Auburn football: All For Tennessee sees improved DB room with Kamal Hadden

Auburn football’s loss is Tennessee football’s gain.

The Tigers’ SEC East rivals up north just snagged a departed class of 2021 DB Kamal Hadden, who the Volunteers had been recruiting in 2020 before he committed to Gus Malzahn and his staff last August.

With Malzahn now coaching at UCF, Hadden was one of the many prior coaching staff commits to enter the portal after his ouster.

Now, Hadden calls Rocky Top home, per his Twitter page:

The addition fortifies a secondary that gave up 265.8 passing yards per game, good for the 22nd most in the FBS in 2020. All For Tennessee’s Caleb Calhoun believes the work is far from done for Josh Heupel, but Hadden’s addition helps lighten the load:

"With the addition of Hadden, Tim Banks now has a solid rotation of experienced cornerbacks given the fact that Alontae Taylor and Kenneth George Jr. are still in the program. There are multiple other young defensive backs as well who can shore up the depth in the secondary.Despite Hadden’s commitment, Heupel still has plenty of concerns in the secondary and a lot of work to do to shore up potential issues. However, this addition makes things a lot easier than it would have been."

Hadden had enrolled with Auburn this past January but entered the transfer portal on May 6th. He was present at the team’s spring practices and took part in Auburn football’s annual A-Day spring game.

Why he entered the portal isn’t yet clear, but he joins Jaren Handy–who signed on with the Indiana Hoosiers–as Tigers to find new homes in 2021.

While the loss of the River Rouge, Michigan product robs Auburn football of depth in the secondary, the presence of Roger McCreary, Jaylin Simpson, Neremiah Pritchett, and incoming WVU transfer Dreshun Miller should make up for it.