Auburn football got its biggest recruiting win of the Hugh Freeze era with the recent flip of Chilton County 5-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick from Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs — and Saturday Blitz’ Chris Peterson believes it’s “hard to overstate” what a win it is for the first-year Tigers coaching staff.
“For Auburn football and head coach Hugh Freeze, it’s hard to overstate what a win this is,” Peterson prefaced before saying, “Freeze has landed some solid recruits but this is the biggest win in the 2024 college football recruiting class for the Tigers and the first five-star commitment of the Freeze era.”
Riddick is the first 5-star to commit to the Plains since Owen Pappoe in the 2019 class. Under Gus Malzahn during the COVID-19-stricken 2020 cycle — one in which his lack of natural charisma cost him in a Zoom-driven recruiting environment — and the entire 22-month tenure of Bryan Harsin, AU wasn’t able to sniff a recruit of Riddick’s caliber; let alone flip one from a school like Georgia that’s coming off back-to-back titles. And the craziest part? Auburn may not even be done yet…
Auburn football in driver’s seat to flip recruits from last two schools to win national championships
With Riddick secured, the Auburn football coaching staff now turns its attention to Foley’s Perry Thompson, the No. 4 wideout in the 2024 class and No. 2 overall player from the state of Alabama behind Vestavia Hills’ Jordan Ross. Thompson has been committed to Alabama since June 24, 2022, but Freeze’s hiring has been able to pull the attention of “Uno” to the Plains.
What may have actually helped AU’s case with Thompson was that Nick Saban had Antonio Brown, instead of any of the countless NFLers he produced in Tuscaloosa, reach out to Thompson in an effort to sway him to stay with the Crimson Tide instead of flipping to Auburn.
https://twitter.com/TorresonBama/status/1684633774535979009
Saban has lost his recruiting touch if AB is the ace up his sleeve. Expect Thompson to flip during Big Cat Weekend to complete one of the biggest weekends on the trail Auburn football has had in modern history.