Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze has never had a problem on the recruiting trail, besides a brief period in July where it seemed the sky was falling. Freeze righted the ship off the field quickly, and on it, a 38-24 win over the Baylor Bears in Waco should only help recruiting momentum.
One of the big reasons AU won was the defensive line. Giving up just 64 rushing yards, the veteran-laden unit figures to be a strength this year.
Unfortunately, the group is set to lose talent to ran-out eligibility and the NFL draft. The offensive line will deal with that too, with four seniors set to depart from the team's vaunted top six and at least one NFL ticket being punched among Xavier Chaplin, Dillon Wade, Connor Lew, Jeremiah Wright, Mason Murphy, and Izavion Miller.
But with that aforementioned momentum comes the chances of flips.
One that Freeze and DL coach Vontrell King-Williams are eyeing is Mary G. Montgomery star Kaleb Morris.
Auburn Undercover's Jason Caldwell believes he's among the possible additions to the 2026 recruiting class that'll likely be supported by veteran transfers on both sides of the trenches.
"I think that's going to be something you're going to do every year. I believe you'll pick up a couple of guys on both sides of the ball to go along with the signing class. There are still several guys we believe Auburn could wind up with in this class, like Kaleb Morris from Mary Montgomery. On the offensive line you've got three commitments and have some depth on that side of the ball, but my guess would be at least two veteran guys to come in and compete," Caldwell wrote.
Morris is six-foot-four and 250 pounds as a junior. The Semmes, Alabama, product is worth monitoring as the Tigers look to undercut a Jeff Lebby-coached Bulldogs program that's trying to emphasize size and strength along the offensive and defensive lines.
We'll see if Freeze and King-Williams can get a Gulf Coast recruiting win over Auburn's second-most played rival in school history.