Football News: 2-11-2026
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Dudley Dent
Feb 11, 2026, 8:18:37 AM (3 days ago) Feb 11
to Tiger Tracks
Auburn Football News: 2-11-2026
Why Auburn’s DJ Durkin is betting on development over the transfer portal in 2026:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-auburns-dj-durkin-is-betting-on-development-over-the-transfer-portal-in-2026.html
PFF Gives High Praise to Auburn QB Byrum Brown After Transfer from USF:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/football/pff-gives-high-praise-to-auburn-qb-byrum-brown-after-transfer-from-usf-01kh4ye0wzde
Breaking Down Auburn's Top 5 Most Underrated Portal Additions for 2026:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/recruiting/breaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Post-portal window way-too-early roster predictions for Auburn tight ends:
https://flywareagle.com/post-portal-window-way-too-early-roster-predictions-for-auburn-tight-ends-01kh49hjvk45
Why Larry Scott left a head coaching job to be Auburn’s tight ends coach:
https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2026/02/why-larry-scott-left-a-head-coaching-job-to-be-auburns-tight-ends-coach.html
Auburn football assistant coach Kodi Burns details return to alma mater:
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/auburn-football-assistant-coach-kodi-232105449.html
Burns talks rebuilt WR room, leaning on USF transfers to set the tone:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/kodi-burns-talks-about-the-wide-receiver-room-and-why-the-usf-transfers-are-key-in-year-one-273887080/
VIDEO: Auburn offensive coaches talk post-transfer portal:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/auburn-football-sec-tigers-kodi-burns-larry-porter-larry-scott-tyler-hudanick-video-273886002/
National CFB writer claims Auburn is good enough to win nine games under Alex Golesh:
https://flywareagle.com/national-cfb-writer-claims-auburn-is-good-enough-to-win-nine-games-under-alex-golesh
Auburn football lands official visit with Alabama commit Nash Johnson:
https://auburnwire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/auburn/recruiting/2026/02/10/auburn-football-recruiting-nash-johnson-official-visit-alabama-sec/88603711007/
Expert Predicts Auburn Will Lose 4-Star RB Jayden Miles to LSU:
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/expert-predicts-auburn-lose-4-210151191.html
On3's Ari Wasserman said what Auburn fans don't want to acknowledge on Cam Coleman:
https://flywareagle.com/on3-ari-wasserman-said-what-auburn-fans-dont-want-to-acknowledge-cam-coleman
Joel Klatt projects Keldric Faulk and Caleb Downs to land with horrid NFL defense:
https://flywareagle.com/joel-klatt-projects-keldric-faulk-and-caleb-downs-to-land-with-horrid-nfl-defense
Why Auburn’s DJ Durkin is betting on development over the transfer portal in 2026
By Jerry Humphrey III
al.com
Auburn football’s defensive line benefitted heavily from returning Dallas Walker IV on a granted waiver for an extra year of eligibility.
Last season he totaled 13 tackles and a forced fumble for the Tigers. He’s one of four returners from last year’s roster on the interior defensive line, joining sophomores Malik Autry, Darrion Smith and Jourdin Crawford.
DJ Durkin discussed the impact Walker’s presence in this year’s defensive line room will have with the Tigers also bringing in Cody Sigler, Saint Farrior and Walter Mathis Jr. out of the transfer portal.
“Man, I got to tell you what, that waiver coming through was huge for Dallas. I think Dallas played really well for us last year and he got better and better as the year went on. Obviously, he’ll be a guy we can count on moving forward. The freshmen we talked about, those guys, they played productive snaps for us last year. If you play as a true freshman defensive line in the SEC, it’s not an easy thing to do. We have really, really high expectations for those guys this year and moving forward,” Durkin said.
Autry played in nine games for the Tigers and finished with just eight tackles. Smith finished with seven quarterback pressures and a win rate of 13.8 percent, which ranked third on the team according to Pro Football Focus.
Crawford did not see much action in his freshman year. However, after losing last year’s starter Malik Blocton to the transfer portal he could have a much bigger role in 2026.
Durkin emphasized the importance of player development on how he plans to do that with that entire position group.
“So, to have them all return, still be here with us and be in that next year development is critical. I believe the thing that is so missed and lost in college football right now is the development,” Durkin added. “The way you get better at anything in life is to do something consistently over and over again. When these guys bounce around from year to year, different coaches, different systems, different drills that you’re working on, it’s really hard to continue to develop at the rate you should. And so those guys in particular, we’re expecting great things from them.”
Auburn’s spring practices begin March 17, and the A-Day spring game will take place on Saturday, April 18 where fans will get their first look at the new look Tigers’ roster.
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PFF Gives High Praise to Auburn QB Byrum Brown After Transfer from USF
By Brooks Crew
Byrum Brown, the new quarterback of the Auburn Tigers, has already proven to be one of the most hyped quarterbacks in the recent memory of the program, and for good reason after a stellar career at USF. On Monday, Pro Football Focus released its rating list for 2026 transfer quarterbacks, and Brown found himself headlining the group.
Brown’s 91.5 grade from PFF is a whole point above second place, represented by new Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Last season, Brown earned an 85.7 passing grade and an 86.2 rushing grade from PFF, and was the only quarterback to be graded above an 85 in both categories.
https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/2020922016904401214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2020922016904401214%7Ctwgr%5Ef84e87088b1e73ab5e2dcc27cf9f91e9fb0fa5a1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Ffootball%2Fpff-gives-high-praise-to-auburn-qb-byrum-brown-after-transfer-from-usf-01kh4ye0wzde
So, what makes the Tigers’ new quarterback so special?
Brown’s production last year at South Florida was among the best in football, as he was the only quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards and pass for over 3,000 yards last season.
Additionally, Brown accumulated a whopping 28 passing touchdowns with 14 rushing touchdowns. His 42 total touchdowns accounted for on the season, second to only Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, though Mendoza only rushed for seven touchdowns on the season.
Brown will also have the opportunity to build off those numbers in 2026. With the Tigers bringing on his former head coach, Alex Golesh, as well as his former offensive coordinator, Joel Gordon, Brown will have system continuity despite being in a new location.
Gordon had high praise for Brown, referring to him as the best running quarterback in football
“He’s tough as nails, and he’s full of grit. He’s a great competitor,” Gordon said. “He’s easily the best running quarterback I’ve ever seen.”
Additionally, the Tigers have brought on some familiar receivers for Brown, including Jeremiah Koger, Christian Neptune, Kory Pettigrew, Jonathan Echols, Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod, all of whom played in Brown’s offense during his dominant season.
Brown will not have to do all the rushing on his own, either. The Tigers signed Bryson Washington, a former Baylor standout running back, to complement an already-strong rushing game headlined by returning running back Jeremiah Cobb.
Brown could have easily declared for the 2026 NFL Draft after the season he had in 2025, but he ultimately decided to give the Tigers a shot with his coach, and Auburn may just be all the better for it.
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Breaking Down Auburn's Top 5 Most Underrated Portal Additions for 2026
By Micah Farmer
The Auburn Tigers had a busy offseason transfer portal period, losing 37 players to the portal and bringing in 39 new additions. Some of the new Tigers come in highly touted, such as top 10 quarterback in the Portal Byrum Brown and top 10 portal running back Bryson Washington.
However, Auburn also added some under the radar players that could provide some key boosts to new head coach Alex Golesh’s squad in 2026. Here are the five most underrated portal pickups for Auburn Football in this season’s transfer period.
Edge Nate Johnson
https://twitter.com/Auburnanytime/status/2010063778432618887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2010063778432618887%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Johnson, a former three-star recruit who committed to App State out of high school, is the epitome of a buy-low addition with some tremendous upside. The former Mountaineer was named Second Team All-Sun Belt as a true freshman after bursting onto the scene with 7.5 sacks, which led his team.
