Top 2025 recruit in the state of Alabama given crystal-ball to flip to Auburn football

Hugh Freeze has seemingly saved his biggest flip yet for the day of his Auburn football program's first game of the 2024 season -- receiving a crystal ball from 247Sports' Tom Loy for the No. 1 2025 recruit in the state of Alabama, Parker CB Na'eem Offord.

Of note, though: Loy was cautious in his prediction.

"After talking to multiple sources recently, I tossed in a 247Sports Crystal Ball pick for Auburn to eventually flip five-star cornerback and Ohio State commit Na'eem Offord," Loy wrote. "We'll see if they can get it done."

Why the skepticism? Well, Loy has a very good reason.

Auburn football must prove proof of concept to land Na'eem Offord and the rest of Hugh Freeze's 2025 class

Commitments in the year 2024 are not iron-clad. Far from it. Players flip as often as pancakes in an IHOP kitchen. Offord's 2025 recruiting classmate and potential future teammate Antonio Coleman flipped from Alabama to Auburn to Alabama to Auburn.

Auburn needs to prove that it can provide a worthwhile future where winning and making it to the NFL are commonplace. Ohio State, where Offord was previously committed, has had no issue with that in the NIL era. The Tigers have.

Luckily, with a loaded transfer class and a star-studded group of freshmen, Freeze and Co. have a great chance to flip the narrative on its head. The schedule is much easier than usual and he has right-hand man, Derrick Nix, helping with play-calling as offensive coordinator. Co-existing with Philip Montgomery proved to be a challenge during Freeze's first season on the Plains.

After all the flipping the program has done since Freeze took over, believing in that is not the hardest thing to do by any stretch. But eight wins, at minimum, would solidify all of his brilliance on the recruiting trail and keep the commitments, aka nearly the entire top recruits list in the state of Alabama for 2025, he's gotten.