For UGA fans, swiping a 5-star commit from your fierce rival at the last minute on signing day was something special to celebrate.

Meanwhile, on the other side – the Auburn football community, including this reckless tweet from a current Tigers player, seemed flabbergasted and frustrated with the stunning flip of longtime commit George Pickens to UGA on Wednesday’s signing day.

Truth be told, it would be just as painful for UGA had the roles been reversed.

Nevertheless, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn put on a brave face about the situation when he spoke to reporters on early Wednesday, per The Athletic’s Justin Ferguson. He spoke directly about Pickens – and that’s not common practice by a school that finishes runner-up on a heralded recruit.

“I usually don’t comment on players who go elsewhere, but he (Pickens) was committed to us for a while,” Malzahn said. “… The good thing is that we have a lot of big-time receivers who are young. That’s not going to bother us.”

But the loss of Pickens was clearly a blow to the Auburn fan base, even if Malzahn played it off to the media. Then again, what else was Malzahn to say? The coach smartly needs to stick to the positives after rumors surfaced about a buyout after this past season’s disappointing 7-5 campaign.