After two seasons with App State, Johnson transferred to Missouri, where he expected to gain some SEC experience. However, the move didn’t go as planned, with Johnson having to give way for the Tigers’ superstar pass rush duo of Zion Young and Damon Wilson II, both of whom were game wreckers for Eli Drinkwitz’s squad in 2025.
Though the numbers for Johnson haven’t been great as a result (just 2.5 sacks in his last two seasons), he still has immense talent and good size at 6-foot-5 and 252 pounds. He was ranked as the No. 27 edge rusher in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 30 at the position by On3’s Rivals.
If Auburn and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin can help Johnson get up to speed and comfortable quickly, a former breakout star with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove could absolutely be someone to watch for the Tigers.
CB Andre Jordan
Jordan will have very big shoes to fill on the boundary for the Tigers after the departures of Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee, but his UCLA tape suggests that he might just be built for the task. Ranked as the No. 18 corner in the portal by Rivals and the No. 32 corner by 247 Sports, Jordan is the top addition for Auburn at the position in this cycle.
However, he has needed to earn each one of those stars. He committed to Oregon State as a zero-star recruit out of high school, and played significant time on the outside in five of the Beavers’ final six games. He played one more season in Corvallis before transferring to UCLA for 2025, where he was arguably the Bruin’s best defensive player and earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
He has consistently improved via the advanced metrics, posting a higher coverage grade each season via Pro Football Focus. That grade topped out at 74.0 for the 2025 season, including an outstanding 80.6 grade against USC, a team that had arguably the best receiving trio in college football in Makai Lemon, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Tanook Hines, though Lemon and Lane were suspended for the first quarter.
At 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Jordan is primarily a boundary corner, spending most of his time on the outside. He has a good ability to stick with receivers in man coverage and a knack for separating the ball from the receiver at the catch point, making him a quality anchor for the Auburn secondary in 2026.
TE Jake Johnson
Though Johnson hasn’t quite lit up the stat sheet in four seasons of college football with 43 catches for 402 yards and 5 touchdowns, the former four-star prospect from Bogart, Ga., offers Auburn a reliable all-around option at tight end to go along with some of the dynamic athletes at the position in Ryan Ghea and USF transfer Jonathan Echols.
He is ranked as the No. 37 tight end in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 48 at the position by Rivals. However, he could potentially be far more valuable on The Plains than those rankings would suggest.
The former Tar Heel and Aggie is a reliable pass blocker, earning a mid-60s grade from PFF for all but two of his games in 2025. He also posted a season grade of 66.3 in the same area with the Tar Heels in 2024. However, that doesn’t mean he offers no value as a receiver.
Though not quite the same level of athlete as Ghea or Echols, Johnson has a good feel for coverage as a route runner and enough suddenness to create separation from linebackers and safeties. Most importantly, he has extremely reliable hands, posting just a single drop in four seasons of play and none in each of the last two seasons.
Johnson should be able to serve as both a mentor for Auburn’s young tight end room and a reliable safety blanket for quarterback Byrum Brown, two things that would be invaluable for the Tigers’ offense and a much-needed improvement at the position.
OG Kenneth McManus IV
https://twitter.com/TransferPortal/status/2013689368641237287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2013689368641237287%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
McManus wasn’t the flashiest pickup on the offensive line for Auburn in the portal this offseason, but he could end up being one of the most valuable players in the class for a simple reason: he is just a rising sophomore, yet already has a full season of starting action under his belt at the FBS level. He is ranked as the No. 82 interior lineman in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 103 at the position from Rivals, which is simply too low.
He was not elite by any standard in 2025, but he was still easily an above-average player for Akron, especially in the run game. Pass protection was more difficult for the freshman, who wasn’t always the best at getting set in time to properly anchor himself against opposing rushers.
Though it will definitely be a jump in competition for McManus from Akron to the SEC, he will join an interior offensive line room that already features USF transfers Cole Best and Cole Skinner, along with the returning Kail Ellis, another talented young player.
If the 6-foot-2, 320-pound McManus can get up to speed quickly, which all evidence points to him being able to do, Auburn very well could have just secured a reliable three-year starter at offensive guard for the future for great value out of the MAC.
DB Kamari Todd
https://twitter.com/Auburnanytime/status/2013280839178612769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2013280839178612769%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Todd was a later portal addition for Auburn, one of the final five players to commit to the Tigers in the window. He was ranked the No. 180 CB in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 209 at the position by Rivals. The defensive back is from nearby Gardendale, Ala, just over two hours from Auburn.
Despite being listed as a corner on most recruiting sites, Todd spent his high school playing days as a safety. As a freshman with FCS Chattanooga, he found a home in the nickel, where he played 339 of his 511 defensive snaps.
He quickly flourished in the role, showing off a tremendous ability to cover ground and pursue downhill. His best performance of the season came against VMI in Week 6, when he recorded 13 tackles and a tackle for loss en route to TSWA Player of the Week.
Though listed at 6-foot-1 and just 170 pounds by the Mocs, Todd can trigger down and hit more like a 190-pound safety and destroy an offense’s ability to utilize the quick game, such as screens or swing passes. He struggles slightly over the top or when asked to move backward, but when in downhill pursuit, he is absolutely clinical.
Similar to McManus, Todd could be a key pickup for Auburn thanks to his youth. He easily has the instincts and tackling ability to play in the SEC; it just remains to see whether or not he can earn the playing time over some of the Tigers’ established players at the position. Either way, Auburn has definitely found an extremely fun spark plug to add to its defensive rotation for 2026.
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Post-portal window way-too-early roster predictions for Auburn tight ends
By Brian Stultz
Auburn fans will need a roster for the first few games of the 2026 football season, as massive turnover has come with a brand-new coaching staff on the Plains.
Alex Golesh has brought in a new crop of players who are looking to restore pride to the Auburn football program after a disappointing five losing seasons under Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze. While the Tigers have lost some major talent, Golesh and his staff have helped restock that with some critical signees, including many from his former team, USF.
With Auburn likely done in the transfer portal, here’s a quick look at how both sides of the ball stand with a depth chart for each position. Today, we look at Auburn’s tight ends.
Tight Ends
Starter: Jake Johnson (Sr.)
Backups: Hunter Herring (Sr.), Arlis Boardingham (Sr.), Jonathan Echols (Sr.), Ryan Ghea (So.), Xavier Newsom (So.), Demarcus Broughton (Fr.)
No, you didn’t miss a tight end catching a touchdown for the Tigers last season, because it never happened, one of the few seasons in program history that that can be said. Brandon Frazier and Preston Howard combined for 23 catches for 181 yards, but like many of the offensive players, their lack of production came down to an inefficient offense and quarterbacks.
Frazier graduated, while Howard returned to Maryland, meaning that, like every position, Golesh had to find a ton of replacements. In comes Jake Johnson from North Carolina, where he recorded 16 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown last season and Jonathan Echols, who followed Golesh from USF after catching nine passes for 109 yards and three scores in 2025.
Hunter Herring, who played quarterback at Louisiana-Monroe last season, is an interesting prospect as he switches to tight end, while Ryan Geah returns after two catches last season for Auburn.
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Why Larry Scott left a head coaching job to be Auburn’s tight ends coach
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
From the outside looking in, Larry Scott’s situation was comfortable.
He was the head football coach at Howard University, the world-famous HBCU in Washington D.C. The football program, which competes at the FCS level, wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, but Scott had the Bison consistently competing near the top of the MEAC.
But after six seasons in charge, the then 48-year-old head coach was ready for the next challenge, even if it meant going back to being an assistant coach.
Scott is one of just two assistants on Auburn’s offensive staff who didn’t come with Alex Golesh from USF. However, the two already had somewhat of a connection.
