Auburn’s already thin tight end room got thinner on Friday, as freshman Hollis Davidson III declared his intentions to enter the transfer portal. His plans were first reported by On3, and Davidson reposted the report on X (formerly Twitter).

Auburn football will face several quality nonconference opponents in addition to its grueling SEC slates over the next few years.

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn Football and the Southeastern Conference announced Thursday the program’s 2026 schedule, highlighted by visits from LSU and Florida. Auburn will play six home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium, hosting Southern Miss (Sept. 12), Florida (Sept. 19), Vanderbilt (Sept. 26), LSU (Oct. 24), Arkansas (Nov. 7) and Samford (Nov. 21).

In addition to announcing a game at Auburn, Samford says they have also agreed to a home-and-home series with Southern Illinois to be played in 2026 and 2029. Samford says they will host the Salukis Sept. 5, 2026 before traveling to Southern Illinois Sept. 15, 2029.

With Jackson Arnold transferring out, Auburn's Alex Golesh is evaluating Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight while not ruling out bringing in additional quarterback talent for 2026.

The Auburn Tigers are set to hire West Virginia's Larry Porter as the program's running backs coach, according to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. The reported hiring comes as former offensive coordinator and running backs coach Derrick Nix emerges as a leading candidate for the running backs coach at Florida.

The SEC football scheduling format will transition from its traditional 8-game model to a 9-game model, effective in 2026. The switch will allow Auburn to play its traditional SEC rivals more often.