The news that a lot of Auburn football fans were waiting on finally came in on Sunday, with head coach Hugh Freeze getting fired. Following the loss to Kentucky, you just had a feeling that athletic director John Cohen was going to put his foot down and make a move.
Auburn fans firing shots at John Cohen now that Hugh Freeze is gone
While some recruits have said they're still locked in with the Tigers despite Freeze being sent packing, that doesn't mean everyone is still planning to suit up for Auburn in 2026. Not long after the news broke on Sunday, running back commit Eric Perry announced that he was no longer Auburn-bound. Instead, he'll be off to... Memphis?
Thankful for every opportunity and relationship built along the way at Auburn. That said, I’m flipping my commitment to the University of Memphis. Ready to get to work! 💙🐯 pic.twitter.com/xKDSPW5h8r
— Eric(EP)Perry Jr 3⭐️ (@Eric12Perry) November 3, 2025
RB Eric Perry wasted no time flipping from Auburn to Memphis after Hugh Freeze got fired
With the greatest of respect for Memphis, this caught plenty of people off guard. Backing off your pledge to an SEC school to go play in the American Conference isn't something we see every day, but Memphis clearly made Perry a priority and it must have reached out quite quickly after Freeze was fired.
Originally, the 6-0, 195-pounder committed to Auburn on June 9 - Freeze and Co. put an offer on the table for him in April. It seemed like the Tigers had nothing to worry about with the status of Perry's verbal, but the coaching change made him realize he wanted to make a switch.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Perry, a standout Mississippi product, is ranked three stars and the No. 94 athlete in the country. This by no means is a back-breaking loss recruiting wise for Auburn, but it just felt like it added salt to the wound with the Freeze news coming first.
Again, no disrespect to Memphis, but losing a commit to an American Conference side led to people trolling Auburn, which no one wanted to see. The search for a new head coach will begin immediately and the sooner Cohen can get things locked down there, the better it will be for recruiting moving forward.