Auburn football: 2 schools to beat for 4-star edge Qua Russaw

The Auburn football program has only 10 commits in the recruiting class of 2023 so far, and the lack of a permanent head coach is definitely impacting recruiting. While the Tigers lost only one commit in Gernorris Wilson following the firing of Bryan Harsin, many other recruits are hesitant to commit without an understanding of who the staff will be next year.

However, recruiting is still chugging along under Interim Head Coach Cadillac Williams, and there are plenty of high-priority recruits heading to the Plains this weekend for the final home game of the 2022 season.

While 4-star edge Qua Russaw may not be on campus this weekend, he’s made the trip plenty of times throughout the season with the other half of his package deal, 5-star James Smith, and Auburn football is still squarely in the mix to land their commitments in December during Early National Signing Day.

At this point, the Tigers’ biggest competition for the pair will come from Alabama and Florida. As some of the highest-ranked recruits out of the state, it was no surprise that Auburn would have to compete with the Tide for their commitment, but Cole Pinkston of Auburn Live shared this tidbit from Russaw about his Alabama recruitment:

"“We haven’t really been talking much, I know I’m going to go to the Iron Bowl. I’m going to take an official on the week of the 2nd, December 2nd.”"

Of course, a last minute official visit (the first OV to Tuscaloosa) could dramatically change things, but we do know that Russaw and Smith have both spent a lot of time at Auburn and have really great relationships with the coaching staff.

The other program that has snuck its way into the mix is Florida. The Gators hosted Russaw and Smith for an official visit back in October, and Russaw told Auburn Live that he keeps up frequent communication with multiple Gainesville staffers.

It will likely come down to the wire with Qua Russaw and James Smith, but if Auburn football can make a stellar head coaching hire it would definitely boost the Tigers’ chances.