Scott was Tennessee’s tight ends coach/offensive coordinator in 2017, a position Golesh later held in 2021 and 2022. One of the program’s secretaries at the time connected the two, which is where the relationship started. Then while at USF, Golesh hired Scott’s son, Larry Scott III as an analyst, which gave him a direct connection with the family.
The growing relationship with Golesh, Scott said, is one of the primary reasons why he left Howard.
“It was about the people,” Scott said. “It’s an opportunity to work with him, and the success that he’s had on the field and in the world of recruiting and acquiring talent, my son being here, I mean, the brand that is Auburn, the chance to play year in and year out and compete for national championships, and to do it with really good people.”
Prior to being Howard’s head coach, Scott made multiple stops in the SEC and at other big-time programs. He had stints as a tight ends coach at USF, Miami, Tennessee and Florida, while also spending one season as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.
He also briefly served as Miami’s interim head coach in 2015 after Al Golden was fired. He went 4-2 in the role.
At this stage in his coaching career, Scott said he’s at a place where, “you start making some different decisions for yourself as to what it means to be doing what you do.”
Scott said it felt like he was “kind of hitting the ceiling” at Howard, after he’d led the program to two MEAC championships.
While his new gig isn’t a head coaching job, it’s a new challenge. It’s a new opportunity to achieve different goals that might not have been attainable in his previous job.
“Ultimately, it came down to that was a decision that needed to be made, and it was a heck of an opportunity.,” Scott said. “And this is Auburn, right? You can win here, and you can win a national title. It’s a great place. So, it soon became, just like, this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.”
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Auburn football assistant coach Kodi Burns details return to alma mater
By Adam Cole
Montgomery Advertiser
For all the familiarity among Auburn football's latest staff, it's hard to find a coach with more of it than Kodi Burns.
The associate head coach and co-offensive coordinator helming wide receivers for head coach Alex Golesh, Burns has worked alongside Golesh at two different stops, and he's now in his third stint as a coach on the Plains. It's technically his fourth time adorning Auburn threads, as he played for the program from 2007-10 and won a national championship.
"This is home — always has been, always will be," Burns said Tuesday, Feb. 10. "Phenomenal place, phenomenal town, everything about Auburn. What you learn is that football is a real thing, but it’s also about all of the sports. It’s about the university and that logo you put on your chest. It just means a lot to be at a place like Auburn. I’m blessed to be here once again."
Burns was the first addition to Golesh's staff, joining him at his introductory news conference in December. Burns was also Golesh's first call after taking the job, at 2 a.m. the day Auburn made the head coach's hire official.
"Being able to come back with somebody I really respect and believe in, in Coach Golesh, I’m at a loss for words," Burns said. "To be able to come back to my university, my alma mater, and really help us get the program back to winning championships again, because every time I have been here, that’s what I have done."
Burns does know what it takes to win on the Plains. When he was a player, Auburn went 36-16. In his six combined years as an Auburn assistant, the Tigers went 53-25. This return coincides with a new circumstance, coaching alongside someone he's risen with in the coaching ranks.
"He has that it factor about him," Burns said of Golesh. "There's some people that, when they walk in the room, you see it, and you know it. He's one of those guys, right? In my short time that I had at the University of Tennessee, me and Coach Golesh were like this really quick, because we're like-minded. We see the game in the same sense. ... We're just on the same page when it comes to football."
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Burns talks rebuilt WR room, leaning on USF transfers to set the tone
By Jason Caldwell
Kodi Burns knows what it takes to win at Auburn. He also knows what makes this offense click after working with Alex Golesh first at Tennessee and then at USF. One of those things is being explosive in the passing game with the ability to stretch the field at the wide receiver position a big part of that. Despite losing Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Eric Singleton from last year's team, Burns and the Tigers have added a lot of talent to the room heading into the 2026 season.
"These guys know the system," Burns said of the USF transfers that are expected to play a big role in year one. "Ultra-competitive. They are also guys that are proven.
"Obviously rebuilt and lost some talented guys, a couple of guys from last year chose to do something else and that's what college football is right now. What you have to do is adjust. You've got to adapt. We brought guys in that we feel like can go out there and get it done."
Bringing in Keshaun Singleton, Chas Nimrod and Jeremiah Koger that all have experience playing with quarterback Byrum Brown, Burns also added Christian Neptune and Kory Pettigrew as well. He said having those players that are familiar with the quarterback is huge as they get ready for season one under Alex Golesh.
"From a quarterback perspective you always preach timing, precision and accuracy," Burns said. "A quarterback has to be comfortable with who he's throwing the ball to. You can really accelerate that process when you have familiarity with guys you're throwing to. There's a couple of guys that have played a ton of ball with Byrum Brown that he feels really comfortable with and you can really close your eyes as a quarterback and know where he's going to be.
"That gives you confidence and you don't have to spend time figuring things out in a game or during the season. It has already been proven and he knows what it is. I think that's the biggest key, everybody being on the same page. You don't have to figure out who you are as a team throughout the first couple of games."
With only Bryce Cain, Sam Turner, Derick Smith and Erick Smith back from last year's wide receiver group, Burns said he'll count on the transfers from USF to set the tone for what he's looking for on the Plains.
"I talk to my players all the time about it, but here at Auburn you've got to be different," Burns said of the wide receiver position. "I think it starts with an edge and toughness factor that you've got to be able to critical in the run game to be able to help there. That obviously opens up the pass game. When you look at defenses, you have to be able to stop the run. That's football 101. I don't care if you're an offensive coach or a defensive coach, they always say 'we've got to stop the run and have to run the ball.'
"When you're able to run the ball due to receivers also helping in the run game, as a defensive coordinator you have to allocate resources in the box. Now you go from two-high to one-high. As a wide receiver that's when you want to go eat. Our offense is wide open. We're going to take what the defense gives us. We're going to have a lot of opportunities for receivers to go one-on-one and be out in space. That's when we operate at a high clip and why there has been success dating back to us at Tennessee and coach Golesh at UCF and also USF."
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VIDEO: Auburn offensive coaches talk post-transfer portal
By Patrick Bingham
https://youtu.be/12IFDB6G-PI
Watch new Auburn football assistants Kodi Burns, associate head coach and wide receivers coach, Tyler Hudanick, offensive line coach, Larry Scott, tight ends coach, and Larry Porter, running backs coach, spoke with the media Tuesday afternoon following the transfer portal window. Be sure to subscribe to the Auburn Undercover YouTube channel for press conferences and continued coverage of Auburn athletics.
https://youtu.be/NrUeiAbu2Gg
https://youtu.be/JchKdRUzxsE
https://youtu.be/5of2pO2ksvE
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National CFB writer claims Auburn is good enough to win nine games under Alex Golesh
By Andrew Hughes
The Auburn Tigers are a team with bold new expectations under newly hired head coach Alex Golesh. CBS Sports' John Talty set the standard higher than anyone has yet on AU, predicting the program to win seven games and become bowl-eligible in 2026.
Talty took it a step further, though, predicting that the Tigers could be talented enough to win as many as nine games under Golesh, given his roster management that saw several key defenders and running back Jeremiah Cobb retained, plus several USF Bulls transfers, including star quarterback Byrum Brown, making way to the Plains.
"Perhaps this feels like too easy a bar to surpass in Year 1, and in many ways, it is. But you must remember this program has been to two bowl games in five seasons and last won more than six games in 2019. There is enough incoming and returning talent that Golesh could win eight or even nine games in Year 1, but as long as he can get Auburn back on track with a bowl game and seven wins or so, he'll be in good shape," Talty wrote.
Auburn is starving for a winning season. With as little to lose as possible in year one, and coming in with a bigger offensive imagination than Hugh Freeze or Bryan Harsin ever had, Golesh and Brown, the latter of which will have just one year in East Central Alabama to prove he has an NFL future, have the chance to stun the College Football world.
Why not the Tigers? Someone is going to make a rise that no one saw coming. At least some, like Talty, see Golesh's vision.
