Malik Autry staying at Auburn, won't enter transfer portal

Defensive lineman Malik Autry will return to Auburn for his sophomore season, he announced on social media Thursday.

Auburn gets back an interior defender who, even as a true freshman, earned playing time in a deep rotation. He played in nine games this fall for Auburn, recording eight tackles. Autry had two tackles on the road against Arkansas and tallied a season-high three tackles in the win over Mercer.

It’s an important retention for Auburn, which lost several pieces of the rotation to depleted eligibility. Starting defensive lineman Malik Blocton intends to enter the transfer portal, thinning out the room even more.

Autry currently projects to be one of the top guys in the rotation, along with Jourdin Crawford and Darrion Smith. However, Auburn will target the position heavily in the transfer portal to solidify the group.

The transfer portal opens Jan. 2.

GOLESH ON THE TRANSFER PORTAL, ROSTER RETENTION

Auburn head coach Alex Golesh, who arrived on campus Nov. 30, spoke in his introductory press conference Dec. 1 on the transfer portal and roster retention.

“I think the one thing that doesn’t change is this: You have to be able to identify the immediate roster and figure out really, really quickly who fits,” Golesh said. “And by fits, I don’t mean offensively, defensively or special teams, but truly, who wants to be there. Who’s at least got a chance to buy into what you’re doing, understanding that when you come into a situation where the success wasn’t flowing, change has to be made.”

He also touched on the resources available to Auburn in order to recruit and retain talent.

“The investment that has been made from the administration to go and attack every single part of the recruiting is phenomenal,” said Golesh. “Nothing short of phenomenal. We’ve got every resource known to man right here to be able to go attract, recruit, retain and develop the best talent there is in the entire country.”