Auburn ‘to push hard’ to secure 5-star ATH at Big Cat Weekend

Auburn football is expected to “push hard” to land 5-star Buford, Georgia safety KJ Bolden on July 29 and 30 at the Tigers’ annual on-campus mass recruiting visit, Big Cat Weekend, according to AL.com’s Ainslie Lee.

“Earlier this month, Bolden unveiled his Top 5 schools, which included Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia and Ohio State,” Lee prefaced before saying, “Bolden also set his commitment date for August 5. With Bolden’s plan to announce his commitment quickly approaching, expect Freeze and the Auburn coaching staff to push hard to secure the nation’s top safety this weekend.”

Bolden will make his official decision on August 5 in a live-streamed event, but AU can make a massive impact on that choice with an impressionable Big Cat Weekend.

Auburn football target has an affinity for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart

Getting Bolden will be a challenge due to how highly the ATH views Georgia head coach Kirby Smart — whose coaching style Bolden compared to being like family, which was the same reason Cam Coleman chose Texas A&M.

“You know (Kirby Smart) is going to be there for a real long time,” Bolden said (h/t DawgNation). “He’s a great coach. I feel like he and I’s relationship are like no other. I feel like with a head coach that I don’t have any other relationship with a head coach like his. His is just like a different flavor. At the end of the day, he is going to be your coach but he is not really trying to seem like your coach. He’s trying to be like one of your friends. You can talk to him on a daily basis. Like a brother or something like that. That’s how I really sometimes look at him when I am talking to him.”

Truthfully, it sounds like the Bulldogs have Bolden in the bag. Tiger fans are better suited to paying attention to Perry Thompson’s potential Plains flip from Alabama.