Alex Golesh expected to raise Auburn's expectations in the locker room
On3's Jake Crain guaranteed to me in early January, after the first week the transfer portal was opened, that Golesh's culture-building process would be different than his two predecessors, even bringing up Nick Saban's name to drive the point home.
"I think you're going to get the opposite of what we just had at Auburn. Golesh wants to mold great people, but he molds great people a different way, not through appeasement. He is going to mold them through putting them through the rigor together, having a super high standard, understanding that you're not going to reach your goals by just being talented," Crain said.
"They're going to have to earn it every single day, and you hear the term process-driven, and that's 100% true. That's why Nick Saban was the best in the world at making every Monday the same, every Tuesday the same, every Wednesday the same, every Thursday and Friday the same, and on Saturday, a lot of it was the same. You're going to go out there and rip somebody's a**, because that's just what you do on this day."
It seems Talty believes that enough to think that suffering only three losses with a difficult schedule that includes the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Volunteers, and Vanderbilt Commodores is on the table.
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Auburn football lands official visit with Alabama commit Nash Johnson
By Taylor Jones
Auburn Wire
A three-star Alabama commit has scheduled a visit to check out Auburn football.
In a recent interview with Rivals, three-star cornerback Nash Johnson revealed he has set up official visits to three schools, including Auburn. Johnson, a native of Powder Springs, Georgia, and a product of McEachern High School, is set to visit Auburn on June 5. The visit to Auburn will be his second scheduled visit of the summer. He plans to take an official visit to Miami on May 29 and another to Tennessee on June 12.
Johnson held an Auburn offer from the previous staff; however, Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is familiar with Johnson, as he, too, offered him while he was head coach at USF. Golesh recently invited Johnson to visit Auburn, a visit that reportedly went well.
“Everything went good," Johnson said of his visit to Auburn. "Coach Demarcus Van Dyke walked us through the basics of being a cornerback, and I liked that a lot.”
Auburn football is a strong contender to land Johnson. However, Auburn must fight off Alabama for his signature. Johnson has been an Alabama pledge since Oct. 4, 2025, and has remained loyal to the Crimson Tide despite fielding offers from Arkansas, Miami, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia since announcing his commitment.
Auburn football ranks No. 53 in the latest 247Sports recruiting rankings for the 2027 cycle with one commitment, three-star TE Tank Proctor.
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Expert Predicts Auburn Will Lose 4-Star RB Jayden Miles to LSU
By Nate Lunak
The Auburn Tigers struggled in 2025. They went just 5-7, marking their fifth straight losing season. During the season, Hugh Freeze was fired and replaced by interim head coach D.J. Durkin.
Auburn quickly got to work once the season ended and hired former USF Bulls head coach Alex Golesh. Now, into his first offseason with the Tigers, he and his staff have slowly gotten to work on the 2027 recruiting class.
With only one commitment so far, the Tigers are eyeing several other players. That includes running back Jayden Miles out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Standing at 6-foot-2 and weighing 200 pounds, he's a four-star recruit, the No. 13 running back and the No. 215 player in the nation, according to Rivals Industry Rankings.
It's a high-powered battle for his commitment. He holds offers from the LSU Tigers, Houston Cougars, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
There's been mutual interest between him and Auburn. Miles previously told Rivals that the Tigers were one of the teams recruiting him the hardest. He then took an unofficial visit with the program on Nov. 29.
However, signs are pointing to an unfortunate outcome for the Tigers. Rivals' Shea Dixon logged an expert prediction for Miles to commit to LSU. Dixon has been correct on 87.5% of his 104 all-time predictions.
Losing the battle would sting, but Auburn still has other options. That includes four-star running back Quinterrius Gipson. With an offer made, the Rivals recruiting prediction machine gives the Tigers a 43.9% chance of landing Gipson, whom Rivals ranks as the No. 9 running back and No. 139 overall recruit of the 2027 class.
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On3's Ari Wasserman said what Auburn fans don't want to acknowledge on Cam Coleman
By Andrew Hughes
Auburn Tiger fans are going to have to come around on the fact that someone who was seemingly never destined to work out in Orange and Blue is about to become a superstar in Burnt Orange and White.
As On3's Ari Wasserman noted, AU wideout transfer Cam Coleman taking his talents to Austin, Texas, to become Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning's top option was probably the best decision in the January portal window.
"If I could pick one player who was available to build my team around, of all the transfers, I think I would pick [Cam] Coleman ... [Factoring in] both talent from the player and the situation that he is going into, I think it's hard to argue against this being [the] number one [portal acquisition]. The offense Texas runs [needs] dynamic receivers, and can really pop when it has [them]," Wasserman said.
Cam Coleman leaving the Plains will be good for Auburn
As On3's Jake Crain told me in early January, Coleman was part of a systematic issue in East Central Alabama under a toxic culture Hugh Freeze established; one that was defined by the highest-paid players setting an awful example in the locker room and not being called out for it.
"...Auburn collapsed in every big moment, basically, during his tenure. And that's not a coincidence. That's not by accident. That is something that is cultivated, and that's why when you see these guys reading, like, I've never, and I'm not saying Cam Coleman isn't talented. He's talented, but he didn't practice hard. Like, these guys, it doesn't work in this sport," Crain said.
Coleman clearly had no interest in having the fairytale, storybook ending in his home county playing for the team he grew up cheering for. What he may need is being a bit humbled in Central Texas before elevating his game to an NFL level. He has the personnel around him to thrive, not just Manning but with decoy Ryan Wingo also lining up on the outside and a rebuilt backfield featuring NC State Wolfpack running back transfer Hollywood Smothers and Arizona State Sun Devils RB transfer Raleek Brown.
In a perfect world, both Coleman and the Tigers will be better off without each other; the former in the NFL after spending most of his career in Auburn and the latter with Alex Golesh's unheralded gems from the USF Bulls' 2025 roster.
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Joel Klatt projects Keldric Faulk and Caleb Downs to land with horrid NFL defense
By Andrew Hughes
FOX Sports' Joel Klatt revealed his 2026 NFL Mock Draft 1.0, and in it, the Dallas Cowboys land both former Ohio State Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide safety Caleb Downs and Auburn Tigers EDGE Keldric Faulk.
The Cowboys' defense ranked No. 30 in total yardage during the 2025 season, a sign of stopping neither the run nor the pass. Downs and, particularly, Faulk offer premier run-stopping abilities, while Downs is superb in coverage on intermediate routes. Faulk brings a toughness to the trenches that Dallas can badly use.
Klatt shared his belief that Faulk could help the Cowboys fill a "Micah Parsons-sized hole" in the middle. Along with Downs, Faulk was credited by Klatt as being the type of talent who can turn a defense around.
"The Cowboys could afford to double up on defense with their two first-round picks. The trade of Micah Parsons left a sizable hole in terms of pass rush. Faulk is versatile and explosive, so I think he could get the job done. These two picks might turn Dallas' defense around," Klatt said.
Keldric Faulk offers high upside but may need time before starting in NFL
Faulk was one of DJ Durkin's great success stories during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but he enters the NFL with a few holes that could cause his stock to fall in the coming weeks, and could ultimately keep him from having a major role right off the bat.
Faulk leans on athleticism and doesn't always cleanly track his targets in the backfield. He also relies a lot on his hands and can use a creative and thoughtful pass-rush coordinator who can diversify his bag to evade blockers.
With Faulk, a team is getting a violent athlete who only figures to improve with time and reps in an NFL system. That team can't expect Faulk to reach anywhere close to his peak in year one, and possibly not in year two.
Give Faulk patience, and a potential future All-Pro defender could sprout, with versatility across the defensive line giving him a better chance to stick long-term in the pros.
