Gordo, Alabama product Tanner Bailey took a walk-on scholarship to play for Hugh Freeze's Auburn football program in 2025, adding a backup QB for the spring before Ashton Daniels arrives on campus.
Bailey's addition is valuable. While Bailey may not see the field because Jackson Arnold, Daniels, and Deuce Knight are ahead of him on the depth chart, the Class of 2022 quarterback brings something invaluable to Freeze and Co.: an elite culture guy.
Bailey said all the right things describing what went into his decision to come out of retirement and take the field for the first time since playing for Shane Beamer's Gamecocks in Columbia.
“The main thing for me is I want Auburn to win and I want to make Auburn better,” Bailey said, per On3. “Leading, following, but it’s not like I’m going to go in and accept some other role. I want to compete and if things happen…I’ll make the most of it. For me, I want to make the room better and me personally, I want to see Auburn win really bad.”
If only every recruit had such a mindset. Sometimes NIL and opportunity comes first, but for Bailey, it's fulfilling a lifelong dream.
As Bailey relays, stepping away from the game was a personal choice.
“Personal reasons,” Bailey said of leaving football last year. “Ball was a lot. I enjoyed South Carolina, but felt like a lot of things wanted to get straight personal wise. The last year of my life was the best mentally, maturity, spiritually, physically. The stars aligned. (Jesse Stone) hit me up in mid-December, so it worked out perfect.”
Bailey didn't have a linear path to the Plains, but he arrives with the chance to become a sideline favorite. Rest assured, if he ever gets a snap against one of the Tigers' non-conference opponents in garbage time, he'll have Jordan-Hare Stadium's support.