The Auburn Tigers kicked off Fall camp this week, but that was not the big news for the football program. The Auburn 2025 recruiting class got more talent added over the week to bump them to fifth nationally according to 247Sports. Recruiting was a major point of emphasis for head coach Hugh Freeze when he was hired, and he has successfully added more talent. Freeze has also talked about building the program through high school recruiting and not the transfer portal as other programs have done.
Auburn Adds to the 2025 Recruiting Class
Wide Receiver Added
A lot of the recent new commits for the Tigers have been on the defensive side of the ball. However, they did add some major talent on offense. Wide receiver coach Marcus Davis did great work last recruiting cycle in bringing in Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Bryce Cain, and Malcolm Simmons. Last weekend the staff was successful in flipping Alabama commit Derick Smith out of Southside Selma. Smith is listed as an athlete but should be used as a wide receiver.
He played both receiver and running back for Southside Selma, and he put up big numbers. Smith caught 46 passes for 1,487 yards and 14 touchdowns. He carried the ball 65 times on the ground, totaling 1,036 yards and nine touchdowns. Smith also played linebacker in 2023 getting 74 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks. He is listed on 247Sports as the second-ranked athlete and seventh in Alabama.
Secondary Help
One of the big questions going into this upcoming season is the Tigers secondary. Keionte Scott is the only returner from a season ago. The team lost names like Nehemiah Pritchett, Jaylin Simpson, Donovan Kaufman, and Zion Puckett. There is talent filling for those players, but the program needed to look to the future. They went outside the state and got a commit from four-star cornerback Blake Woodby out of Baltimore, Maryland. Assistants Wesley McGriff and Charles Kelly led the way in this recruitment. He has also been a track athlete and was on the MaxPreps Junior Preseason All-American team in 2023.
Another addition to the defensive backfield is safety Anquon Fegans. He is a four-star who plays for the always great Thompson Warriors. Fegans is currently listed as the third-best safety and the second-best player in Alabama. He collected 59 tackles last season with two tackles for loss and seven interceptions. This is a big commitment with it being a Thompson player. During most of the Nick Saban era at Alabama, Auburn struggled to get players from the school. Freeze is taking full advantage of the retirement of Saban.
Defensive Lineman Flipped
Smith was not the only Alabama commit that was flipped. Four-star defensive lineman Antonio Coleman out of Saraland switched from the Tide to the Tigers. This is not the first time Coleman has flipped between the two universities. He spent a lot of time in the opponent’s backfield getting 22.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. Overall, he had 62 tackles in 2023. Coleman is ranked as the tenth-best player in the state, and 14th at his position.