Why Auburn’s DJ Durkin is betting on development over the transfer portal in 2026:
https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2026/02/why-auburns-dj-durkin-is-betting-on-development-over-the-transfer-portal-in-2026.html
PFF Gives High Praise to Auburn QB Byrum Brown After Transfer from USF:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/football/pff-gives-high-praise-to-auburn-qb-byrum-brown-after-transfer-from-usf-01kh4ye0wzde
Breaking Down Auburn's Top 5 Most Underrated Portal Additions for 2026:
https://www.si.com/college/auburn/recruiting/breaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Post-portal window way-too-early roster predictions for Auburn tight ends:
https://flywareagle.com/post-portal-window-way-too-early-roster-predictions-for-auburn-tight-ends-01kh49hjvk45
Why Larry Scott left a head coaching job to be Auburn’s tight ends coach:
https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2026/02/why-larry-scott-left-a-head-coaching-job-to-be-auburns-tight-ends-coach.html
Auburn football assistant coach Kodi Burns details return to alma mater:
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/auburn-football-assistant-coach-kodi-232105449.html
Burns talks rebuilt WR room, leaning on USF transfers to set the tone:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/kodi-burns-talks-about-the-wide-receiver-room-and-why-the-usf-transfers-are-key-in-year-one-273887080/
VIDEO: Auburn offensive coaches talk post-transfer portal:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/auburn-football-sec-tigers-kodi-burns-larry-porter-larry-scott-tyler-hudanick-video-273886002/
National CFB writer claims Auburn is good enough to win nine games under Alex Golesh:
https://flywareagle.com/national-cfb-writer-claims-auburn-is-good-enough-to-win-nine-games-under-alex-golesh
Auburn football lands official visit with Alabama commit Nash Johnson:
https://auburnwire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/auburn/recruiting/2026/02/10/auburn-football-recruiting-nash-johnson-official-visit-alabama-sec/88603711007/
Expert Predicts Auburn Will Lose 4-Star RB Jayden Miles to LSU:
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/expert-predicts-auburn-lose-4-210151191.html
On3's Ari Wasserman said what Auburn fans don't want to acknowledge on Cam Coleman:
https://flywareagle.com/on3-ari-wasserman-said-what-auburn-fans-dont-want-to-acknowledge-cam-coleman
Joel Klatt projects Keldric Faulk and Caleb Downs to land with horrid NFL defense:
https://flywareagle.com/joel-klatt-projects-keldric-faulk-and-caleb-downs-to-land-with-horrid-nfl-defense
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By Jerry Humphrey III
al.com
Auburn football’s defensive line benefitted heavily from returning Dallas Walker IV on a granted waiver for an extra year of eligibility.
Last season he totaled 13 tackles and a forced fumble for the Tigers. He’s one of four returners from last year’s roster on the interior defensive line, joining sophomores Malik Autry, Darrion Smith and Jourdin Crawford.
DJ Durkin discussed the impact Walker’s presence in this year’s defensive line room will have with the Tigers also bringing in Cody Sigler, Saint Farrior and Walter Mathis Jr. out of the transfer portal.
“Man, I got to tell you what, that waiver coming through was huge for Dallas. I think Dallas played really well for us last year and he got better and better as the year went on. Obviously, he’ll be a guy we can count on moving forward. The freshmen we talked about, those guys, they played productive snaps for us last year. If you play as a true freshman defensive line in the SEC, it’s not an easy thing to do. We have really, really high expectations for those guys this year and moving forward,” Durkin said.
Autry played in nine games for the Tigers and finished with just eight tackles. Smith finished with seven quarterback pressures and a win rate of 13.8 percent, which ranked third on the team according to Pro Football Focus.
Crawford did not see much action in his freshman year. However, after losing last year’s starter Malik Blocton to the transfer portal he could have a much bigger role in 2026.
Durkin emphasized the importance of player development on how he plans to do that with that entire position group.
“So, to have them all return, still be here with us and be in that next year development is critical. I believe the thing that is so missed and lost in college football right now is the development,” Durkin added. “The way you get better at anything in life is to do something consistently over and over again. When these guys bounce around from year to year, different coaches, different systems, different drills that you’re working on, it’s really hard to continue to develop at the rate you should. And so those guys in particular, we’re expecting great things from them.”
Auburn’s spring practices begin March 17, and the A-Day spring game will take place on Saturday, April 18 where fans will get their first look at the new look Tigers’ roster.
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PFF Gives High Praise to Auburn QB Byrum Brown After Transfer from USF
By Brooks Crew
Byrum Brown, the new quarterback of the Auburn Tigers, has already proven to be one of the most hyped quarterbacks in the recent memory of the program, and for good reason after a stellar career at USF. On Monday, Pro Football Focus released its rating list for 2026 transfer quarterbacks, and Brown found himself headlining the group.
Brown’s 91.5 grade from PFF is a whole point above second place, represented by new Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Last season, Brown earned an 85.7 passing grade and an 86.2 rushing grade from PFF, and was the only quarterback to be graded above an 85 in both categories.
https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/2020922016904401214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2020922016904401214%7Ctwgr%5Ef84e87088b1e73ab5e2dcc27cf9f91e9fb0fa5a1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Ffootball%2Fpff-gives-high-praise-to-auburn-qb-byrum-brown-after-transfer-from-usf-01kh4ye0wzde
So, what makes the Tigers’ new quarterback so special?
Brown’s production last year at South Florida was among the best in football, as he was the only quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards and pass for over 3,000 yards last season.
Additionally, Brown accumulated a whopping 28 passing touchdowns with 14 rushing touchdowns. His 42 total touchdowns accounted for on the season, second to only Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, though Mendoza only rushed for seven touchdowns on the season.
Brown will also have the opportunity to build off those numbers in 2026. With the Tigers bringing on his former head coach, Alex Golesh, as well as his former offensive coordinator, Joel Gordon, Brown will have system continuity despite being in a new location.
Gordon had high praise for Brown, referring to him as the best running quarterback in football
“He’s tough as nails, and he’s full of grit. He’s a great competitor,” Gordon said. “He’s easily the best running quarterback I’ve ever seen.”
Additionally, the Tigers have brought on some familiar receivers for Brown, including Jeremiah Koger, Christian Neptune, Kory Pettigrew, Jonathan Echols, Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod, all of whom played in Brown’s offense during his dominant season.
Brown will not have to do all the rushing on his own, either. The Tigers signed Bryson Washington, a former Baylor standout running back, to complement an already-strong rushing game headlined by returning running back Jeremiah Cobb.
Brown could have easily declared for the 2026 NFL Draft after the season he had in 2025, but he ultimately decided to give the Tigers a shot with his coach, and Auburn may just be all the better for it.
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Breaking Down Auburn's Top 5 Most Underrated Portal Additions for 2026
By Micah Farmer
The Auburn Tigers had a busy offseason transfer portal period, losing 37 players to the portal and bringing in 39 new additions. Some of the new Tigers come in highly touted, such as top 10 quarterback in the Portal Byrum Brown and top 10 portal running back Bryson Washington.
However, Auburn also added some under the radar players that could provide some key boosts to new head coach Alex Golesh’s squad in 2026. Here are the five most underrated portal pickups for Auburn Football in this season’s transfer period.
Edge Nate Johnson
https://twitter.com/Auburnanytime/status/2010063778432618887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2010063778432618887%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Johnson, a former three-star recruit who committed to App State out of high school, is the epitome of a buy-low addition with some tremendous upside. The former Mountaineer was named Second Team All-Sun Belt as a true freshman after bursting onto the scene with 7.5 sacks, which led his team.
After two seasons with App State, Johnson transferred to Missouri, where he expected to gain some SEC experience. However, the move didn’t go as planned, with Johnson having to give way for the Tigers’ superstar pass rush duo of Zion Young and Damon Wilson II, both of whom were game wreckers for Eli Drinkwitz’s squad in 2025.
