re: 2019 Football Recruiting Thread - Auburn Goes 4/7 & Land Brothers

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3-star defensive lineman Caleb Johnson — Auburn

- Caleb Johnson didn’t expect to be an Auburn Tiger before the calendar turned to 2018. When I went to go see Johnson in September — shortly after putting him in my August class projection (humble brag) — all he wanted to talk about was Georgia and Tennessee. Those were the two schools he really liked. Those were the two schools he wanted to visit. As for Auburn, well, he didn’t know enough about that staff even though he’d visited there a few times and held an offer.

- Fast forward a couple weeks, Johnson started showing up on campus with more regularity, but it was almost exclusively for game days. That’s not always the best opportunity to get to know coaches because they’re doing their standard game day routines that involve recruiting after the game, which is generally a mad house. With five game visits in the 2017 season, Johnson became much more comfortable with the environment and atmosphere, but he was still yearning for more of a relationship with the coaching staff.

- That picked up in January. They weren’t making regular in-home visits, but Johnson set up an official visit. That’s when Auburn took the lead for good. Johnson and his mother spent a lot of time with the coaching staff, not just Rodney Garner, and the home feel started to creep in. It was Johnson’s last official visit, but he still didn’t know how scholarship space would shake out. In the end, Auburn came in and confirmed the spot. Johnson didn’t hesitate.

- Here’s a little anecdote on Johnson worth noting, as well. I spoke with a source after the Iron Bowl about defensive line prospects at that game intriguing to Auburn. The source rattled off a couple names there, but given the confidence at the time with Andres Fox — who was later accepted to Stanford — it was possible the Tigers didn’t add anymore. Right before the conversation concluded, I asked what the thought was on Caleb Johnson. The source stopped to prepare for a well-thought answer on the subject. In summation, Auburn was really high on Johnson: High character and supremely athletic for his position. Johnson was always a prospect Auburn planned to circle back around on if Fox went a different direction.

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