Auburn's Recent Decommit Reminder Not to get Too High or Too Low in Recruiting

The Auburn Tigers have flipped and flopped in recruiting this week as decommitments are a reminder not to get too high or too low with recruiting.

Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze / John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

In the cutthroat world of high stakes college recruitment, it's always best to never get too high - or low. Just when you think things are going firmly in the right direction, a highly prized recruit can suddenly change his mind.

The Auburn Tigers know this as well as anyone as they added a commitment from running back Alvin Henderson last week but lost a commitment from offensive lineman Carde Smith this week. Henderson had been committed to Penn State before he flipped to Auburn.

One day fans can celebrate the fickle nature of recruiting with Henderson and bemoan the loss of Smith the next.

Smith was ranked as the 15th best player to hail from Alabama in this year's cycle, furthermore, he was the No.26 ranked OT prospect in the country - going on rankings provided by 247Sports. 

Levels of due diligence had seen Smith taking some other visits after originally committing to Auburn way in April. Regardless of racking up some air miles , it still sure sounded like what Smith had seen only served to further cement his future with Auburn. 

"It helped me show that I made the right decision coming to Auburn," Smith told Christian Clemente of 247Sports after his official visit. "It's just the love around here. You don't have to worry about anything, they've got your back. I'm locked. Ain't no switching."

Keeping track on where recruits take visits is pretty darn tiring at times, so when Smith headed to the west coast to visit with USC recently, it perhaps gives a strong indication of where he might now land.

“The USC visit showed me some different things and made USC a real hard push for me to be here,” Smith told Scott Schrader of On3 after his visit. “I’ll definitely be back for a game in the fall.”

Certainly, Auburn head Hugh Freeze will have to take it on the chin that Smith is now looking elsewhere. Fact is the Alabama native and his 6'5 and 300-pound frame would have provided the Tigers with a prototypical pro-sized type perimeter blocker to work with.

Alas, Freeze will still be planning ahead, simply on account of the fact that 4 of his 15 commitments in this 2025 class are offensive linemen.

4-star Offensive tackle Tavaris Dice is joined by 4-Star tackle Broderick Shull, and a pair of 3-Star offensive linemen, Tai Buster and Spencer Dowland.

Reassuringly plenty of clay remains for offensive line Coach Jake Thornton to mold moving forward. Most importantly, it also serves as a timely reminder that heads can be turned, and at any point in time.

Given the complexity of assembling a cohesive group upfront, getting ahead of the curve is of paramount importance. Consequently, we can expect the Tigers to continue to be as aggressive as possible when reaching out for possible alternatives headed into Big Cat Weekend.