The Auburn Tigers and head coach Alex Golesh heard from Xavier Atkins after the program dismissed the star linebacker following a suspension for undisclosed reasons that kept him out of Saturday’s upset win over Georgia.
Atkins addressed his departure early on Tuesday morning in a post on X, saying he plans to move on while supporting his former teammates.
“I have nothing but respect [for] Auburn University and will continue to support my teammates this season,” Atkins wrote. “My focus is on my health, my family, and on finishing up the academic semester strong, and I’ll be entering the transfer portal at the appropriate time.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel first broke the news of Atkins’ dismissal from the program on Monday at midnight. Neither Golesh nor Auburn have disclosed the reason for Atkins suspension or his removal from the team.
Golesh initially announced Atkins’ suspension ahead of the Georgia game and declined to provide details.
“We will be without Xavier Atkins this week,” Golesh said. “We’ll revisit it next week when we meet again on Monday here. We’ll keep it in-house in terms of anything beyond that—that’ll be the only piece of it that I will be addressing. He won’t be with us this week for the game on Saturday, won’t be available, and then we’ll revisit early next week when we meet again here.”
Speaking on Monday afternoon, Golesh had not announced a final decision on Atkins’ future. “We’re still working through it. I don’t have an update right now,” Golesh said before hours later, Auburn dismissed one of its most productive defensive players.
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Atkins recorded 37 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and an interception through five games this season. He earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2025 after leading the conference with 17 tackles for loss.
Atkins transferred to Auburn in 2025 after beginning his college career at LSU. He is a third-year player with two seasons of eligibility remaining. The defender already announced his plans to enter the transfer portal instead of turning pro next season.
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Auburn upset then-No. 1 Georgia 27-24 last weekend and will next host No. 18 LSU on Saturday at Noon ET.