Though the numbers for Johnson haven’t been great as a result (just 2.5 sacks in his last two seasons), he still has immense talent and good size at 6-foot-5 and 252 pounds. He was ranked as the No. 27 edge rusher in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 30 at the position by On3’s Rivals.
If Auburn and defensive coordinator DJ Durkin can help Johnson get up to speed and comfortable quickly, a former breakout star with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove could absolutely be someone to watch for the Tigers.
CB Andre Jordan
Jordan will have very big shoes to fill on the boundary for the Tigers after the departures of Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee, but his UCLA tape suggests that he might just be built for the task. Ranked as the No. 18 corner in the portal by Rivals and the No. 32 corner by 247 Sports, Jordan is the top addition for Auburn at the position in this cycle.
However, he has needed to earn each one of those stars. He committed to Oregon State as a zero-star recruit out of high school, and played significant time on the outside in five of the Beavers’ final six games. He played one more season in Corvallis before transferring to UCLA for 2025, where he was arguably the Bruin’s best defensive player and earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention.
He has consistently improved via the advanced metrics, posting a higher coverage grade each season via Pro Football Focus. That grade topped out at 74.0 for the 2025 season, including an outstanding 80.6 grade against USC, a team that had arguably the best receiving trio in college football in Makai Lemon, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Tanook Hines, though Lemon and Lane were suspended for the first quarter.
At 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Jordan is primarily a boundary corner, spending most of his time on the outside. He has a good ability to stick with receivers in man coverage and a knack for separating the ball from the receiver at the catch point, making him a quality anchor for the Auburn secondary in 2026.
TE Jake Johnson
Though Johnson hasn’t quite lit up the stat sheet in four seasons of college football with 43 catches for 402 yards and 5 touchdowns, the former four-star prospect from Bogart, Ga., offers Auburn a reliable all-around option at tight end to go along with some of the dynamic athletes at the position in Ryan Ghea and USF transfer Jonathan Echols.
He is ranked as the No. 37 tight end in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 48 at the position by Rivals. However, he could potentially be far more valuable on The Plains than those rankings would suggest.
The former Tar Heel and Aggie is a reliable pass blocker, earning a mid-60s grade from PFF for all but two of his games in 2025. He also posted a season grade of 66.3 in the same area with the Tar Heels in 2024. However, that doesn’t mean he offers no value as a receiver.
Though not quite the same level of athlete as Ghea or Echols, Johnson has a good feel for coverage as a route runner and enough suddenness to create separation from linebackers and safeties. Most importantly, he has extremely reliable hands, posting just a single drop in four seasons of play and none in each of the last two seasons.
Johnson should be able to serve as both a mentor for Auburn’s young tight end room and a reliable safety blanket for quarterback Byrum Brown, two things that would be invaluable for the Tigers’ offense and a much-needed improvement at the position.
OG Kenneth McManus IV
https://twitter.com/TransferPortal/status/2013689368641237287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2013689368641237287%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
McManus wasn’t the flashiest pickup on the offensive line for Auburn in the portal this offseason, but he could end up being one of the most valuable players in the class for a simple reason: he is just a rising sophomore, yet already has a full season of starting action under his belt at the FBS level. He is ranked as the No. 82 interior lineman in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 103 at the position from Rivals, which is simply too low.
He was not elite by any standard in 2025, but he was still easily an above-average player for Akron, especially in the run game. Pass protection was more difficult for the freshman, who wasn’t always the best at getting set in time to properly anchor himself against opposing rushers.
Though it will definitely be a jump in competition for McManus from Akron to the SEC, he will join an interior offensive line room that already features USF transfers Cole Best and Cole Skinner, along with the returning Kail Ellis, another talented young player.
If the 6-foot-2, 320-pound McManus can get up to speed quickly, which all evidence points to him being able to do, Auburn very well could have just secured a reliable three-year starter at offensive guard for the future for great value out of the MAC.
DB Kamari Todd
https://twitter.com/Auburnanytime/status/2013280839178612769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2013280839178612769%7Ctwgr%5Ee492292bae4b645b3f68e2655606aaf986da5193%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fcollege%2Fauburn%2Frecruiting%2Fbreaking-down-auburn-s-top-5-most-underrated-portal-additions-for-2026-01kh3nbs1m24
Todd was a later portal addition for Auburn, one of the final five players to commit to the Tigers in the window. He was ranked the No. 180 CB in the portal by 247 Sports and No. 209 at the position by Rivals. The defensive back is from nearby Gardendale, Ala, just over two hours from Auburn.
Despite being listed as a corner on most recruiting sites, Todd spent his high school playing days as a safety. As a freshman with FCS Chattanooga, he found a home in the nickel, where he played 339 of his 511 defensive snaps.
He quickly flourished in the role, showing off a tremendous ability to cover ground and pursue downhill. His best performance of the season came against VMI in Week 6, when he recorded 13 tackles and a tackle for loss en route to TSWA Player of the Week.
Though listed at 6-foot-1 and just 170 pounds by the Mocs, Todd can trigger down and hit more like a 190-pound safety and destroy an offense’s ability to utilize the quick game, such as screens or swing passes. He struggles slightly over the top or when asked to move backward, but when in downhill pursuit, he is absolutely clinical.
Similar to McManus, Todd could be a key pickup for Auburn thanks to his youth. He easily has the instincts and tackling ability to play in the SEC; it just remains to see whether or not he can earn the playing time over some of the Tigers’ established players at the position. Either way, Auburn has definitely found an extremely fun spark plug to add to its defensive rotation for 2026.
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Post-portal window way-too-early roster predictions for Auburn tight ends
By Brian Stultz
Auburn fans will need a roster for the first few games of the 2026 football season, as massive turnover has come with a brand-new coaching staff on the Plains.
Alex Golesh has brought in a new crop of players who are looking to restore pride to the Auburn football program after a disappointing five losing seasons under Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze. While the Tigers have lost some major talent, Golesh and his staff have helped restock that with some critical signees, including many from his former team, USF.
With Auburn likely done in the transfer portal, here’s a quick look at how both sides of the ball stand with a depth chart for each position. Today, we look at Auburn’s tight ends.
Tight Ends
Starter: Jake Johnson (Sr.)
Backups: Hunter Herring (Sr.), Arlis Boardingham (Sr.), Jonathan Echols (Sr.), Ryan Ghea (So.), Xavier Newsom (So.), Demarcus Broughton (Fr.)
No, you didn’t miss a tight end catching a touchdown for the Tigers last season, because it never happened, one of the few seasons in program history that that can be said. Brandon Frazier and Preston Howard combined for 23 catches for 181 yards, but like many of the offensive players, their lack of production came down to an inefficient offense and quarterbacks.
Frazier graduated, while Howard returned to Maryland, meaning that, like every position, Golesh had to find a ton of replacements. In comes Jake Johnson from North Carolina, where he recorded 16 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown last season and Jonathan Echols, who followed Golesh from USF after catching nine passes for 109 yards and three scores in 2025.
Hunter Herring, who played quarterback at Louisiana-Monroe last season, is an interesting prospect as he switches to tight end, while Ryan Geah returns after two catches last season for Auburn.
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Why Larry Scott left a head coaching job to be Auburn’s tight ends coach
By Peter Rauterkus
al.com
From the outside looking in, Larry Scott’s situation was comfortable.
He was the head football coach at Howard University, the world-famous HBCU in Washington D.C. The football program, which competes at the FCS level, wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, but Scott had the Bison consistently competing near the top of the MEAC.
But after six seasons in charge, the then 48-year-old head coach was ready for the next challenge, even if it meant going back to being an assistant coach.
Scott is one of just two assistants on Auburn’s offensive staff who didn’t come with Alex Golesh from USF. However, the two already had somewhat of a connection.
