Former Auburn linebacker Desmond Tisdol will be reuniting with a former Auburn assistant coach at his new school.

Tisdol, who opted to transfer from Auburn in the middle of spring practices, announced Thursday that he has committed to Florida Atlantic. Tisdol will play for former Auburn edge coach/special teams coordinator Roc Bellantoni, who is now the Owls’ defensive coordinator/linebackers coach after not being retained by Hugh Freeze on the Plains.

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A 6-foot, 231-pounder, Tisdol was a reserve linebacker for Auburn the last three seasons before opting to transfer on March 22. Tisdol appeared in 24 games during his three seasons with the Tigers, including all 12 games last season as a backup behind the team’s core three-linebacker rotation of Owen Pappoe, Cam Riley and Wesley Steiner. Tisdol posted 14 total tackles last season and left Auburn with 18 career tackles.

Tisdol was a former four-star recruit out of Wilcox County High in Rochelle, Ga., and was rated as the nation’s No. 14 inside linebacker and No. 247 overall recruit in the 2020 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was a member of Auburn’s seventh-ranked recruiting class that cycle, which represented the last signing class of the Gus Malzahn era.

Tisdol played in five games as a freshman during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, then appeared in seven games in 2021 while finishing with two total tackles. His playing time increased last season, but he was still outside of the Tigers’ main rotation at linebacker. He did not appear to be among the Tigers’ top-six linebackers in the rotation before his departure this spring, as Riley, Ole Miss transfer Austin Keys, Steiner, Robert Woodyard Jr., LSU transfer DeMario Tolan and Eugene Asante were all ahead of him during drills in practice.

Tisdol is one of five players who have transferred from Auburn since the start of spring practice, joining fellow linebackers Kameron Brown (UT-Chattanooga) and Powell Gordon, defensive end Jeffrey M’ba (Purdue) and wide receiver Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. (Cincinnati).

Tisdol will have two years of eligibility remaining at FAU as he looks for a fresh start with a familiar coach in Bellantoni, who was an analyst for Auburn in 2021 before moving into an on-field role with the Tigers last season.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.