Seminoles lose four-star defensive end to Auburn in Early Signing Period surprise

Florida State has been in a battle to hold on to one of its top commitments in the 2023 class over the past couple of weeks.

Four-star defensive end Keldric Faulk pledged to the Seminoles over the summer. However, the Alabama native has been eyeing Auburn ever since the recent hire of new head coach Hugh Freeze. The former Liberty coach and his staff have remained in constant constant with Faulk leading up to the Early Signing Period.

Faulk and his family were in Tallahassee on Saturday to witness the program break ground on a 150,000 square foot Football Only Facility that is expected to be completed in 2024. However, Faulk also stopped by Auburn on the final day prior to the NCAA Dead Period.

The trip to check out the Tigers came as somewhat of an unexpected development to Florida State's coaching staff. The Seminoles remained in contact with Faulk throughout the week but it became clear that he was beginning to trend in the opposite direction.

On Wednesday afternoon, Faulk officially signed his Letter of Intent with Auburn over Florida State. This is a disappointing end to a recruitment that the Seminoles had a chance to lock up over the weekend. It's no secret that Faulk has kept close tabs on the Tigers throughout the year.

Faulk visited Auburn multiples times during the fall and the program stayed on him despite the coaching changes. Plus, the Tigers are competitive on the NIL front. They flipped four-star defensive tackle Darron Reed from LSU despite not having a head coach at the time.

Regardless, this was a battle that Florida State couldn't afford to lose. Faulk was the second-highest rated recruit in the Seminoles' class and has the makings of a star edge-rusher at the collegiate level. The coaching staff failed to close things out with Faulk and it came back to bite them, something that also happened this time last year.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end is regarded as the No. 73 overall prospect, the No. 8 DL, and the No. 8 recruit in the state of Alabama in the 2023 class according to 247Sports.

As of now, Florida State holds 15 commitments in its 2023 class.

NoleGameday will continue to follow Florida State's Early Signing Period finish throughout the day. You can check out our prospect tracker for all of the upcoming announcements HERE.

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