Quarterback T.J. Finley hints at a transfer portal exit from Auburn
T.J. Finley appeared as a guest on the Locked-On the SEC podcast with host Chris Gordy this morning and spoke very bluntly and honestly about the state of the Auburn Football program and his place in it.
When asked to describe the 2022 football season, Finley didn’t hesitate or mince words:
“Just from the competition standpoint, they brought in Zach Calzada, they brought in Robby Ashford, in my head, to me, that’s a slap in the face that you don’t believe in what you already have. That they bring in two guys, that are close to the same age as the guy you have that finished the season the previous year. My mind immediately goes into “let’s work” mode and I think that’s what I did. I proved to everybody that I deserved to be the starter. Yet, neither me nor Robby (Ashford) got the go-ahead to be the starter. Even though I was named the starter through the first three games, it was a 50-50 thing. He was kind of running the ball and I was kind of throwing the ball. Luckily we played teams like Mercer and San Jose State but by the time we got closer to Penn State and those teams, they kind of had it figured out that when I was out of the game we were going to run the ball and when I was in the game we were going to throw the ball. It was just an up-and-down year we really didn’t know which direction we wanted to go in. Unfortunately for me, in week 3 I got hurt, and they turned the reins over to Robby and he finished the season because I wanted to red-shirt.” - T.J. Finley
Inevitably, This led to “the” question, where are you at right now with Auburn?
“I graduate in June, if I wanted to I could transfer as a grad transfer. Right now my heart is in Auburn, but everything really is up in the air right now.” - T.J. Finley
Finley followed up with:
“If I were to leave, it would not be because of the portal or competition, it would be simply because another school has a better situation for me and my family. I am here right now. We will see what happens with conversations with the coaches over the next couple of weeks.” - T.J. Finley
Finley seemed to have dropped down the depth chart through the end of last season and into Spring. With the Auburn coaching staff almost certain to bring in another quarterback during this Spring portal, one must think that Finley sees the writing on the wall and is looking for a school to finish his career.
Auburn football has seen three players officially depart this week, with Tar'Varish Dawson announcing intentions to transfer early Saturday morning. Will T.J . Finley be the next?
Dawson joins the following Auburn Tigers that have announced that they will be in the transfer portal.
Defensive lineman Jeffrey M'ba
Linebacker Kameron Brown
Linebacker Desmond Tisdol
The Auburn Tigers have pulled in an impressive haul thus far during Hugh Freeze's first season on the Plains, currently sitting at No. 3 nationally in 247Sports' transfer portal class rankings.
You can check out our transfer portal tracker here. Stay up to date on all of the Tigers' commitments, departures, and prospects for key positions at auburndaily.com.
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