AUBURN – Former South Carolina quarterback Tanner Bailey will come out of retirement to join the Auburn football squad. Bailey, originally from Gordo, Alabama, was a four-star recruit in the class of 2022. He enrolled at South Carolina, where he spent a year as a reserve quarterback.

Bailey enrolled at Auburn as a student and decided to retire from football in 2024. He will now return to Auburn as a backup, giving the Tigers another quarterback option Jackson Arnold And Deuce Knight in the spring. Quarterback signee Ashton Daniels will arrive in Auburn this summer.

Bailey was the No. 347 overall player in the Class of 2022, the No. 19 quarterback and the No. 14 player in the state of Alabama, according to On3 Industry Rankings. Bailey didn’t record any stats in his one-year stay at South Carolina.

Bailey says he has two years of eligibility remaining, “maybe even longer.”

Bailey talks about decision

via Justin Hokanson

When Auburn Live caught up with Bailey on Wednesday, he talked about his decision to retire and why he chose Auburn as the place to return to the field.

“Personal reasons,” Bailey said of his departure from football last year. “Ball was a lot. I enjoyed South Carolina, but felt like there were a lot of things that needed to be sorted out personally. The last year of my life was the best mentally, maturely, spiritually and physically. The stars aligned. (Jesse Stone) contacted me in mid-December, so it worked out perfectly.”

Tanner’s father, Lance, played for Auburn in the mid-1980s. Tanner grew up an Auburn fan, so joining the program is literally a dream come true.

“If you ask five-year-old Tanner what his dream is? It definitely would be,” he said.

With Oklahoma transfer Arnold joining along with freshman Knight and Stanford transfer Daniels (after the spring), Bailey helps round out a crowded quarterback room. And while Bailey wants to compete and play well, he is equally focused on helping drive a football program that has been close to his heart his entire life.

“The most important thing to me is that Auburn wins and Auburn gets better,” Bailey said. “Lead, follow, but it’s not like I’m going to take on a different role. I want to compete and if something happens I will make the best of it. For me, I want to make the room better and I personally want Auburn to really win.”