/autotag] announced Monday. Harsin added that Brahms is “done with football.”

Brahms appeared in 40 games during his five seasons at Auburn after redshirting in 2017. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Brahms became the starting center during the 2018 season and then split starting duties during 2019 before winning the job towards the end of the season.

He was Auburn’s full-time starter for the 2021 and 2021 seasons and will leave a hole in the middle of the offensive line that Auburn must fill.

Junior [autotag]Tate Johnson[/autotag] is listed as the starter on Auburn’s Week 1 depth chart. Veteran [autotag]Jalil Irvin[/autotag] and sophomore [autotag]Avery Jernigan[/autotag] are listed as his backups. Johnson has appeared in one game during his career.

Auburn will start the season Saturday against Mercer at 6 p.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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A new edge rusher target has emerged after he picked up an offer from Auburn

Auburn extends an offer to Texas edge defender in the latest recruiting efforts on the trail.

On Monday, Auburn extended an offer to 2023 edge rusher Braylan Shelby. Shelby, the Texas native, already holds 25 offers. With the Tigers likely losing [autotag]Derrick Hall[/autotag] and [autotag]Eku Leota[/autotag], the addition of Shelby would be a massive addition for the 2023 class.

Auburn’s lone commit of the 2023 class is offensive lineman [autotag]Bradyn Joiner[/autotag]. [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] and his staff certainly hope that their recruiting class isn’t a replica of last year’s recruiting class. Last year, the Tigers ranked 9th in the SEC in 247’s recruiting rankings. A guy like Shelby could definitely bolster Auburn’s chances of having a better recruiting cycle for 2023.

Braylan Shelby’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 3 44 29
Rivals 3 26
ESPN 3
On3 Recruiting 4 244 41 28
247 Composite 3 415 70 34

Vitals

Hometown Friendswood, Texas
Projected Position Edge Rusher/ Outside Linebacker
Height 6’5
Weight 225
Class 2023

Recruitment

  • Offered on March 28, 2022
  • No visits are currently planned

Offers

Crystal Ball

No crystal balls have been submitted.

Film

Twitter

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Plane tracking Auburn football’s quest for Bryan Harsin at Boise State

Plane tracking the Auburn football coaching search upon reaching an agreement with Boise State’s Bryan Harsin

Tuesday, news broke that the Auburn football program would look to Boise State’s Bryan Harsin as the successor to Gus Malzahn at head coach.

After a week filled with drama and headlines for the Tigers, the program appears to finally have a candidate interested in taking the available position on ‘The Plains.’

UGAWire decided to fire up the ‘ole planetracker for a variety of Alabama airports upon hearing the news.

Coincidentally, it looks as though a plane is currently headed to Prattville, Alabama out of Boise, Idaho.

Now, before you jump to conclusions that this could be any regular delivery jet, a rental plane arrived in Boise at 1:00 ET this afternoon.

Within the hour of the news breaking on Harsin to Auburn, a new plane took off headed back to Prattville.

Of course, this isn’t 100% confirmed to be related to Auburn, but who else is traveling to Boise, Idaho out of a private airport in the Alabama countryside  where several boosters for the school reside, on a NetJet.

Let’s speculate for a minute. The plane that went out to Boise likely delivered powerful members of the Auburn search committee and or boosters to work out a contract with Harsin.

Upon reaching an agreement, the Auburn people out in Boise are headed back East and now have two destinations tonight.

First, the returning NetJet plane is scheduled to arrive in Prattville at 10:30 ET. Then, the jet will take off again for Atlanta at Peachtree Dekalb Airport, with a scheduled arrival of midnight ET.

What does all this mean?

Well, it could very well be powerful members of the Auburn board/boosters arriving in Prattville tonight, with the remaining members of the search committee going back to Atlanta.

Remember, the Tigers announced last week that they would use a committee headed out of the Peach State capital for their hiring process.

Stay tuned, folks… We might be onto something here… (wink, wink)

Oh and if you feel up to a little plane tracking yourself… click the link shown here: