Gus Malzahn will have a new quarterback to play with next season as JUCO transfer Jarrett Stidham announced Saturday that he will playing for Auburn in 2017.
Stidham, who began his career at Baylor, decided to leave Waco, Texas, over the summer following the firing of coach Art Briles. He transferred to McLennan Community College in the same city, though he did not play football while there.
Here's what you need to know about Stidham and his decision to transfer to Auburn.
1. He was originally a four-star recruit: Stidham was a big get for Briles and Baylor in 2015, when he headlined their recruiting class. He was rated the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the class and had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Miami, Notre Dame and, yes, Auburn -- just to name a few.
He played in 10 games for Baylor during his freshman season, completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,265 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions. Stidham started three games after Seth Russell went down with a neck injury, but he missed the final three games of Baylor's season when he suffered an ankle injury in a win against Oklahoma State. He was planning to compete for the starting job in 2016 until Briles was fired and he decided to transfer.
2. He still has three years of eligibility remaining: Stidham will be eligible to play right away for Auburn in 2017, but since he didn't actually play football in McLennan last season, he still has three years of eligibility remaining. Think of 2016 as a redshirt season in which Stidham didn't really have to redshirt anything.
3. He's going to have some competition at Auburn: We can't know what Stidham was told by Auburn's staff, but looking at the Tigers roster, it's expected that Sean White, John Franklin III (who himself was a JUCO transfer last season), and Woody Barrett are all expected back next season.
Auburn also has four-star athlete Tray Bishop coming to campus next year, and he wants to compete for the quarterback job as well.
So this isn't a situation where Stidham is stepping into a ready-made job, though considering some of the struggles Auburn had at the quarterback position -- there's a reason they went so strongly after Stidham after all -- you have to think he has a very good chance at winning the job.
4. Someone's Photoshop skills need work: Stidham announced his decision on Twitter Saturday night with this graphic. Maybe he made it. Maybe he didn't. But this is what he sent.
That is hideous looking. I'm not sure what happened here. Maybe Jarrett -- or whoever made the graphic for him -- isn't skilled enough to put himself in an entire Auburn uniform and just decided to go with this crazy mix of Baylor and Auburn. If that's the case, just go with an Auburn logo next time, maybe even a shot of Aubie or an eagle with "War Eagle."
But not this. This is a bad start to Stidham's tenure at Auburn.