Auburn’s secondary got through its opener just fine against Baylor, but the Tigers lost a piece of depth before the home opener week even settled in.
Safety Jacoby Mathews is no longer with the program, according to multiple sources close to the situation. On3’s Bryan Matthews first reported the news Monday evening. Mathews had entered his second season at Auburn but was still fighting to carve out a spot on the depth chart.
Mathews arrived on the Plains after starting his college career at Texas A&M in 2022. He played in more than 10 games in both his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Aggies before leaving the program in 2023. He was not on either team in 2024, then head coach Hugh Freeze took a shot on him ahead of 2025.
That move never turned into much on-field action. The Ponchatula, Louisiana, native appeared in just one game for Auburn last season, getting into the Tigers’ late-November blowout of Mercer before the Iron Bowl against Alabama. He did not record a stat in that game.
If Mathews does not land at a lower-tier program, his college production will remain limited to what he put together in his first two seasons at Texas A&M. He finished his time there with 66 total tackles, seven pass breakups and an interception.
His challenge at Auburn was always going to be steep. He was not part of the secondary rotation coming out of fall camp and had trouble matching the standard set by defensive coordinator DJ Durkin.
The Tigers’ safety group was already crowded, with Champ Anthony and sophomore Eric Winters leading the way. Winters made the game-winning tackle in Auburn’s win over Baylor last weekend.
Junior Kaleb Harris, senior Sylvester Smith-Reed and sophomore Newboy Fegans were also in the mix for starting jobs, which left Mathews with a difficult path even as the calendar moved toward 2026.
Freeze brought Mathews in because of the talent that once made him one of the most highly regarded recruits in the country. Rivals ranked him as a five-star prospect in the 2022 class, the No. 2 safety in the country and the top player in Louisiana. He picked Texas A&M over LSU, Florida and Texas, among others.
Auburn still has plenty of depth in the secondary, but Mathews’ departure leaves the defense with one less option for the rest of 2026.
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