Whether it’s in his role as an ESPN and SEC Network college football analyst or as co-host of the Birmingham-based radio show that bears his name, Cole Cubelic doesn’t bite his tongue when it comes to Auburn football. And the noted Tigers alumnus certainly didn’t hold back Tuesday morning. Cubelic, who was a standout offensive […]
Whether it’s in his role as an ESPN and SEC Network college football analyst or as co-host of the Birmingham-based radio show that bears his name, Cole Cubelic doesn’t bite his tongue when it comes to Auburn football. And the noted Tigers alumnus certainly didn’t hold back Tuesday morning.
Cubelic, who was a standout offensive lineman at Auburn from 1996-2001, unleashed an epic rant directed at aggrieved fans despondent after a pair of former five-star Tigers players — true freshman quarterback Deuce Knight and star sophomore receiver Cam Coleman — committed to SEC rivals Ole Miss and Texas, respectively, on Sunday out of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
“The obsession with attempting to build a team on two individuals that have had limited time proving themselves, and have shown some clown tendencies in doing so, is beyond irresponsible, is beyond ignorant, and is just flat out flawed,” Cubelic said during Tuesday’s episode of McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on Birmingham-based WJOX-FM. “… (And Auburn fans are) going to sit around and cry about a guy that has less than 100 catches in two years? We’re going to sit around and cry about a guy that’s played in one game?! You’ve got to stop. You’ve got to stop. No player cripples a program when they leave, not a single one – not to the draft, not to the portal, not to Enterprise Rental Car to start a new career. None of them cripple a program when they leave.
“And if your mindset is of so, that is a loser brain. That is a loser take. That is a loser mindset, to think, ‘Oh, he’s leaving, we can’t win,’” Cubelic continued. “You can’t think that way, and this obsession with these two guys that they’ve propped up any portion of the program. … What FBS games did Auburn win because of the two said players?”
To Cubelic’s point, while both Coleman and Knight offered a wealth of potential as former five-star signees under ex-Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, their actually on-field production generally left much to be desired.
Knight, for all his superstar potential as the No. 5 QB and No. 25-ranked overall player in the 2025 recruiting cycle according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, appeared in just two games last season. Of course, that included a breakout performance in his lone start of the season, when the dual-threat Knight combined for 401 total yards and six touchdowns in a 62-17 blowout of FCS-level Mercer on Nov. 22. Now he’ll look to make a similar impact for the Rebels, fresh off their historic run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Coleman, a former Five-Star Plus+ prospect in 2024 who was ranked as the No. 2 overall transfer in the portal when he committed Sunday, combined for 93 receptions, 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns across two seasons at Auburn. And while that’s nothing to scoff at, it averages out to just four catches for 56.8 yards and half-a-touchdown per game in 23 career games, only four of which saw him eclipse the 100-yard mark. Now Coleman will look to improve on that number in Austin while working with superstar QB Arch Manning.
“Give me 20 (of Alabama receiver) Germie Bernards before one Cam Coleman. Sorry, I know that hurts people’s feelings, I know I’m probably really mean for saying that,” Cubelic concluded. “You know what, I’ll use another Auburn example: give me 1,000 Courtney Taylors before one Cam Coleman. Hell, I’ll take Duke Williams before I take (Coleman). That dude will stab you in the throat to catch a football. I don’t care, I want him on my team.”
Coleman and Knight were among 35 players off last year’s Auburn roster to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal when it opened on Jan. 2, 24 of which have already signed with new teams — several of which include some of the Tigers biggest SEC rivals. That reality has led many Auburn fans to feel forlorn this offseason ahead of the inaugural season under new head coach Alex Golesh, who was hired away from USF to replace Freeze on Nov. 30. And while Golesh and the Tigers have already signed 25 players out of the portal, 13 came from South Florida, including four-star transfer QB Byrum Brown.
Category: General Sports
