A new coach at Auburn meant significant roster turnover would surely follow. Before Hugh Freeze’s team lines up for fall practices in a few weeks, his roster has more than three dozen new faces, including more than 20 transfers. In his first offseason back in the SEC, Freeze took advantage of the new landscape the transfer portal has made for college football to reshape the Tigers. Auburn brought in the fifth-ranked transfer class, according to 247Sports, and led the nation with 11 four-star rated transfers.

Here’s a look at one of them…

No. 12 Austin Keys, linebacker, junior

Hometown: Taylorsville, Mississippi (Seminary High School)

Previous Institution: Ole Miss

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 233

A look back at the past: Of all the transfers on Auburn’s roster, very few can even come close to matching the SEC experience Keys already has. Keys started five games for Ole Miss last season and had a total of 402 snaps. He had 39 total tackles, 3.5 for loss and two sacks. He also had a forced fumble and had a fumble recovery. Though, last season was by far the best and featuring the most game action of his college career. Keys redshirted in the 2020 season — effectively at least, since that year didn’t count toward player eligibility. In 2021, he played in four games and had five total tackles.

“He’s got the SEC experience,” Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts said during spring practices. “He’s big. He’s physical. He runs exceptionally well. He’s intelligent. He’s very smart. He’s picked things up really fast.”

2023 roster outlook: Across the many season preview magazines, Keys is widely expected to start this fall. And that makes a lot of sense. Former Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe is now in the NFL. He was Auburn’s most productive and most experienced linebacker last season. Auburn recruited linebackers heavily in the transfer portal this offseason as a result, and Keys may be the biggest name of the bunch now on campus. He certainly seems in line to make an immediate impact in the middle of Auburn’s defense. Returning linebackers Cam Riley and Wesley Steiner don’t have a significant head start on Keys either, despite their longer time on the The Plains, as they too have to learn a new scheme in Roberts defense. Finding someone who can be a vocal leader and production leader in the middle of the field is key in Roberts’ defense which focuses first on shutting down the run. It seems Auburn expects Keys to be that guy.

“Austin Keys has been everything I thought he’d be,” Auburn linebackers coach Josh Aldridge said in spring practices. “He’s got to clean some detail stuff up. But I think we definitely did not miss on him by any means.”