New head football coach Alex Golesh's arrival on the Plains was always going to lead to recruiting losses, but the Auburn Tigers are now staring down the barrel at the most devastating potential exit the program could've imagined.
WLOX's Matt DeGregorio sees 4-star Greene County WR Jase Mathews' recent flip to the Ole Miss Rebels potentially leading to Deuce Knight's transfer from AU to the University of Mississippi this offseason after redshirting his freshman year. Knight made one start, a brilliant 401-yard, six-touchdown effort in a 62-24 win over the Mercer Bears in Week 13, and got snaps during a 42-3 win over the Ball State Cardinals in Week 2.
"Ole Miss fans should keep an eye on Auburn QB Deuce Knight in the transfer portal," DeGregorio prefaced before saying, "Jase Mathews is very close with Knight and the pair spoke before Mathews flipped from Auburn to Ole Miss."
Mathews completed his flip to the Rebs this past week for National Signing Day. He told Rivals' Steve Wiltfong that "The people that didn’t leave I’m still in connections as well, and they’re pulling for me and say I need to stay home," referencing the coaching changes made in Oxford recently.
Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss departure clearly wasn't enough to deter Mathews to flip to his home state school. Kiffin chose the LSU Tigers over the Rebels and has aimed to bring many of the talent he recruited with him.
Mathews never signed to Kiffin and is now taking on the task of reviving his home state's flagship school with Pete Golding and Co. Knight never seemed sold on Kiffin either, but there's a new mission statement in the Sip that could be interesting to him after he sat on the bench and watched two inferior quarterbacks lead Auburn to a 5-7 record.
Golesh might want his USF Bulls quarterback, Byrum Brown, to take the QB1 role in East Central Alabama anyway. But losing Knight across state lines would still sting like a swarm of hornets.
Especially because if he does leave, someone at AU will have to figure out why Knight was greeted in Auburn with being told he's done nothing to earn wearing the No. 2 on the back of his jersey, and not as the potential answer to the Tigers' ongoing QB problem.