Ashton Daniels, the quarterback who started three of Auburn’s final four games this season, is set to team up with former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn.
Daniels entered the transfer portal after the season and announced his commitment to Florida State on Tuesday. Malzahn, who coached Auburn from 2013-2020 is going into his second season as the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator.
Despite starting the season as a backup to Jackson Arnold, Daniels found success when he took over the starting role late in the year. He first replaced Arnold in Auburn’s 33-24 win over Arkansas and started in games against Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Alabama.
Daniels finished the season with 797 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, while rushing for 280 yards and two touchdowns on 63 carries.
His best performance came in Auburn’s overtime loss to Vanderbilt, in which he threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 89 yards and two more touchdowns on 18 carries.
Despite Florida State’s 5-7 record in 2025, Malzahn’s offense ranked sixth nationally in total yards per game. Daniels will replace Tommy Castellanos, who finished the season with 2,760 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed for 557 yards and nine touchdowns on 137 carries.
Auburn has added two transfers quarterbacks — USF transfers Byrum Brown and Locklan Hewlett — after Daniels, Arnold and Deuce Knight entered the portal.
The transfer portal will remain open until Jan. 16, Follow along with all of Auburn’s incoming and outgoing transfers here.