Auburn building momentum on recruiting trail

Every Tuesday, we present “The Auburn Corner,” where we’ll get into a different topic on the Auburn Tigers, break down the previous game, preview the upcoming game, and everything in between.

In this week’s edition, the Auburn Tigers are shifting the focus to bowl season and the offseason. It will be Nashville and the Music City Bowl for Hugh Freeze and company, but much more important than that is what is happening on the recruiting trail.

We said it all season long. No matter how things looked for Auburn on the field in year one of the Freeze era, fans could hang their hat on the fact that the recruiting aspect had momentum that it had not seen on The Plains in a long time.

Before the season even began, Freeze flipped five-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick, who was committed to Georgia and considering a flip to Alabama. Then, in an even bigger move, the Tigers secured another 5-star flip from Alabama via Foley wide receiver Perry Thompson.

Just last week, it was perhaps the biggest recruiting win of all for Freeze. Cam Coleman, a 2024 5-star receiver from Central Phenix City and one of the best players in the state, flipped from Texas A&M to Auburn to give the Tigers a dynamic 1-2 punch at receiver in Coleman and Perry Thompson.

Now the focus turns to Saraland superstar receiver Ryan Williams. Williams, a 2025 prospect, is widely considered to be the best player in the state and is committed to Alabama. But Auburn has been trying to flip him for a long time. It has long been expected that Williams is going to reclassify to the 2024 class, an announcement that would be made in the coming week.

Could Auburn send shockwaves throughout the state and bring in what would be one of the best wide receiver classes in the history of college football?

Ultimately, most recruiting experts have leaned toward Williams staying with his Alabama commitment, but the race is not over.

Recruiting season is about to heat up, and the Auburn Tigers appear to just be getting started.