With a new head coach in place on the Plains, every recruit that has taken an official visit with the Auburn football program in the Bryan Harsin-era is allowed to take a second official visit to Auburn to meet with the new staff, led by Hugh Freeze.
Several prospects are taking advantage of the second official visit, especially prospects who were on the fence about Auburn under the previous staff. One recruit who decided to take a second official visit to the Plains is 3-star cornerback Colton Hood.
A legacy cornerback at Auburn, Hood wasn’t approached by Harsin and co. until August, just one month before he committed to Michigan State. However, he never lost interest in the Tigers, making it to the Plains for the Penn State matchup as well as an official visit when Auburn hosted Arkansas.
The Auburn football coaching staff stayed on Hood, and last week Freeze and Zac Etheridge conducted an in-home visit before getting the CB on the Plains for a second official this past weekend. It was during this visit that he publicly decommitted from Michigan State.
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— Colton HOOD 🕴🏼💯 (@Colton_Hood2023) December 11, 2022
According to Auburn Undercover, Hood felt he didn’t really get to know Bryan Harsin during his initial Auburn recruitment, but Etheridge stayed on him:
"“Coach Etheridge was just talking to me about how their DB room is more of a family than it is a DB room,” Hood said after his official visit. “He introduced us to all of them to his kids and he just treats them all like family. He also taught me some things about my own game that I can work on and be better at."
With the 247 Sports Crystal Ball pointing to Hood’s landing spot being Auburn, the cornerback is officially on commitment watch ahead of the early signing period.