Two weeks ago, Elijah Melendez backed off his pledge to Miami.

Saturday, he announced his commitment to Auburn.

The Rivals100 linebacker is the 24th member of the Tigers' 2025 class, which jumps Texas and slides into the No. 4 spot in the Rivals team rankings. He's the third linebacker to join Auburn's class, joining Jakaleb Faulk and Bryce Deas.

Originally from Kissimmee, Fla., Melendez committed to Miami in December of last year. He sat on that commitment for over eight months before reopening his commitment on the first full Saturday of college football two weeks ago.

Melendez took an official visit in the summer to the Plains, and with it, Auburn immediately jumped into the picture as a serious contender to flip Melendez from Miami, along with Oklahoma and Ole Miss. However, following an official visit to Miami to wrap up his summer officials, it seemed like it had sealed the deal on his commitment to the Hurricanes.

DJ Durkin said not so fast.

Auburn's inside linebackers' coach continued working on Melendez, eventually getting him back on campus for Auburn season opener. He was on campus with other high-priority targets like Notre Dame quarterback commit Deuce Knight, Ohio State cornerback commit Na'eem Offord and undecided Ousmane Kromah.

Two weeks later, Melendez jumped on board while on his second game day visit for the New Mexico game. He's Auburn's fourth-highest rated commit in the 2025 class, only behind Nathaniel Marshall, Alvin Henderson and Blake Woodby.