AUBURN, Alabama—Visiting Memphis and Minnesota in the fall and committing to the Golden Gophers before deciding to wait until February, 6-4, 265 edge linebacker
Jack Pyburn has been in contact with Auburn since late his senior season at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. Getting an offer from the Tigers recently, Pyburn made the trip to the Plains to check everything out this weekend and left saying Auburn is now ‘very high’ on his list as he prepares to make a decision.
“The visit was great,” Pyburn said. “Everything about it was amazing. Obviously, the new facilities being built are amazing. The stadium is amazing. The dorms, coaching staff — I was very impressed.
“The vision that Coach (Bryan) Harsin has for the program is really special and I really like the way he’s moving the program and the things he believes in and embodies. It’s similar things to what I believe in. Also Coach (Bert) Watts, the way he coaches, the way he goes about things is really, really impressive to me. Also, just the culture and the creed of Auburn is unlike anything else.”
Something else that stands out to Pyburn is how Watts and
Derek Mason use the edge position in Auburn’s defense. Last season
Derick Hall, T.D. Moultry and Eku Leota combined for 20 sacks, but Moultry has moved on as has top reserve
Romello Height. That means plenty of opportunity to get on the field.
“I really like the way they use their edge players,” Pyburn said. “Coach Harsin calls it their ‘Weapon X.’ It’s the weapon of the defense. I love that the defense is kind of centered around that edge position and they use it so well. You can have two edges on the field, three edges on the field, one edge. The opportunity to get on the field as an edge player is very great. The room is thin as well, so I’m excited. That’s good news for me.”
Following breakout season as as senior when he made 109 tackles in 11 games with 15 sacks and 32 tackles for a loss, Pyburn has seen his recruiting take off in a hurry. With plans to head to Miami on Sunday and Monday and still considering Virginia, West Virginia and others for a final visit at the end of the week, Pyburn said he’s closing in on a decision following his visit to Auburn.
“It’s probably not going to be signing day,” Pyburn said. “I’m looking towards late next week to early next week. I have a big wrestling tournament and I have wrestling kicking up so I would rather not drag this out and not have to stress about it and worry about it. I want to make my decision here pretty soon.”