How Auburn Landed a Pair of Four-Star Recruits for 2027 Class

The Auburn Tigers have been on a heater in recruiting in recent days, as the Tigers have landed five different recruits in the last four days, with at least three more expected to follow in the coming days. This, seemingly, came out of nowhere, so many Auburn fans are wondering: how exactly is Alex Golesh landing these recruits?

We do not know for sure how Golesh has landed all of the Tigers’ latest pickups, but a recent article on ESPN detailed how the Tigers landed Layton von Brandt, a four-star offensive lineman, as well as Myson Johnson-Cook, a four-star running back.

“Per ESPN sources, the Tigers' staff leaned on previous relationships with Johnson-Cook to accelerate its place in his recruitment,” ESPN’s Eli Lederman wrote.

The Tigers were one of the first programs to offer Johnson-Cook all the way back in May of 2025, though he did not visit the Plains until February, when Alex Golesh was already at the helm. However, much of the Tigers’ coaching staff has remained despite Hugh Freeze’s departure, and those prior relationships from the Freeze staff seem to have resulted in Freeze’s successor landing a blue-chip back.

“[Auburn] sold von Brandt on a pathway to playing time at Auburn,” Lederman continued. “In both cases, the program made up serious ground on elite contenders this spring, ultimately beating Miami and Notre Dame, respectively, for their pledges, and offering early evidence of Golesh's recruiting prowess.”

Playing time is a massive factor in the recruitment of many, as it truthfully does not matter if you are on the roster of a big program if you are not seeing minutes. As a result, players often settle on a program based on two major factors (three if you count NIL): relationships with coaches and potential playing time.

Some recruits want to start as soon as their freshman year, but that does not seem to be what Golesh has promised von Brandt. Instead, Golesh likely promised von Brandt an opportunity to earn a starting role as soon as next season, in which the Tigers’ offensive line will once again need a rebuild.

Though we do not know for sure what Golesh said or did to land von Brandt, whatever he said seems to have worked quite well, as von Brandt previously had several predictions to land at Notre Dame before the Tigers swooped in and stole him away.

As a result of these big recruiting wins, confidence is beginning to form within the Auburn faithful, especially surrounding Golesh’s ability to recruit. The Tigers do not seem to be done yet, and if they are able to continue on this pace, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the recruiting world.

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