Why three-star DL Darrion Smith flipped to sign with Auburn over Tennessee

Smith joins high school teammates Bryce Deas and Blake Woodby by signing with Auburn.

Opening day of the early signing period is flipping to the afternoon hours, and Auburn has already taken a prized recruit away from an SEC rival.

Hayes Fawcett of On3 reports that Auburn has officially flipped [autotag]Darrion Smith[/autotag], a three-star defensive lineman from Baltimore, Maryland, from Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers.

How did Auburn pull off the flip? They can credit their performance against Texas A&M as a major factor.

Smith took his official visit to Auburn during the weekend of Nov. 23 for the Texas A&M game and came away impressed with Auburn’s 43-41, double-overtime win over the Aggies. He broke down his visit with Cole Pinkston of Auburn Live.

“It was definitely amazing,” Smith said of his official visit to Auburn in November. “It was one of the best college visits I have had. The game, I don’t even know what type of words to put it in. It was a thriller. It was definitely the craziest game I have been to so far.”

It helped matters that he is teammates with two fellow 2025 Auburn commits: [autotag]Bryce Deas[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Woodby[/autotag]. Deas was the first St. Francis prospect to commit to Auburn, doing so in June.  Woodby followed suit by committing to Auburn during Big Cat Weekend in July.

The trio has officially signed with Auburn, becoming part of one of the nation’s top classes for the 2025 cycle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDK1g0sPTjb/?img_index=1

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__