Auburn football CB coach Wesley McGriff on freshman: ‘He wants to be great’

Auburn football cornerbacks coach Wesley McGriff couldn’t have sung the praises of 2023 recruit Kayin Lee in a more glowing way when speaking to AL.com’s Tom Green — claiming that the Cedar Grove product “wants to be great” and does everything he could in order to achieve that status.

“(Lee) wants to be great,” Green said. “He has the attitude and demeanor where he wants to be great.”

McGriff described what Lee does to ensure he is constantly getting better and not falling behind in new defensive coordinator Ron Roberts’ schemes. “He will not leave the building if he doesn’t understand the coverage,” McGriff said. “He’ll knock on the door and say, ‘Hey Coach, I don’t understand this coverage.’ The first thing I do, I’ll look to see if he has something to write on, and he has his notebook, and as soon as he sits down he pulls it out and is taking notes.”

Kaylin Lee as described by his Auburn football teammates

In addition to the major endorsement from McGriff, Lee was lauded by several of his Auburn football teammates as well, including former JUCO transfer Keionte Scott and returning starting safety Zion Puckett.

Scott compared him to a pit bull. “I would describe him as feisty,” Scott said. “If I could use one word, just feisty. Like a pit bull, kind of. He wants to be out there, and you can see it. So, every time he’s out there, he’s taking his reps and making them count, for sure.”

Puckett, meanwhile, gave props to Lee for coming in as a high schooler and immediately making an impact.

“The level of style that he played in high school, I feel like he’s bringing that immediately right to the table, and I feel like that’s (not) something that a lot of high schoolers that don’t come in early do,” Puckett said. “I feel like getting around the environment, learning the playbook early (and) learning how to maneuver through school, I feel like that’s something that’s a big thing.”