Scott was Tennessee’s tight ends coach/offensive coordinator in 2017, a position Golesh later held in 2021 and 2022. One of the program’s secretaries at the time connected the two, which is where the relationship started. Then while at USF, Golesh hired Scott’s son, Larry Scott III as an analyst, which gave him a direct connection with the family.
The growing relationship with Golesh, Scott said, is one of the primary reasons why he left Howard.
“It was about the people,” Scott said. “It’s an opportunity to work with him, and the success that he’s had on the field and in the world of recruiting and acquiring talent, my son being here, I mean, the brand that is Auburn, the chance to play year in and year out and compete for national championships, and to do it with really good people.”
Prior to being Howard’s head coach, Scott made multiple stops in the SEC and at other big-time programs. He had stints as a tight ends coach at USF, Miami, Tennessee and Florida, while also spending one season as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.
He also briefly served as Miami’s interim head coach in 2015 after Al Golden was fired. He went 4-2 in the role.
At this stage in his coaching career, Scott said he’s at a place where, “you start making some different decisions for yourself as to what it means to be doing what you do.”
Scott said it felt like he was “kind of hitting the ceiling” at Howard, after he’d led the program to two MEAC championships.
While his new gig isn’t a head coaching job, it’s a new challenge. It’s a new opportunity to achieve different goals that might not have been attainable in his previous job.
“Ultimately, it came down to that was a decision that needed to be made, and it was a heck of an opportunity.,” Scott said. “And this is Auburn, right? You can win here, and you can win a national title. It’s a great place. So, it soon became, just like, this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.”
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Auburn football assistant coach Kodi Burns details return to alma mater
By Adam Cole
Montgomery Advertiser
For all the familiarity among Auburn football's latest staff, it's hard to find a coach with more of it than Kodi Burns.
The associate head coach and co-offensive coordinator helming wide receivers for head coach Alex Golesh, Burns has worked alongside Golesh at two different stops, and he's now in his third stint as a coach on the Plains. It's technically his fourth time adorning Auburn threads, as he played for the program from 2007-10 and won a national championship.
"This is home — always has been, always will be," Burns said Tuesday, Feb. 10. "Phenomenal place, phenomenal town, everything about Auburn. What you learn is that football is a real thing, but it’s also about all of the sports. It’s about the university and that logo you put on your chest. It just means a lot to be at a place like Auburn. I’m blessed to be here once again."
Burns was the first addition to Golesh's staff, joining him at his introductory news conference in December. Burns was also Golesh's first call after taking the job, at 2 a.m. the day Auburn made the head coach's hire official.
"Being able to come back with somebody I really respect and believe in, in Coach Golesh, I’m at a loss for words," Burns said. "To be able to come back to my university, my alma mater, and really help us get the program back to winning championships again, because every time I have been here, that’s what I have done."
Burns does know what it takes to win on the Plains. When he was a player, Auburn went 36-16. In his six combined years as an Auburn assistant, the Tigers went 53-25. This return coincides with a new circumstance, coaching alongside someone he's risen with in the coaching ranks.
"He has that it factor about him," Burns said of Golesh. "There's some people that, when they walk in the room, you see it, and you know it. He's one of those guys, right? In my short time that I had at the University of Tennessee, me and Coach Golesh were like this really quick, because we're like-minded. We see the game in the same sense. ... We're just on the same page when it comes to football."
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Burns talks rebuilt WR room, leaning on USF transfers to set the tone
By Jason Caldwell
Kodi Burns knows what it takes to win at Auburn. He also knows what makes this offense click after working with Alex Golesh first at Tennessee and then at USF. One of those things is being explosive in the passing game with the ability to stretch the field at the wide receiver position a big part of that. Despite losing Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and Eric Singleton from last year's team, Burns and the Tigers have added a lot of talent to the room heading into the 2026 season.
"These guys know the system," Burns said of the USF transfers that are expected to play a big role in year one. "Ultra-competitive. They are also guys that are proven.
"Obviously rebuilt and lost some talented guys, a couple of guys from last year chose to do something else and that's what college football is right now. What you have to do is adjust. You've got to adapt. We brought guys in that we feel like can go out there and get it done."
Bringing in Keshaun Singleton, Chas Nimrod and Jeremiah Koger that all have experience playing with quarterback Byrum Brown, Burns also added Christian Neptune and Kory Pettigrew as well. He said having those players that are familiar with the quarterback is huge as they get ready for season one under Alex Golesh.
"From a quarterback perspective you always preach timing, precision and accuracy," Burns said. "A quarterback has to be comfortable with who he's throwing the ball to. You can really accelerate that process when you have familiarity with guys you're throwing to. There's a couple of guys that have played a ton of ball with Byrum Brown that he feels really comfortable with and you can really close your eyes as a quarterback and know where he's going to be.
"That gives you confidence and you don't have to spend time figuring things out in a game or during the season. It has already been proven and he knows what it is. I think that's the biggest key, everybody being on the same page. You don't have to figure out who you are as a team throughout the first couple of games."
With only Bryce Cain, Sam Turner, Derick Smith and Erick Smith back from last year's wide receiver group, Burns said he'll count on the transfers from USF to set the tone for what he's looking for on the Plains.
"I talk to my players all the time about it, but here at Auburn you've got to be different," Burns said of the wide receiver position. "I think it starts with an edge and toughness factor that you've got to be able to critical in the run game to be able to help there. That obviously opens up the pass game. When you look at defenses, you have to be able to stop the run. That's football 101. I don't care if you're an offensive coach or a defensive coach, they always say 'we've got to stop the run and have to run the ball.'
"When you're able to run the ball due to receivers also helping in the run game, as a defensive coordinator you have to allocate resources in the box. Now you go from two-high to one-high. As a wide receiver that's when you want to go eat. Our offense is wide open. We're going to take what the defense gives us. We're going to have a lot of opportunities for receivers to go one-on-one and be out in space. That's when we operate at a high clip and why there has been success dating back to us at Tennessee and coach Golesh at UCF and also USF."
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VIDEO: Auburn offensive coaches talk post-transfer portal
By Patrick Bingham
https://youtu.be/12IFDB6G-PI
Watch new Auburn football assistants Kodi Burns, associate head coach and wide receivers coach, Tyler Hudanick, offensive line coach, Larry Scott, tight ends coach, and Larry Porter, running backs coach, spoke with the media Tuesday afternoon following the transfer portal window. Be sure to subscribe to the Auburn Undercover YouTube channel for press conferences and continued coverage of Auburn athletics.
https://youtu.be/NrUeiAbu2Gg
https://youtu.be/JchKdRUzxsE
https://youtu.be/5of2pO2ksvE
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National CFB writer claims Auburn is good enough to win nine games under Alex Golesh
By Andrew Hughes
The Auburn Tigers are a team with bold new expectations under newly hired head coach Alex Golesh. CBS Sports' John Talty set the standard higher than anyone has yet on AU, predicting the program to win seven games and become bowl-eligible in 2026.
Talty took it a step further, though, predicting that the Tigers could be talented enough to win as many as nine games under Golesh, given his roster management that saw several key defenders and running back Jeremiah Cobb retained, plus several USF Bulls transfers, including star quarterback Byrum Brown, making way to the Plains.
"Perhaps this feels like too easy a bar to surpass in Year 1, and in many ways, it is. But you must remember this program has been to two bowl games in five seasons and last won more than six games in 2019. There is enough incoming and returning talent that Golesh could win eight or even nine games in Year 1, but as long as he can get Auburn back on track with a bowl game and seven wins or so, he'll be in good shape," Talty wrote.
Auburn is starving for a winning season. With as little to lose as possible in year one, and coming in with a bigger offensive imagination than Hugh Freeze or Bryan Harsin ever had, Golesh and Brown, the latter of which will have just one year in East Central Alabama to prove he has an NFL future, have the chance to stun the College Football world.
