Days before Auburn played Ole Miss, Tigers backup QB Joey Gatewood decided to leave the program. With the way media availability is structured during game week, postgame interviews after AU’s 20-14 over Ole Miss provided the first opportunities for reporters to ask Auburn players for their thoughts on Gatewood’s decision to leave the Plains.

AL.com’s Tom Green caught up with QB Bo Nix and WR Anthony Schwartz. Both players followed Malzahn’s lead in extending their best wishes to the departed quarterback.

“I think everybody was a little surprised,” Nix told Green. “Joey, he’s a great guy. I really wish nothing but the best for him. I mean, he was put in a bad situation and so, I mean, I don’t know what he’s going through, nobody else on the team knows what he’s going through but when we’ve talked, he’s in a good spot, he feels like.”

As a fellow class of 2018 signee, Schwartz was understandably close to Gatewood.

“You know, it was kind of tough, especially in the middle of the season,” Schwartz told Green. “I came in here, and he was one of the first people I met. We had a good bond. But, whatever he thinks is good for him, I’m happy for him. Wherever he goes, I’m going to support him. At the end of the day, I’m still an Auburn Tiger, and we have to focus on the rest of the season.”

Gatewood has not indicated where he’ll continue his college football career. The 4-star ATH out of Jacksonville, Florida started his “play four in five” clock last season, redshirting in his first season on campus. If he transfers to another FBS program directly, Gatewood will have to sit out the 2020 season (unless he were to receive an immediate eligibility waiver from the NCAA), which would leave him with two seasons of eligibility remaining for 2021 and ’22. Green mentions the possibility of Gatewood playing a year in JUCO (2020) and then returning to the FBS level (2021).

Coming out of Bartram Trail, Gatewood was ranked the No. 49 overall recruit in the class of 2018 on the 247Sports Composite. He had 34 scholarship offers, including Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State and LSU. Early in Gatewood’s recruiting process (2015), many recruiting experts predicted he would pledge to FSU and then-coach Jimbo Fisher.