Cody Sigler was the talk of spring for Auburn's defense. Here's why.

He was in Division II not too long ago and spent just one year in the Sun Belt. Now he's got the look of a leader on an SEC defensive line.

(Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — The transfer portal era of college sports has created a lot of “second chance” recruitments — basically, if you miss the first time, you might get another shot down the road if you established a strong enough relationship.

The most notable example of this at Auburn over the last few years has been Walker Kessler on the basketball side. Auburn didn’t get Kessler out of high school but picked him up via the transfer portal after the former 5-star sat on the bench for most of his freshman season at North Carolina. He turned into an SEC champion, a National Defensive Player of the Year and a first-round NBA Draft pick on the Plains.

Auburn football has been able to capitalize on this effect, too. Xavier Atkins was a DJ Durkin recruit in high school, when he was at Texas A&M. After he didn’t play much at LSU, Atkins transferred to Auburn and became an All-American linebacker. Alex Golesh and his former USF assistants got to snag former recruiting targets when they jumped to the SEC, like A-Day MVP and freshman receiver DeShawn Spencer.

Another one stood out this spring — and Golesh might have geography to thank for it.

Cody Sigler played three seasons at Division II West Alabama, picking up all-conference honors in 2024 for the Tigers. Sigler then hopped into the portal, looking to make a transfer to the Division I level. USF was one of his suitors, but Sigler didn’t want to head down to the Sunshine State to play for Golesh.

“I kinda told him I didn't like Florida… I didn’t want to get sunburned,” Sigler recalled.

Sigler eventually landed at Arkansas State, where he proved he belonged at this level — and then some — rather quickly. After a standout season in the Group of Five, Sigler’s sights in his return to the transfer portal were on power conferences. A move back to his home state made plenty of sense for the New Hope native.

This time, Golesh made the most of another chance at his fellow redheaded lineman.

“He told me, ‘There's no reason, you can't say no now,’” Sigler said. “It means a lot to just come here and play underneath him.”

At face value, Sigler might not be a defensive tackle that screams “SEC impact player.” He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and a little north of 300 pounds. He only played against two power-conference schools at Arkansas State: Arkansas and Iowa State. That Arkansas State team went a decent 7-6 overall and 5-3 in the Sun Belt.

But Sigler’s numbers show a premium talent at his position — and the buzz he built this spring backed it up.

“If you were to say one guy that keeps showing up on tape as belonging here, and not just belongs here, but stands out — that dude has come in… on a straight-up mission to go win the job,” Golesh said this spring.