The Auburn football team was in a position to lose quite a few players after the 2022 season between guys heading to the NFL or simply running out of eligibility. The Tigers had six players invited to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, but a few of them chose to play another year of football on the Plains, instead.
One of those returners is cornerback DJ James, who transferred to Auburn from Oregon ahead of the 2022 season. James, who is an Alabama native, played three seasons as a Duck before making the move back to his home state.
James was invited to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl after a massive season in orange and blue that resulted in being named second-team All-SEC. By the end of 2022, James recorded 37 total tackles with one tackle for loss in addition to nine passes deflected and one interception.
Despite the chaos on the Plains between the firing of Bryan Harsin and the coaching change that ended in the hiring of Hugh Freeze, the cornerback decided to decline the offer and go for round two as an Auburn Tiger.
According to Auburn Undercover’s Jason Caldwell, James’ decision was hugely influenced by the Auburn community:
"“Auburn is a family,” he said. “This school is a family. They have treated me like family since I got recruited here. I trust Auburn. I feel like my best interest and the best situation for me was to come back to school for another year.”"
James’ cornerback teammate Nehemiah Pritchett made the same decision to return, and the pair feel that the position group is poised for success under new coach Wesley McGriff during the first year of Auburn football in The Freeze Era.
As far as where the cornerback is headed, James went on to say that his goal for this year is to continue learning and improving, because you can never be too smart for the game of football.