re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

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I’d be really surprised if Nix went anywhere other than Auburn. Again, we were around the kid for a couple of years before they moved to Scotsboro. Never saw him without an Auburn hat on.

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You mean the recruiting area we have completely abandoned? He would be better off being connected in Colorado than Mississippi of he recruits for Auburn (not counting jucos.)

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SAN ANTONIO — When Tyson Campbell lists the programs heavily in the mix for him, he names five schools right off the bat.

“Miami, Georgia, Bama, Clemson, Ohio State,” the 5-star cornerback said Wednesday.

Those have been the programs linked to his recruitment since the beginning.

Campbell, the No. 3 corner in the nation, is from American Heritage in South Florida. That proximity to home has made Miami the perceived leader recently. But a few SEC programs — Georgia and Alabama — are the only two official visits Campbell has set up so far. He’ll go to Athens on Jan. 12 and Tuscaloosa on Jan. 19.

As for the other three official visits, Miami, Clemson and Ohio State could received those last three. When asked about those three programs receiving officials, however, Campbell brought up two other lesser-mentioned programs as potential official visit destinations for him.

Auburn is one of them.

“I don’t know if I can fit five in. But I don’t know if it’d be one of those [other three] because I’m talking to other schools like Auburn and Tennessee,” Campbell told SEC Country.

Campbell doesn’t have the strongest familiarity with Auburn, but he’s giving the Tigers time to change that.

He’s only been to the Plains one time, and that was during his sophomore season. Campbell admitted, for the Tigers to receive an official visit, he will have to stay in contact more with the coaches in short order.

Campbell has been hearing from Auburn tight ends coach Larry Porter and defensive backs coach Greg Brown more recently. In fact, he connected with Porter on Tuesday to talk about how things have been going at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

“Coach Porter and coach Brown. It’s been the same [message] as other schools. They really want me,” Campbell said. “To give them an official? More communication. I talked with coach Porter yesterday. He was just asking me how I’m doing down here. I know him pretty well.”

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SAN ANTONIO — It’s time to finally eliminate Auburn from contention for one linebacker target.

JJ Peterson has been one of the Tigers’ top linebacker options for a while. His relationship with Auburn linebackers coach Travis Williams kept the Tigers in it when it looked like Alabama would be an impossible team to beat. Now it’s Tennessee that has crept into the lead.

As for Auburn, the communication has tapered off as the Tigers have hauled in more linebackers.

“I talk with him sometimes, off and on. We don’t really talk a ton. We’ve got a good relationship still though,” Peterson told SEC Country. “It just faded. They got other recruits, other linebackers, and it just faded.”

Auburn has four prospects committed who could fit in at linebacker. Michael Harris and Zakoby McClain are the clear-cut linebackers of the group. Richard Jibunor is listed as a linebacker, but Auburn sees him fitting in as a Buck pass-rusher in its defense. Josh Marsh is also called a linebacker for now, but he could end up at safety.

When McClain committed, it caught Peterson’s interest. The two have a close relationship thanks to their south Georgia connection. McClain’s decision made Peterson think harder about Auburn momentarily, but as he looked at the linebacker depth, it didn’t look like a realistic fit.

“With Zakoby, that was one where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m about to float there.’ I didn’t know he didn’t tell me nothing, but when he did, I was interested,” Peterson said. “But they told me they already has some committed. It’s no hard feelings, but it’s the way I gotta go though.”

My sources have told me Auburn still wants Peterson. Any conversations that suggest there aren’t linebacker spots available for him have been a miscommunication. With that said, contact has been minimized recently, especially since the additions of McClain and Jibunor. The Tigers will still recruit Alabama linebacker commit Quay Walker heavily leading up to National Signing Day, so available linebacker spots are the concern.

In Peterson’s case, most of it has to do with his relationship with new Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt who was his lead recruiter at Alabama. His primary recruiter at Georgia was linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer who recently took that Tennessee defensive coordinator job under Pruitt.

Combine that with his high school friendship with Tennessee players Shawn Shamburger and Ja’Quain Blakely, and it’s starting to look like a longtime Alabama lean will end up at Tennessee.

“My first official I’m going to the Vols on Jan. 12,” he said. “If I find a hat, it’s over.”

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1. An elite cornerback could (somewhat surprisingly) take an official visit to Auburn

During the Wednesday morning media session, I interviewed 5-star cornerback Tyson Campbell, serving as a de facto pool reporter for some of my colleagues who cover Georgia, Alabama, Clemson and Miami. Those are the programs most closely connected to Campbell, and those are the schools Campbell mentioned first when asking general questions about his recruitment.

Miami and Georgia might be the favorites at this point.

I wasn’t planning on asking Campbell any Auburn-related questions because, quite frankly, I didn’t think there was any communication going on between the two sides. As it turns out, Campbell was in touch with Auburn tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Larry Porter as recently as Tuesday.

That communication is in the early stages, and the Tigers are going to have trouble becoming a real factor in this one. With that said, an unsolicited Campbell disclosed he is considering using one of his five official visits to Auburn. He said he’ll need a little more contact with the staff before he takes it, however.

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