Auburn may end up keeping a 5-star commit on board thanks to LSU firing Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is officially out at LSU, and as the dust continued to settle in Baton Rouge, the transfer portal opened and players began to flock to it, realizing their head coach was no longer going to be their head coach.

At other programs across the country, and especially those committed to teams within the SEC, players backed off their interest in the LSU Tigers. That likely included five-star wide receiver Jase Matthews.

According to On3 and Rivals, Kelly and the Tigers were the team most likely to flip Matthews' commitment from none other than the Auburn Tigers, who he committed to in August of this year.

Matthews, alongside five-star safety Bralan Womack, were big-time flip targets for LSU, with the recruiting charge led by Kelly. Now that Kelly is gone, the odds of those Tigers flipping the two blue-chip prospects from these Tigers drop dramatically.

Jase Matthews must stick with the Auburn Tigers

Matthews is a prospect in the class of 2026 and is from Mississippi. Despite his home-state teams, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, both extending offers in his direction, his focus has been almost entirely split between Auburn and LSU.

With Kelly no longer at the helm of the program in Baton Rouge, head coach Hugh Freeze has to cement Matthews' commitment to Auburn.

Matthews is part of Auburn's class of 2026 that currently ranks 24th in the nation and 11th in the SEC. The young linebacker is the second-highest rated player in the recruiting class, only trailing Womack in the rankings.

If Freeze leans into his recruitment of both Matthews and Womack, even though the two blue-chip prospects are already committed to Auburn, it could do wonders as the hot-seat head coach fights for his job and the rest of the season with the Tigers.