New Auburn HC Hugh Freeze suffers first loss as Tigers coach

After visiting with Auburn, former NC State QB Devin Leary is transferring to the SEC after all. Only it won't be at Auburn. Instead, he'll be wearing Kentucky blue. Mark this as the first loss of the Hugh Freeze era.

Per On3's Matt Zenitz, Leary will go from the Wolfpack to the Wildcats and be the successor to rumored top 10 NFL draft pick Will Levis.

Zenitz notes Leary also received overtures from Auburn but decided to join forces with Mark Stoops at Kentucky instead of with Hugh Freeze on The Plains.

The Wildcats are more well-known as a basketball powerhouse than a destination for premiere football talent but Stoops has done a fantastic job of reshaping the program's image into that of a respectable football program. 

Levis is expected to go in the top 10 of next year's NFL draft by many draft analysts and the pro-style offense Kentucky runs will be a great canvas for Leary as he hopes to follow in Levis's footsteps.

He only played in six games in 2022 at NC State after suffering a torn pectoral muscle during a 19-17 win against Florida State on Oct. 8. (h/t The Fayetteville Observer)

In 30 career games, Leary's 568-of-944 (60.2 percent) for 6,807 yards with 62 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

He played in all 12 games in 2021 when the Wolfpack went 9-3 and finished 20th in the Associated Press poll. That year, he completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,433 yards with 35 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Leary was one of the most attractive QB prospects in the transfer portal, an instant starter wherever he landed. He solves a question the Wildcats were going to face heading into next season while it keeps the position in a state of flux at Auburn.

This year, the Tigers were led by Robby Ashford. He was 123-of-250 (49.2%) for 1,613 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in 12 games. Those numbers won't cut it in the SEC and Freeze knows it. That he was left out in the cold after being in the running for a top player on the market doesn't bode well for the team's immediate future.

On Tuesday, Auburn announced former three-star Liberty commit Hank Brown was a part of its 2023 class. The team landed three-star prospect Keyone Jenkins from Miami (Fla.) Central in November. 

Per On3's Jeffrey Lee, Jenkins expressed a great relationship with the coaching staff, in particular interim head coach Cadillac Williams and special teams coordinator and area recruiter Roc Bellantoni, as a reason he committed to Auburn.

Williams is now associate head coach under Freeze and on Monday, it was announced Bellantoni was named defensive coordinator on Tom Herman's staff at Florida Atlantic after he wasn't retained by Freeze. (h/t ESPN's Pete Thamel)