There's no sugarcoating it: Auburn dominated the in-state football recruiting in the 2025 cycle with Alabama and Kalen DeBoer starting behind the eight-ball with many prospects and Hugh Freeze using that to his advantage to lock up the most talented players within the state's borders.
According to the 247 composite rankings, Auburn signed eight of the top 10 players in the state of Alabama. The other two left the state completely, one signing with Oregon and the other Ohio State.
Ultimately, Alabama built its class with only two players from the state of Alabama: 4-star OT Micah DeBose and 3-star Mal Waldrep.
Freeze was in a unique position to take advantageof due to the coaching change in Tuscaloosa and he did it. Alabama still signed a higher-ranked recruiting class than Auburn according to all major recruiting services.
But moving forward, Kalen DeBoer and GM Courtney Morgan know they have to do better in the state moving forward. DeBoer and his staff have been on the road the past week, and it's obvious where their focus has been as they look to start building the 2026 class.
Alabama currently only holds a single commitment in the 2026 class, but that one is one of the better players in the state of Alabama in this cycle. 4-star CB Zyan Gibson committed to Alabama in December. Gibson is one of seven Top 100 players in the state for 2026, according to 247.
Alabama is a national program and will recruit as such. Nick Saban's dynasty has made the Crimson Tide a popular destination across the country due to the high level of winning and the amount of NFL players produced out of Tuscaloosa.
But this is a deep class in-state, and DeBoer wants to flip the narrative. The prizes in-state for 2026 are a pair of likely future 5-stars - WR Cederian Morgan from Alexander City and DE Anthony Jones from Mobile.
Alabama will make big pushes for both. The No. 3 player in the state is DL Vodney Cleveland from Birmingham, a one-time Alabama commitment who decommitted in December but is still considering the Crimson Tide.
The Auburn faithful are confident they will dominate the in-state recruiting once again in the 2026 cycle. I believe they are mistaken. DeBoer and staff proved they could recruit with the heavyweights in 2025; the 2026 cycle will be the same, but also proving that this state is still crimson.