Where is Auburn's 2026 Recruiting Class Ranked After Day One of Early Signing Period?

Behind multiple high-profile flips while signing most of the existing recruiting class, the Auburn Tigers' first recruiting class under Alex Golesh made a big jump in the national rankings.

Auburn football head coach Alex Golesh made plenty of recruiting moves on the first day of the early signing period. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUBURN, Ala.- The Auburn Tigers have surged in the recruiting rankings after the early national signing day period, jumping 58 spots from the 93rd-ranked recruiting class to the 35th, according to 247 Sports.

Auburn entered signing day with a below-average recruiting class compared to previous seasons, where Auburn had the eighth-ranked recruiting class in the 2025 class and the 10th-ranked recruiting class in 2024 under Hugh Freeze. But with Freeze no longer in the picture, the recruiting class took a slip. A few players decommitted once it was announced that Alex Golesh would be the next head coach at Auburn, but Golesh and his staff have bounced back and then some. 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers flipped recruits from power-house programs like Alabama, Texas and Penn State, and appear to be only heating up from here. 

Auburn defensive line coach Vontrell King-Williams went on a tear in the recruiting trail on Wednesday, flipping four-star defensive lineman Corey Wells from the Texas Longhorns and flipping defensive lineman Tavian Brance from Penn State. 

Auburn was also able to flip wide receiver Brian Williams from the Alabama Crimson Tide. Williams is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound three-star recruit from Semmes, Ala.

Golesh was also able to flip former USF recruits, which includes quarterback Rhys Brush and tight end Demarcus Broughton Jr., who were both committed to USF prior to the early signing period beginning Wednesday morning. 

Attacking the recruiting world this early into his tenure should not be a surprise. In Monday's introductory press conference, Golesh said he and his new staff would "recruit this 250-mile radius harder than anybody in the entire country."

"The high school football within these 250 miles is nothing short of elite," he said. "I’ve been in this part of the country for a long time. I’ve recruited this part of the country for a long time. Our staff, as it all comes together, is going to have a giant footprint in this 250-mile radius around campus. We’re going to identify, we’re going to recruit, we’re going to attack, and we’re going to bring those guys right here to the Plains."

While Wednesday was a big jump for the Tigers, the job is not done with the early signing period continuing through Friday, the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2 and closing on Jan. 16 and the regular signing day on Feb. 24.

Still, Wednesday was a good start, and if Auburn can do what it did on the recruiting trail, expect the Tigers to take another huge leap from the No. 34 spot in recruiting rankings as the high school class continues to round out and the Tigers attack the transfer portal.