Auburn Football: Crowded Offensive Line Forces Thomas O'Reilly to Transfer to GT

Thomas O'Reilly came to Auburn in the winter of 2011 with early playing time in mind. The Tigers were coming off a national championship, and departures along the offensive line opened the door for newcomers to elbow their way into the starting lineup.

It never worked out for O'Reilly, and according to AuburnUndercover.com, O'Reilly has decided to transfer closer to home to play for Georgia Tech. He is a native of Marietta, Ga., 15 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. Joel Erickson of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has confirmed that Auburn has granted O'Reilly his release.

O'Reilly was a 4-star recruit in the 2011 class, according to 247Sports.com, and was rated as the No. 8 offensive guard in that class.

“He’s not where those guys are right now,” offensive line coach Jeff Grimes told Erickson earlier this spring.

The guys that Grimes was referring to, according to Erickson, are fellow members of the class of 2011: Christian Westerman and Greg Robinson. Well, them and the eight other offensive linemen that Auburn has signed during the last two recruiting classes.

Bottom line, there was no room for O'Reilly, and he's doing the right thing by moving on.

Auburn runs about three-deep across the offensive line, and if O'Reilly was behind the guys in his own class, it isn't likely that he was going to catch up.

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