Auburn football battling Clemson for 4-star in-state defensive lineman

The state of Alabama is home to many top prospects in the recruiting class of 2023, and Auburn football head coach Bryan Harsin and his staff are doing their best to keep those athletes playing in the state. Harsin has emphasized his “backyard recruiting strategy” and went to great lengths to send his coaching staff all over the state earlier this summer.

While the hard work is clearly paying off in prospects setting official visits to the Plains, the recruitment process does not end there and the Tigers will still have to fend off other top programs to earn the prospects’ commitments.

Taking an official visit to the Plains this weekend is one of those highly-sought in-state recruits in 4-star defensive lineman Hunter Osborne from Trussville. Osborne is ranked as the #111 overall prospect and the #15 defensive lineman in the recruiting class of 2023 and is the #12 player out of the state of Alabama.

Though Osborne’s recent official visit to Clemson moved the program to the top of his recruitment list, the DL’s strong relationships with the Auburn football coaching staff have kept the Tigers squarely in the mix for Osborne, per Auburn Undercover:

"“I mean they’re two great dudes, two great coaches,” Osborne said. “Coach Brumbaugh, he’s put a lot of dudes in the league. He’s a great recruiter, always checking on me, checking on my family and I can’t wait to see what they do this season. And Coach Harsin, you know how he is, he started off the season really strong last year and I expect Auburn to be on top soon.”"

Osborne’s final six schools includes Auburn, Clemson, LSU, Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama, and he has official visits scheduled to Texas and Tennessee later this month following his trip to the Plains. Although they will have to fight hard to earn Osborne’s commitment, the coaching staff is certainly not giving in.