4-star in-state commit keeps pipeline to Auburn ‘alive and well’

4-star in-state EDGE recruit Jakaleb Faulk is keeping the pipeline from his school to the Auburn football program according to Rivals' Caleb Jones Mandatory Credit: The Montgomery Advertiser
4-star in-state EDGE recruit Jakaleb Faulk is keeping the pipeline from his school to the Auburn football program according to Rivals' Caleb Jones Mandatory Credit: The Montgomery Advertiser /
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The Faulk family is keeping it together on the Plains with the Auburn football commitment of Class of 2025 EDGE rusher Jakaleb Faulk, the younger brother of 2023 DL flip Keldric Faulk from Florida State. Hugh Freeze secured the commitment of the Highland Home star, and in the process, kept the pipeline from Highland Home to Auburn “alive and well.”

“The Highland Home, Ala., pipeline to Auburn is alive and well,” Rivals Caleb Jones wrote. “Jakaleb Faulk, the No. 121 player in the 2025 class, announced his commitment to Auburn Monday, several days before his junior season begins. Faulk, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, picked the Tigers over Alabama, Clemson, Florida and Georgia.” Faulk explained why he chose AU; sounding like the decision was made due to the feel of the Auburn family.

“The way it feels to me up there, the vibe I get when I go up there,” Faulk said on why he chose Auburn. “What Coach (Hugh) Freeze and Coach (Josh) Aldridge are bringing to the school. I like the way they’re doing things up there.”

Auburn football coaches show attention to detail in Jakaleb Faulk’s recruitment

Freeze and LB coach Josh Aldridge made a point to make Jakaleb feel like his own man instead of an addition to his older brother, as the recruit relayed.

“(Aldridge’s) played a big part in my recruitment,” Faulk said. “When we get off the phone, he’ll make sure I have all my questions answered, he’ll break everything down to me. It’s just the way he talks to me, he’s just a different dude.”

“Everytime (Freeze) came to speak to me, it hasn’t been about my brother, it’s been about me. That’s what I like. I don’t like when people judge me off my brother and compare me to him. I’m my own person so that’s a good thing about [Freeze].”

That attention to detail isn’t something the last Tigers head coach was known for having. Neither was fortifying a relationship with an in-state high school coach; something Freeze just did with Highland Home Flying Squadron head coach Will Pouncey.