Anyone who has been paying attention to the recruiting wars that will define the next few college football seasons is aware that the Ohio State Buckeyes appear to be a major player for every high-profile recruit in the country. The Buckeyes have the third-ranked class in 2024 and a top-ranked class in 2025, which has the potential to be among the best in recent college football history. However, when Ohio State dared to venture down into the state of Alabama, the Auburn Tigers beat the Buckeyes for one of the top players in the Yellowhammer State.
“Shadarius Toodle, a Top 247 linebacker in the Class of 2026 from Cottage Hill Christian Academy (Ala.), has announced his commitment to Auburn,” reports Christian Clemente of 247Sports. “It comes at Auburn’s Big Cat Weekend recruiting event.” In addition to Auburn and Ohio State, Toodle was evaluating offers from strong institutions like LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Miami Florida. In the end, Toodle described going to Auburn as “the best decision I’ve ever made.”
“It’s just the atmosphere,” Toodle said, according to Clemente, when asked why Auburn was his ultimate pick. “I enjoyed it every time I came up here; I’ve been up here about four times. My family adores it. I got to chat to Coach Freeze and the staff, and they made me feel right at home.”
Toodle was not the first Alabama player to commit to Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers on Saturday morning. Hezekiah Harris, the country’s third-ranked edge rusher, has joined Toodle after choosing Auburn over SEC rivals Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
Is Hugh Freeze on his way to turning Auburn around?
A 6-7 record in his first season at Auburn isn’t the most remarkable record, but Hugh Freeze appears to have Auburn back on track and on its road to perennial contender status in the increasingly competitive SEC. Last season, the Tigers more than held their own against three of the SEC’s greatest teams: Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama, losing by seven points or less in each. And now that he’s completed a full year at Auburn, Freeze is gaining traction on the recruiting trail.
Auburn has the 16th-ranked recruiting class for 2025, led by Malik Autry, Jakaleb Faulk, Eric Winters, and Jourdin Crawford, four 4-star defenders from Alabama who are all listed in the Top 100 by 247Sports. Though it is early, the acquisitions of Toodle and Harris have pushed Auburn to second place in the 2026 rankings.
The Auburn Tigers have not won ten games in a season since 2017, when Gus Malzahn was still the coach. That drought could last another year or two, but if Hugh Freeze has all of his players in place, the SEC may have yet another National Title contender on its hands.
