The Auburn Tigers have the No. 13-ranked transfer portal class as of Friday, January 16, the last day of the January portal window. While their overall haul wasn't as gaudy as the Texas Tech Red Raiders, LSU Tigers, or Texas Longhorns', AU rebuilt its culture in Alex Golesh's image.
That fact was overlooked by Bleacher Report's Brad Shepard, who deemed the Tigers' new head coach a "loser" of the portal because he lost talents like WR Cam Coleman, QB Deuce Knight, WR Eric Singleton Jr., DL Malik Blocton, and CB Jay Crawford.
Shepard painted the portal losses as guys not buying into what Golesh was selling, rather than taking higher paydays elsewhere from schools who already felt the burn of paying big money for less-than-desirable results.
"Sometimes, it takes a while for a new coach's message to resonate. But, with Auburn's new head man, Alex Golesh, there were just a lot of guys who obviously didn't want to hear what he was selling upon arriving at his new program," Shepard wrote.
"Even when he kept interim head coach and terrific defensive coordinator DJ Durkin at AU, it didn't help him to retain his key players. The Tigers have watched basically the majority of its stars head to the portal after ending the Hugh Freeze era.
"We've already mentioned Cam Coleman leaving, which is the biggest departure. But the future of the quarterback position—former 5-star Deuce Knight—left for his home state of Mississippi and the Ole Miss Rebels once Byrum Brown followed Golesh from South Florida.
"Golesh has several quality players coming in like Brown and Baylor running back Bryson Washington, but this looks like a complete rebuild on the Plains."
Auburn should be rebuilding a 5-7 roster
Why would Auburn want to keep paying eight figures for a losing roster? How is it a bad thing to rebuild this program? And does everyone keep forgetting that the right head coach can rebuild a team instantly? Curt Cignetti and Sonny Dykes, anyone?
Enough of the questions. The Tigers lost an identity that wasn't worth preserving. Those who are calling their portal activity unsuccessful were the ones who crowned Auburn a 2025 CFP dark horse because of the very players who left.
Good riddance to the overrated 2025 Tigers. Welcome, underrated 2026 Auburn football.
That's exactly where the program is at its most dangerous, anyway.