Alex Golesh's Auburn Tigers, not Cody Campbell's Texas Tech Red Raiders, or Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers, or Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning's Auburn Tigers, made the best-fitting transfer portal addition of the offseason. That's ESPN's Tom Luginbill's take on the situation, anyway.
Luginbill ranked Auburn's Byrum Brown signing as the best of the January window, over Texas Tech's landing former Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby, LSU signing ex-Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt, and Texas adding ex-AU WR1 Cam Coleman.
Luginbill believes Brown will not only showcase his standout abilities that were on display with the USF Bulls last year, but that he'll help his teammates get acclimated and serve as a liaison to the coaching staff in the locker room.
"Brown reunites with new Auburn coach Alex Golesh after the duo was among the most prolific quarterback-coach pairings in the Group of 5 over the past two years. Brown knows Golesh's offense, giving the Tigers a critical head start as they install a new system with plenty of unfamiliar faces. His pocket awareness has really progressed, and physically, he has SEC arm talent with the dynamic skill set to put up big numbers for the Tigers. His familiarity with the scheme's terminology should allow him to function as an extension of the coaching staff in meeting rooms to accelerate Auburn's offensive transition," Luginbill wrote.
As for Coleman, Luginbill called the Phenix City product a "premier addition" who could help offset the Longhorns' portal losses of receivers Parker Livingstone (to the Oklahoma Sooners), DeAndre Moore Jr. (to the Colorado Buffaloes) and Jaime Ffrench Jr. (to the Michigan Wolverines).
"While Texas lost receivers Parker Livingstone, DeAndre Moore Jr. and Jaime Ffrench Jr. to the portal, Coleman is a premier addition opposite current Longhorns receiver Ryan Wingo. Both the 6-foot-3 Coleman and 6-2 Wingo have excellent size, ball skills and body control. Coleman specializes as an acrobatic playmaker. He arrives in Austin with a highlight reel of spectacular plays on the ball when contested or tracking the deep ball. His wide catch radius and flexible body control make him a distinct threat in the vertical passing game for Arch Manning."
Auburn lost plenty of talent, no doubt, but gained better-fitting pieces. And what they lost wasn't exactly conducive to winning, most even around the Plains would admit. Their 2025 locker room problems are others' problems now. Best yet, they're predicted to be better off for it.
A successful offseason indeed.