Why not the Tigers? Someone is going to make a rise that no one saw coming. At least some, like Talty, see Golesh's vision.
Alex Golesh expected to raise Auburn's expectations in the locker room
On3's Jake Crain guaranteed to me in early January, after the first week the transfer portal was opened, that Golesh's culture-building process would be different than his two predecessors, even bringing up Nick Saban's name to drive the point home.
"I think you're going to get the opposite of what we just had at Auburn. Golesh wants to mold great people, but he molds great people a different way, not through appeasement. He is going to mold them through putting them through the rigor together, having a super high standard, understanding that you're not going to reach your goals by just being talented," Crain said.
"They're going to have to earn it every single day, and you hear the term process-driven, and that's 100% true. That's why Nick Saban was the best in the world at making every Monday the same, every Tuesday the same, every Wednesday the same, every Thursday and Friday the same, and on Saturday, a lot of it was the same. You're going to go out there and rip somebody's a**, because that's just what you do on this day."
It seems Talty believes that enough to think that suffering only three losses with a difficult schedule that includes the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Volunteers, and Vanderbilt Commodores is on the table.
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Auburn football lands official visit with Alabama commit Nash Johnson
By Taylor Jones
Auburn Wire
A three-star Alabama commit has scheduled a visit to check out Auburn football.
In a recent interview with Rivals, three-star cornerback Nash Johnson revealed he has set up official visits to three schools, including Auburn. Johnson, a native of Powder Springs, Georgia, and a product of McEachern High School, is set to visit Auburn on June 5. The visit to Auburn will be his second scheduled visit of the summer. He plans to take an official visit to Miami on May 29 and another to Tennessee on June 12.
Johnson held an Auburn offer from the previous staff; however, Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is familiar with Johnson, as he, too, offered him while he was head coach at USF. Golesh recently invited Johnson to visit Auburn, a visit that reportedly went well.
“Everything went good," Johnson said of his visit to Auburn. "Coach Demarcus Van Dyke walked us through the basics of being a cornerback, and I liked that a lot.”
Auburn football is a strong contender to land Johnson. However, Auburn must fight off Alabama for his signature. Johnson has been an Alabama pledge since Oct. 4, 2025, and has remained loyal to the Crimson Tide despite fielding offers from Arkansas, Miami, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia since announcing his commitment.
Auburn football ranks No. 53 in the latest 247Sports recruiting rankings for the 2027 cycle with one commitment, three-star TE Tank Proctor.
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Expert Predicts Auburn Will Lose 4-Star RB Jayden Miles to LSU
By Nate Lunak
The Auburn Tigers struggled in 2025. They went just 5-7, marking their fifth straight losing season. During the season, Hugh Freeze was fired and replaced by interim head coach D.J. Durkin.
Auburn quickly got to work once the season ended and hired former USF Bulls head coach Alex Golesh. Now, into his first offseason with the Tigers, he and his staff have slowly gotten to work on the 2027 recruiting class.
With only one commitment so far, the Tigers are eyeing several other players. That includes running back Jayden Miles out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Standing at 6-foot-2 and weighing 200 pounds, he's a four-star recruit, the No. 13 running back and the No. 215 player in the nation, according to Rivals Industry Rankings.
It's a high-powered battle for his commitment. He holds offers from the LSU Tigers, Houston Cougars, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Tech Red Raiders.
There's been mutual interest between him and Auburn. Miles previously told Rivals that the Tigers were one of the teams recruiting him the hardest. He then took an unofficial visit with the program on Nov. 29.
However, signs are pointing to an unfortunate outcome for the Tigers. Rivals' Shea Dixon logged an expert prediction for Miles to commit to LSU. Dixon has been correct on 87.5% of his 104 all-time predictions.
Losing the battle would sting, but Auburn still has other options. That includes four-star running back Quinterrius Gipson. With an offer made, the Rivals recruiting prediction machine gives the Tigers a 43.9% chance of landing Gipson, whom Rivals ranks as the No. 9 running back and No. 139 overall recruit of the 2027 class.
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On3's Ari Wasserman said what Auburn fans don't want to acknowledge on Cam Coleman
By Andrew Hughes
Auburn Tiger fans are going to have to come around on the fact that someone who was seemingly never destined to work out in Orange and Blue is about to become a superstar in Burnt Orange and White.
As On3's Ari Wasserman noted, AU wideout transfer Cam Coleman taking his talents to Austin, Texas, to become Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning's top option was probably the best decision in the January portal window.
"If I could pick one player who was available to build my team around, of all the transfers, I think I would pick [Cam] Coleman ... [Factoring in] both talent from the player and the situation that he is going into, I think it's hard to argue against this being [the] number one [portal acquisition]. The offense Texas runs [needs] dynamic receivers, and can really pop when it has [them]," Wasserman said.
Two things could be true. Just as Coleman is a winner from this breakup, so is Auburn.
As On3's Jake Crain told me in early January, Coleman was part of a systematic issue in East Central Alabama under a toxic culture Hugh Freeze established; one that was defined by the highest-paid players setting an awful example in the locker room and not being called out for it.
"...Auburn collapsed in every big moment, basically, during his tenure. And that's not a coincidence. That's not by accident. That is something that is cultivated, and that's why when you see these guys reading, like, I've never, and I'm not saying Cam Coleman isn't talented. He's talented, but he didn't practice hard. Like, these guys, it doesn't work in this sport," Crain said.
Coleman clearly had no interest in having the fairytale, storybook ending in his home county playing for the team he grew up cheering for. What he may need is being a bit humbled in Central Texas before elevating his game to an NFL level. He has the personnel around him to thrive, not just Manning but with decoy Ryan Wingo also lining up on the outside and a rebuilt backfield featuring NC State Wolfpack running back transfer Hollywood Smothers and Arizona State Sun Devils RB transfer Raleek Brown.
In a perfect world, both Coleman and the Tigers will be better off without each other; the former in the NFL after spending most of his career in Auburn and the latter with Alex Golesh's unheralded gems from the USF Bulls' 2025 roster.
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Joel Klatt projects Keldric Faulk and Caleb Downs to land with horrid NFL defense
By Andrew Hughes
FOX Sports' Joel Klatt revealed his 2026 NFL Mock Draft 1.0, and in it, the Dallas Cowboys land both former Ohio State Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide safety Caleb Downs and Auburn Tigers EDGE Keldric Faulk.
The Cowboys' defense ranked No. 30 in total yardage during the 2025 season, a sign of stopping neither the run nor the pass. Downs and, particularly, Faulk offer premier run-stopping abilities, while Downs is superb in coverage on intermediate routes. Faulk brings a toughness to the trenches that Dallas can badly use.
Klatt shared his belief that Faulk could help the Cowboys fill a "Micah Parsons-sized hole" in the middle. Along with Downs, Faulk was credited by Klatt as being the type of talent who can turn a defense around.
"The Cowboys could afford to double up on defense with their two first-round picks. The trade of Micah Parsons left a sizable hole in terms of pass rush. Faulk is versatile and explosive, so I think he could get the job done. These two picks might turn Dallas' defense around," Klatt said.
Keldric Faulk offers high upside but may need time before starting in NFL
Faulk was one of DJ Durkin's great success stories during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but he enters the NFL with a few holes that could cause his stock to fall in the coming weeks, and could ultimately keep him from having a major role right off the bat.
Faulk leans on athleticism and doesn't always cleanly track his targets in the backfield. He also relies a lot on his hands and can use a creative and thoughtful pass-rush coordinator who can diversify his bag to evade blockers.
With Faulk, a team is getting a violent athlete who only figures to improve with time and reps in an NFL system. That team can't expect Faulk to reach anywhere close to his peak in year one, and possibly not in year two.
Give Faulk patience, and a potential future All-Pro defender could sprout, with versatility across the defensive line giving him a better chance to stick long-term in the pros.
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