Class of 2025 high-three-star defensive tackle Darrion Smith committed to Tennessee on July 30, but his verbal pledge to the Volunteers only lasted a few months, as the Saint Frances Academy (Baltimore, Maryland) star has flipped to Auburn on Wednesday.
One day after Smith announced his commitment to Tennessee, he reported a scholarship offer from Auburn on his X (formerly Twitter) account. Following the offer, the Tigers quickly made Smith a priority and were eventually able to successfully get the coveted interior defensive lineman to change his mind.
Smith took an official visit to Auburn during the weekend of Nov. 23 to watch the Tigers' thrilling 43-41 win over Texas A&M in four overtimes.
After the official visit with Auburn, Smith told AuburnSports.com the following:
"The family, how close everybody is," Smith said on what stuck out about Auburn. "Not even just the coaches, but the town — people were just coming up to me, it was different. I’d never had that before, it was different. Definitely very family oriented ... It was definitely amazing. I can say it was one of the best college visits I’ve had."
Smith told Rivals.com at the time of his original commitment that the "family-oriented" coaches and "culture" in Knoxville under head coach Josh Heupel, defensive coordinator Tim Banks, defensive line coach Rodney Garner, defensive graduate assistant Robert Ayers Jr. and the rest of the Tennessee staff played big parts in his pledge to Tennessee.
However, things changed as he is now pledged to Auburn. Smith now plans to play in the Plains under head coach Hugh Freeze, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach DJ Durkin, defensive tackles coach Vontrell King-Williams and the rest of the Tigers' staff.
A few of Smith's teammates at Saint Frances Academy are already committed to Auburn as well. In the 2025 class, the Tigers currently have pledges from four-star cornerback Blake Woodby and four-star outside linebacker Bryce Deas. In the 2026 class, three-star defensive back Wayne Henry is already committed to Auburn as well.
Smith ranks as the No. 11 player of the state of Maryland and No. 36 defensive tackle in the 2025 cycle.
In addition to Auburn and Tennessee, Smith collected scholarship offers from Boston College, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, LSU, Maryland, Miami (FL.), Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, USC, Virginia Tech and others.
The 6-foot-3, 268-pound Smith plans to primarily play as a three-technique defensive tackle at the college level, but has the versatility to move around the defensive line.
With Smith changing his commitment to Auburn, the Tigers currently have 25 total commits in the 2025 recruiting class, and rank seventh in the national team rankings. Auburn remains hot on the recruiting trail and gets a big flip and boost to the future of its interior defensive line with Smith.
Meanwhile, Tennessee drops down to 24 total commitments in its 2025 class, but remains in the top-12 in the team rankings.
