Auburn football roster tracker: Live updates on who’s in, out at AU

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AUBURN — Alex Golesh‘s first eight months as Auburn football‘s head coach will be imperative to the success of his first season at the helm.

Before the former South Florida head coach even gets his first opportunity to win a game on the Plains, he’s being tasked with wading through one of the more talented rosters in the sport and carving out his group of guys for the 2026 campaign.

“You have to be able to identify the immediate roster and figure out really, really quickly who fits,” Golesh said Dec. 1 at his Auburn introduction. “And by fits, I don’t mean offensively, defensively or special teams, but truly, who wants to be there. Who has, at least, got a chance to buy into what you’re doing, understanding that when you come into a situation where the success wasn’t flowing, change has to be made.”

Golesh’s first signing class is out of the way, as Auburn added 18 true freshmen during the early signing period, but the work will ramp up throughout the next month. The offseason’s lone transfer portal period begins Jan. 2, and Golesh will be sorting through the pieces on the nation’s 13th-most-talented roster in the meantime.

As the offseason ensues, stay tuned here for a full rundown of the latest changes on Auburn’s roster.

Live updates on Auburn football’s roster: Who’s in, out on the Plains?

This section will be updated.

What Auburn football players are going into the transfer portal?

While no one is able to officially enter the portal until Jan. 2, five players have either announced or reportedly have intentions to enter the transfer portal.

The lone Tiger to announce his plans was sophomore wide receiver Perry Thompson. A source confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser on Saturday, Dec. 6, that quarterback Jackson Arnold was doing the same after Golesh’s staff encouraged him to look for greener pastures.

Which transfers are Auburn football, Alex Golesh targeting?

That’s soon to be discovered. Surely, some of it will depend on who else decides to depart the Plains. Some positions, like offensive line and tight end, are sure to be prioritized simply due to expected turnover. There is one question, however, not pertaining to Auburn departures.

Will Golesh import his longtime quarterback, Byrum Brown, to east Alabama? Brown has one season of eligibility remaining, and this fall, the redshirt junior became the 12th player in the sport’s history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a single season. Among that other dozen: Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, Johnny Manziel, Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson.

It’d be an appealing addition, but it’s also loaded with questions. Could Brown go pro instead? Would he prefer to run it back at South Florida with Brian Hartline should he return to college? And if Brown did wind up at Auburn, it could raise another question — What’s the future hold for Deuce Knight?

What’s the latest with transfer portal calendar? Here’s what to know

After having two portal windows last offseason, including a 30-day spans for the majority of December, the NCAA consolidated chances for football players to transfer this year, eliminating a spring transfer window and moving the lone period to a two-week span — from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16 — following the College Football Playoff.

Players who wish to enter the portal must do so in that window, but they’re not required to enroll at a new school before the entry deadline. Some players, like Thompson, will publicly announce their plans to transfer prior to the window’s opening, but it’ll be nearly a month until they can actually do so.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Tracking Auburn football roster changes: Live updates on who’s in, out

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