Auburn’s new defensive line coach Vontrell King-Williams, who served as a defensive line analyst on the 2023 staff and with Hugh Freeze at Liberty prior to his promotion in February, has made two additions to his position group in as many days with Philip Blidi and Isaiah Raikes joining the program via the transfer portal.
“We’ve got a couple spots left on our roster and if you're going to fill it, let's fill it at the defensive line and receivers. I think that's where we kind of need to add some more depth,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said following the Tigers’ spring game.
Freeze made it clear what his staff needed to capitalize on during the spring portal window and the last two days have proven to be positive for Auburn’s roster goals heading into the 2024 season.
Blidi made his announcement to transfer to the Tigers for his additional COVID year via social media Sunday afternoon after spending his senior season at Indiana.
The Trenton, N.J., native, spent his first three seasons at Texas Tech prior to transferring to Indiana. Blidi played in every game during his first three seasons as a rotational player on the line with 39 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss.
Thrust into a starter role last season, Blidi had a career high 30 tackles and four tackles for loss over the Hoosiers’ 12 games.
It only took Blidi’s new teammate Raikes one more day to finalize his decision to join Auburn’s defensive line after spending spring practices at Southern Cal.
Raikes transferred from Texas A&M, after three seasons of playing in every game for the Aggies, to Southern Cal following the coaching change in College Station, Texas this offseason.
As an Aggie, Raikes totaled 43 tackles over his four seasons with 17 in each of the last two. This past season against his new team, Raikes had two total tackles, one of which was a solo shot on running back Jeremiah Cobb in the third quarter.
Both Blidi and Raikes add much needed depth to a position group that includes fellow transfers Gage Keys, from Kansas, and nose tackle Trill Carter, from Texas, who both already enrolled and went through spring practice.
Freeze and his staff will continue to hit the portal in the later parts of the spring window to fill any final holes to the 2024 roster with the start to the upcoming season just over four months away.
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Patrick is a sophomore from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
