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Jul 07, 2023

Some late

To say this Iron Bowl rivalry spice is back would insinuate this caldron somehow cooled. That blow torch of a pilot light is an eternal flame in this state, but something feels different as July turns

To say this Iron Bowl rivalry spice is back would insinuate this caldron somehow cooled. That blow torch of a pilot light is an eternal flame in this state, but something feels different as July turns to August.

In retrospect, this was always going to be the case when Hugh Freeze returned from exile to throw gas on this rivalry. And, in the wake of being picked sixth in the seven-team SEC West topped by the Crimson Tide, Freeze swapped the narrative in true Freeze fashion.

He went recruiting.

And the ecosystem was disturbed.

First landing four-star Demarcus Riddick over Alabama, then flipping five-star receiver Perry Thompson from the Crimson Tide, Freeze made more noise over a weekend than the program had in years.

It’s been a while since the Tigers and Tide were consistently fishing in the same pond, so to speak. Auburn was still landing top 20 classes but that top-end talent wasn’t signing with the Tigers.

Should Thompson sign, he’d be the first five-star from the 247Sports composite to land at Auburn since Owen Pappoe in 2019. In terms of receivers, the recruiting site doesn’t list any high school receivers with five-star ratings who signed with Auburn in the last two decades though Duke Williams was a top JUCO transfer in 2014.

Thompson, a star at the same Foley High School that produced Julio Jones, added to the Iron Bowl flavor with a comment Monday at Baldwin County media day.

“I looked at Nick Saban and Hugh Freeze,” he said. “Nick Saban is a good coach, and I have a lot of respect for what he’s done in college football. I know he kind of specializes in DBs, but I’m a receiver. That’s what I want to be, and I know Hugh Freeze has a background in developing receivers at a high level. Auburn just felt like home, and I needed that home feeling again.”

That, of course, was not lost among certain Alabama-centric online communities that haven’t felt a real recruiting scrap with the in-state SEC rival in a while. There had been some high-profile fights like TJ Yeldon’s last-minute flip from Auburn to Alabama in 2012.

A year later, Reuben Foster’s Auburn tattoo wasn’t enough to keep him from trading the Tigers for the Tide.

Then in 2014, Auburn legacy Rashaan Evans caused a stir with his signing day decision to leave home for a starring role in Tuscaloosa.

That was a golden era for Alabama-Auburn recruiting battles that feel like trailed off in recent years. There were subplots to each of those competitions that just added to the Iron Bowl lore.

The Brian Harsin era didn’t quite yield much in terms of high-profile high school recruits -- most notably in-state prospects.

By 247Sports’ count, the 2021 and 2022 classes had five in-state signees apiece, according to the database. Of the 18 commits for the 2024 class, 10 are from Alabama including the big scores in Thompson (Foley) and Riddick (Clanton).

You don’t need me to explain Freeze understands the SEC recruiting landscape far better than Boise’s Harsin.

After the Big Cat Weekend, the manifestation of this clear shift is coming into focus.

It’s getting spicy.

With it, another dimension of the Iron Bowl rivalry cranks up the heat just in time as preseason practice opens this week on both campuses.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

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