4-star DL TJ Lindsey on why he committed to Auburn football

The Auburn football program picked up its 16th commit in the recruiting class of 2024 on Saturday afternoon.

4-star defensive lineman TJ Lindsey committed to the Tigers, choosing head coach Hugh Freeze’s program over Alabama, Texas, Miami, and Texas A&M. As commit #16, the DL bumped the Tigers’ recruiting rank up to #14 overall and #7 in the SEC.

Lindsey is ranked as the #304 overall prospect and the #34 defensive lineman in the recruiting class of 2024, and just moved from his home state of Arkansas to Florida to finish his high school career at IMG Academy.

As for why Lindsey chose the Auburn football program, there were several reasons according to 247 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong. Firstly, Lindsey believes in the vision of Hugh Freeze and the program he is trying to rebuild on the Plains. The DL noted that Auburn was once a powerhouse, and now the team has the “potential to be the best of the best” again.

Auburn football fans helped play a role in Lindsey’s decision too. He told Wiltfong that throughout his recruitment he felt the most support and attention coming from Tiger fans and Auburn football, and that he loves the city as well as the campus.

But perhaps the biggest factor in Lindsey’s recruitment was his strong relationship with the Tigers’ defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett:

"“We’ve built like an amazing relationship since January,” Lindsey said. “Definitely the coach I connected with the most on a personal level, a professional level. His coaching, he’s young in his career but he’s already done so much and I definitely feel he’s able to get me to the next level.”"

Despite a few misses here and there (you can’t get them all), it’s still very apparent that Auburn football is changing the recruiting game in the southeast and that the Tigers are on their way back to the top.