Auburn football: Luke Deal says transfer TE ‘fits in like a glove’

The Auburn football team has welcomed many new members to the roster during this past offseason. With head coach Hugh Freeze and his new staff lighting a fire on the recruiting trail and hitting the transfer portal hard, plenty of new faces will be on the field this fall.

Some of those newcomers are familiar faces to the coaching staff for a variety of reasons, including tight end transfer Rivaldo Fairweather. His previous school, Florida International, played an away game at Liberty in 2020, and back then his playmaking already stood out to Freeze.

Therefore, when he entered the transfer portal, Freeze made the phone call and recruited the 4-star transfer to the Plains. Fairweather was one of the first transfers to commit to the Tigers in the offseason.

As a true freshman during the COVID season at FIU, Fairweather led his team in receiving yards and played in all five games. In 2021 he hauled in 16 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. With a lot of hype surrounding him since his move to the Plains, it’s possible that Fairweather is poised to have his best season yet, even if his position group is full of experienced veterans.

Luke Deal, a returning senior tight end who recently joined Freeze in Nashville to represent Auburn football during SEC Media Days, told AL.com that Fairweather is a really good asset to their group and that he’s done a fantastic job at becoming part of the group since arriving on campus:

"“He fits in like a glove, man,” said Auburn’s veteran tight end Luke Deal. “He’s a great guy. He’s bought into our culture in that room. Like I said, it’s an old room. It’s a room that’s been together for a long time. So that can be kind of intimidating to start. And I think that he’s done an incredible job with just buying into that culture, being one of us.”"

Rivaldo Fairweather and the rest of the Tigers will kick off the season on September 2 when Auburn football hosts UMass in Jordan-Hare Stadium.