The Auburn Tigers have been at the forefront of news on early National Signing Day, and that continued forward with the flip of 2025 defensive tackle Darrion Smith from the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday morning.
Auburn football has been on a rollercoaster ride for 2025 early National Signing Day, so far
Auburn’s recruiting class is still looking strong despite losing some top talent.
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Rohan Chakravarthi is the site manager at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, contributes to Niners Nation and covers high school recruiting for SBNation.com.
Smith, a 6’3”, 280-pound defensive tackle, had been one of the more nationally-pursued linemen in the class, racking up over two dozen offers, with a number of SEC schools in pursuit of the Maryland native.
Getting offers from schools like Penn State, LSU, Ole Miss and Miami, Smith initially committed to Tennessee back in July after multiple visits to the program, including for the Vols’ “Big Orange Kickoff” where a number of top targets were in attendance.
However, Auburn offered shortly after and quickly showed interest in the talented defensive lineman, ultimately pulling off the flip on early National Signing Day.
Smith’s athleticism for his size instantly jumps out, as he had a strong senior year at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. His explosiveness off the jump and overall quickness should be a good fit for Auburn as they continue to shore up their 2025 recruiting class.
The Tigers now have four defensive linemen in their 2025 class: Smith, five-star Malik Autry, four-star Antonio Coleman and four-star Jourdin Crawford.
It wasn’t all good news on Wednesday for Auburn, however, as they lost four-star cornerback Shamar Arnoux one day after five-star defensive lineman Nathaniel Marshall flipped to the Michigan Wolverines.
Arnoux, a 6’2”, 175-pound cornerback from Carrolton, Georgia, flipped to the Florida State Seminoles, less than a month after committing to Auburn.
One of the more highly pursued cornerbacks in the 2025 class, Arnoux’s recruitment has been a whirlwind. The four-star initially committed to Tennessee back in April of 2023 as an early verbal pledge, but de-committed back in February to continue exploring his options.
After a busy few months of visits, Arnoux took officials to Auburn, USC and Florida State before committing to the Trojans back in late June after his visits were done.
The interest from other schools didn’t stop there, as the Tigers managed to flip the four-star away from the Trojans in November, securing a major win for their 2025 recruiting class, but the challenge was to keep Arnoux, which proved to be too tall a task to handle.
After speculation that Florida State had become the leader in the clubhouse, the four-star recruit flipped and signed with the Seminoles on Wednesday, closing out his recruitment.
That wasn’t the only scare that the Tigers got when it came to their secondary, as four-star safety Anquon Fegans was getting significant interest from rival schools like the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers, who each thought had a good chance to flip the defensive back.
Well, Fegans elected to stay put and sign with the Tigers on Wednesday, ending any speculation of a flip and securing a key part of Auburn’s 2025 class.
With all the movement around the secondary, the Tigers now have commitments from three cornerbacks (four-star Donovan Starr, four-star Blake Woodby, and three-star Devin Williams) and two safeties (four-stars Eric Winters and Anquon Fegans) in their 2025 class.
However, they did miss out on a potential flip candidate, as five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord, who was trending for Auburn, elected to flip from the Ohio State Buckeyes to the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday instead.
Auburn’s recruiting class is still looking strong as a top-five class in the country, thanks to commitments from a trio of five-stars: edge rusher Jared Smith, quarterback Deuce Knight and defensive lineman Malik Autry, who all signed with the Tigers on Wednesday.
