Auburn football: Tigers pick up three more transfer commits

Following a successful early signing day on the Plains, the Auburn football coaching staff has shifted their focus in the past few weeks towards prospects in the transfer portal while the 45-day window is open this month.

With the number of linemen the Tigers are losing ahead of the 2023 season and the gaps in the roster left by those transferring out or heading to the NFL, it’s no surprise that the staff is spending a lot of time on transfer recruiting. We’ve known from the get-go that Hugh Freeze plans to lean heavily on the portal in year one.

Auburn football had some major wins in transfer recruiting this weekend when three different prospects announced they were committing to the program.

First up was former Maryland defensive lineman Mosiah Nasili-Kite, who chose Auburn for his transfer destination over TCU and Tennessee after a two-day campus visit on the Plains. The lineman has one year of eligibility and plans to make an immediate impact for the Tigers along the line of scrimmage.

Next came the commitment of former LSU linebacker DeMario Tolan. Although Auburn football was heavily involved in his recruitment out of high school, Bryan Harsin and his staff could not close the deal and ultimately Tolan ended up at LSU. However, a quick trip to the Plains to visit with Hugh Freeze’s staff was all it took to secure the Orlando native.

A former Purdue Boilermaker was the next to commit. Lawrence Johnson will play his sixth season of football on the Plains, a decision that was made easy after his campus visit, per Auburn Undercover:

"“It’s the environment here,” Johnson said. “The people here are good. You can just walk through the town and people will greet you just because they’re good people here. And it’s warm, I’m from Indiana, I don’t like the cold. I’ve been in the cold my whole life so I’m trying to get away from the cold.”"

The Tigers’ recruiting class of 2023 now has seven transfers and 20 signees and is ranked #19 overall and #8 in the SEC.