Auburn National Signing Day 2015: 5 Takeaways from Tigers' Class

A strong recruiting class has been reined in to The Plains.

Auburn officially welcomed 27 players in its 2015 class, eight of whom had enrolled early and another 19 more who signed their national letters of intent on Wednesday. All told, the group ranked as the ninth-best class in the country, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

The Tigers' class has been taking shape for months, but over the past few weeks, Gus Malzahn and his staff worked overtime to fill needs that could help immediately this fall or provide depth for the future.

They got most of the guys they wanted, while missing out on a few choice pieces, and even had to sweat out a potential last-second reversal after landing one of the nation's top defensive players.

Click through to see some of the highlights of national signing day for Auburn.

Waiting by the Fax

USA TODAY Sports

It took roughly seven hours, but Auburn got the player it wanted most. Not without some anxious moments, though.

Defensive end Byron Cowart committed on ESPNU just after 9 a.m. ET, donning Tigers colors during a ceremony at Armwood High School in Seffner, Florida. He even whipped out a Chucky doll from the Child's Play movies, a homage to Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and his history with that doll when he was Florida's head coach.

But not long after Cowart's announcement ended, reports began to surface that the decision wasn't final. Jamie Newberg of Scout.com tweeted that Cowart had actually signed two letters of intent, one to Auburn and one to Florida, while Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports reported that Armwood coach Sean Callahan said Cowart only wanted to "verbal" on Wednesday.

The drama came to an end just after 4 p.m. ET, when Malzahn confirmed that Cowart's letter had arrived in the football offices, per Alex Byington of the Opelika-Auburn News.

The Muschamp Effect

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Auburn's biggest offseason acquisition doesn't have any college eligibility left, but he still matters as much as any of the stud players who are joining the program.

The December hire of former Florida coach Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator had two main motivations to it—one that would have an immediate effect, and another that will bear out next fall.

As much as it's Muschamp's coaching acumen and background as a top-notch mentor of linemen, linebackers and cornerbacks, he's also got a heck of an influence on the recruiting trail.

Muschamp's arrival at Auburn set up major recruiting battles between his new employer and the former one, both of whom were going after several of the same players. The Tigers landed three big blows in that clash, led by 5-star defensive end Byron Cowart.

The nation's third-ranked player cited Muschamp as a reason he decided to leave his home state for Alabama, noting that he and other coaches now at Auburn had been recruiting him for quite some time.

Similar allegiance to Muschamp led wide receiver Ryan Davis and linebacker Jeffery Holland, both 4-star prospects, to pick Auburn over Florida.

The One That Got Away

It wasn't a clean sweep for the Tigers, who missed out on the nation's top-rated offensive lineman when Martez Ivey chose Florida.

The 6'5.5", 275-pound offensive tackle visited Auburn on Jan. 16, and he seemed torn between the two SEC schools throughout the final weeks of his recruitment.

He told Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel the following: "I'll be one way one day and another way the next day. It's back and forth. I've been doing that for a while."

Ivey would have been a huge get for Auburn, which graduated two offensive linemen from this past team. However, the Tigers still loaded up on beefy blockers, signing two guards, two tackles and a center.

A Huge Late Push

Credit: 247Sports

4-star DE Prince Tega Wanogho

Of the 27 players whom Auburn signed this year, seven didn't commit until this week. That helped push the Tigers' class ranking from 13th on Monday to its final spot at ninth.

According to Justin Hokanson of 247Sports, Auburn targeted 20 players to fill potential spots in this recruiting class, which meant there were "125,970 possible combinations" of how the Tigers' signing day would go.

Prince Tega Wanogho, a 4-star prospect from Alabama, started the late momentum by committing on Tuesday and then sending in his letter on Wednesday. The 6'8", 250-pound defensive end who is originally from Nigeria just recently broke his leg while playing basketball.

Positional Options

Most of Auburn's incoming recruits have a defined position, either what they excelled at in high school or junior college or what coaches have already identified is their best fit at the FBS level. But the Tigers also are bringing in a handful of prospects whose skill sets are so diverse they could be plugged into a number of spots.

Three newcomers are listed as "athletes" by 247Sports, and each has the chance to make an impact in more than one area. Two of those guys, 4-star prospects Tim Irvin and Jason Smith, enrolled early and are getting a jump on figuring out where they fit best, while 4-star athlete Kerryon Johnson signed on Wednesday.

Johnson played running back and safety at Madison Academy in Alabama, but Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote that "Johnson is more likely to find his way to the field in 2015 as a safety" because of the Tigers' running back depth and a need for instant impact players on defense.

Smith, who signed with Auburn in 2013 but spent the past two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, was a dual-threat quarterback in high school and junior college but figures to fit better as a receiver.

Irvin, a Florida native who flipped from Texas to the Tigers in January before enrolling on Jan. 22, will most likely end up being in the secondary.

All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.