Kayin Lee has continued to develop">
Auburn’s on-field improvement down the stretch this season is exciting, sure. But Hugh Freeze knows it’s the conversations and strides he makes off the field that will put the program in a healthier position down the road.
His first full recruiting class at Auburn is heating up at the right time, with the early signing day set for next month. The Tigers are essentially solidified in the top 20, currently with the nation’s No. 16 class that includes six top-150 recruits. And with names like Texas A&M receiver commit Cameron Coleman and Florida defensive tackle commit LJ McCray, both 5-stars, Auburn has put itself in position to punch for a top-10 class full of game-changers on both sides of the ball.
"We're going to get some big catches,” Freeze said Thursday when asked how many pieces he thinks Auburn can add between now and the December signing period. “I believe that."
And Auburn can only hope that it can grab players with the impact potential of those Freeze reeled in at the last minute this time last year. Leading the way for Auburn’s salvaged 2023 class were Freeze and his staff’s efforts to not only flip three of their top recruits from other Power Five programs, but also keep other top prospects from being swiped after Auburn’s coaching search.
Now those efforts are paying dividends, and Freeze’s top 2023 signees are thriving in their true freshman season. The trio of defensive end Keldric Faulk, cornerback Kayin Lee and center Connor Lew — who flipped late from Florida State, Ohio State and Miami, respectively — will likely have 13 combined starts to their names entering the Iron Bowl. And running back Jeremiah Cobb, the fifth-highest rated signee for Auburn last year, is now up to three touchdowns on the season, including two in the past three games.
Lee’s road to Auburn winded through commitments to both Georgia and Ohio State. Even after the 4-star cornerback pledged to one of Auburn’s biggest rivals all the way back in September 2022, assistant coach Zac Etheridge maintained a close relationship. And Freeze retaining Etheridge on his inaugural staff ended up being the difference in Auburn flipping Lee from Ohio State on signing day.
“I never really saw myself coming to Auburn at first when I was early on in my recruiting,” Lee said this week. “It was really Coach E that stayed on me from Day 1 as he offered me. Even though I committed with two different schools before coming here, he never let off and he always kept on texting me and calling me — especially when it came around crunch time for my recruitment. He was on me every day, him and Coach Freeze. That just meant a lot to me, showing their outrageous love and support for me.”
Freeze and his staff were able to flip Lew from Miami just over two weeks after the coaching change was made official, and Lew has now started the past three games at center after an injury to East Carolina transfer Avery Jones.
It likely wasn’t ever a possibility that Freeze wouldn’t retain running backs coach Cadillac Williams after what the Auburn legend did as interim coach last year, but that decision was what kept Cobb in the class after Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee all made late runs at the 4-star running back.
Faulk’s signing-day flip was the biggest one, as he became the Tigers’ top-rated signee and the program’s best defensive line recruit since Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson and Nick Coe in 2016.
“(Freeze) really didn't recruit me; he really talked to me as if I was a human being, not as if I was a football player,” Faulk said. “That was important for me and important for my mom because we don't want to be another number on a roster. I wanted to come in and have a relationship with my coach and that relationship with my coach, if football doesn't work out, could help me out later in life just because I got that connection with him. A lot of coaches during my recruitment I didn't really have that connection with. I built that connection with Coach Freeze within two weeks of him being hired.
“Of course me being here now, we're still building that relationship to this day. ... He just came in and gave me Auburn, gave me him.”
They’re some of the top talents in the country, sure, but a big reason Lee, Faulk and Lew are playing big roles right now for Auburn is the fact that all three were early enrollees who participated in spring practice.
Faulk put it simply when he explained that an extra semester of practice, especially for a freshman, was particularly beneficial when undergoing the same install from the coaches twice, and being able to build off that baseline knowledge of the scheme and system the second time around.
“Some of the guys that came in in the fall, they didn't really get that extra time with the coaches, and it's really to learn the scheme,” Faulk said. “I've learned the scheme over three or four times before we even hit the season. So it was like a refresher every time. And as far as getting to know my coaches, and getting to know how they want me to play my position, it was crucial because you don't want to go out there and do the wrong thing and it messes the whole play up.”
While Faulk’s situation was a bit different, working as an edge rusher in the spring before moving full time to defensive end in fall camp, Lee was immediately thrust into Auburn’s No. 3 cornerback role as soon as he arrived on campus. Sophom*ore J.D. Rhym was dealing with a leg injury, so Lee wasn’t given the luxury of learning waiting in the wings.
That trial by fire ended up paying off for Lee once the season began, though, as starter Nehemiah Pritchett missed the first three games due to an ankle injury, and Lee started opposite D.J. James. Even now, Lee is still solidified as the third cornerback in the rotation.
“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of ups and downs,” Lee said of immediately playing a big role on Auburn’s defense, even as an early enrollee. “But it was just about building that team chemistry, I feel like. … Just taking stuff from (James and Pritchett) and being able to learn from them during the spring, that helped a lot.”
Faulk’s role increased significantly after Maryland transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite suffered a season-ending bicep injury against Georgia in Week 5. Faulk has started every game since.
“It's been a little more than what I expected it to be,” Faulk said with a smile. “When people say it was the mini NFL, they weren't exaggerating. You're playing against guys that are going to be first-, second-rounders next year — I feel like that helps me a lot, just going against those guys, because if I do get a chance to play in the NFL, it's going to be some of the same guys I see over and over again.”
Auburn’s other freshmen figure to have some playing time in front of them Saturday if the Tigers are able to build a big lead against New Mexico State (3 p.m. CST, SEC Network).
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