Auburn Tigers Crack Top 3 for 2026 Edge Rusher, Georgia Tech Decommit

Despite a disappointing 4-4 record heading into Week 10, the Auburn Tigers are continuing to stay active on the recruiting trail.

Three-star edge rusher Chris Carbin released his top three finalists earlier this week, On3’s Hayes Fawcett announced on Tuesday. He will ultimately choose between Auburn, Florida State, and Georgia Tech to play his college football.

NEWS: Class of 2026 EGDE Chris Carbin is down to 3 Schools, he tells me for @rivals

The 6’4 240 EDGE says one team is setting the pace in his recruitment 👀

READ: https://t.co/dCXO37QxDT pic.twitter.com/NmELHtcCYM
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) October 28, 2025

Carbin, a native of Powder Springs, Ga., is ranked as the No. 78 edge rusher in the 2026 cycle, per 247Sports, and On3 lists him as the No. 84 overall prospect from the state of Georgia.

Carbin originally committed to the in-state Yellow Jackets this past July, but revoked his pledge on Oct. 5 just a few weeks ago. Since then, he has taken an official visit to Florida State for the Seminoles’ 34-31 loss to Pittsburgh in Tallahassee.

Auburn is the last school to get in on Carbin’s recruitment by a considerable margin, as the Tigers offered the three-star on Oct. 24, just four days before including them in his top three schools. Georgia Tech was the sixth Power Four program to extend an offer, according to 247Sports’ recruiting timeline, while Florida State offered him in July, a little over two weeks after Carbin committed to the Yellow Jackets.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder has taken a significantly higher number of visits to Georgia Tech than the other two finalists, which makes sense, considering Atlanta is a 45-minute drive from his hometown. On3’s visit center reports that Carbin has visited Georgia Tech five total times, and Florida State has received just one visit. He has not visited Auburn yet, as the Tigers just offered him over this past weekend.

Most of the recruiting outlets reflect a two-team battle in the race to land the three-star. On3 has Georgia Tech as a considerable favorite, despite his recent decommitment, but Florida State also appears to be a legitimate contender. 247Sports features two crystal balls for Carbin, one of which is leaning toward the Yellow Jackets and the other favoring the Seminoles.

In terms of Carbin’s motivation and deal-breakers when choosing a school, a stable coaching situation definitely appears not to be one of them.

Both Auburn’s Hugh Freeze and Florida State head coach Mike Norvell are firmly on the hot seat, and any wrong move could certainly result in their firing, whether that be in-season or following the conclusion of the last game.

Additionally, while Georgia Tech’s Brent Key is finding great success and is nowhere near the hot seat, he will undoubtedly catch the attention of many schools that have recently fired their head coaches. For example, Key was one of the five potential candidates listed for the LSU job after Brian Kelly was fired on Sunday.

If Auburn ends up firing Freeze, athletics director John Cohen and company will likely also look at Key as a potential option to take over.

Thus, there is uncertainty at the head coach position at all schools in Carbin’s top three.

Auburn’s 2026 class currently sits at No. 32 in 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings, with 14 total commitments. If he were to elect the Tigers, Carbin would mark Auburn’s second edge rusher pledge of the class, joining four-star Jaquez Wilkes.

Carbin would likely stand as one of Auburn’s lowest-rated recruits of the cycle, but any cushion and extra depth is more than welcome in this day and age of collegiate athletics.