Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said he and his staff would be poking around the portal in hopes of adding a defensive lineman or two.

“I think inside is where we’re still a little thin,” Freeze said of the defensive line as the Tigers went through spring practice. “We’ll be looking, maybe, for some portal help there.”

On Sunday, Freeze and the Tigers officially added some help as Indiana transfer defensive lineman Philip Blidi announced his commitment to Auburn in a social media post.

Blidi, who announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal as a grad transfer on March 19, was high on Auburn’s list from the beginning.

Measuring 6-foot-3 and 295 pounds, Blidi logged 30 tackles and four tackles for a loss for the Hoosiers last season. The 2023 season was Blidi’s first and only at Indiana after as the Trenton, New Jersey native started his college career at Texas Tech in 2020.

According to a post Blidi made on X, Auburn extended him an offer on March 25. Weeks later, the Tigers’ staff got Blidi on campus for an official visit on April 15-17.

“Everybody was really welcoming, everything I’ve been able to see is what I was looking for coming here,” Blidi told Auburn Undercover’s Christian Clemente after his visit. “Every question that I’ve had has been answered.”

After his visit to The Plains, Blidi went on to cancel his scheduled visit to Oklahoma — joining LSU and Washington as teams vying for Blidi’s commitment.

With Blidi in the fold, he adds experience to a defensive line room that features senior Jayson Jones, senior Kansas transfer Gage Keys, senior Texas transfer Trill Carter, junior Quientrail Jamison-Travis, redshirt freshman Darron Reed Jr., freshman TJ Lindsey and freshman Malik Blocton.