Auburn Tigers Pry Away Texas Longhorns Commit, Puts Pen to Paper

The Auburn Tigers were able to swipe a blue-chip recruit out of the grip of one of the top-ranked teams in the country

Auburn gets a surprise addition to the 2026 class | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers new era under Alex Golesh sees them landing surprise commits. Four-star defensive lineman Corey Wells flipped from Texas to Auburn at the start of the early signing period and signed on.

Before the last-second flip, he had been committed to Texas since June.

BREAKING: Four-Star DL Corey Wells has Flipped his Commitment from Texas to Auburn!

The 6’5 290 DL from Petal, MS had been Committed to the Longhorns since June#WarEagle 🦅https://t.co/6hUfmXaJ1U pic.twitter.com/1fytGuFAwG

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 3, 2025

This year, he had paid multiple visits to the Plains, official and unofficial. It's not fully out of nowhere. His interest had clearly been expressed. Some predictions even had him flipping. It's still surprising to see a program that just got its new head coach a few days ago nab a recruit out of the hands of one of the top teams in the country.

Wells is one of the top players at his position in the country, ranked 26th among defensive linemen by 247 Sports. He's the seventh-ranked recruit coming out of Mississippi in the 2026 class. Among players who have signed, Wells is the second-highest rated player of the bunch.

So far, Auburn has 14 players who have signed on for next year. Half of them are on the defensive side of the ball. Wells is currently the only defensive lineman who has signed. Should Tavian Branch make it official, they'll have a pair ready to head to the Plains during the early signings period.

Auburn's recruiting class ranks 36th in the country, according to the 247 Sports rankings. It's a bit of a drop off from what he had seen the last couple of years with top-10 finishes. In 2024, they had the eighth-ranked class, and the sixth-ranked class for 2025.

On paper, Alex Golesh has a sizable talent pool to make the most of in his first year at the helm. He has DJ Durkin has his defensive right hand man to help manage the defensive talent. He should have his share of weapons on offense as well.

The Tigers, once again, finished 5-7 on the season. They were off to a 3-0 start this season, even cracking the top-25. However, they spiraled out, losing five of six, leading to head coach Hugh Freeze being shown the door. They went 1-2 with Durkin as the interim head coach, but there were strong signs of improvement.

It's a new era on the Plains. Young talent is choosing to be a part of it, even with the uncertainties that come with a head coach. There is something to that, for what it's worth.