Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh promised a major role to 4-star Appoquinimink (DE) offensive tackle Layton von Brandt to seal his commitment to AU over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in May. ESPN's Eli Lederman highlighted Golesh's ace up his sleeve for von Brandt while discussing his commitment and running back Myson Johnson-Cook's commitment to the Tigers over the Miami Hurricanes.
Per Lederman's sources, "...the Tigers' staff leaned on previous relationships with Johnson-Cook to accelerate its place in his recruitment and sold von Brandt on a pathway to playing time at Auburn. In both cases, the program made up serious ground on elite contenders this spring, ultimately beating Miami and Notre Dame, respectively, for their pledges, and offering early evidence of Golesh's recruiting prowess."
Golesh is turning heads on the recruiting trail, though, ironically, Auburn wasn't deemed a spring winner, while the Fighting Irish and Hurricanes were. Still, seeing "Auburn's early success" as a subheader in a spring recruiting overview from the World Wide Leader is exactly the kind of headlines the Tigers need right now. Sure, there were overpromises from successful recruiting in the Hugh Freeze era, but what Golesh's doing is the first step to something great happening. Freeze's program just never took any of the next steps.
As for von Brandt, Golesh's promise is a major statement about what the Tigers are focusing on moving forward.
Layton von Brandt is the kind of young gun Auburn must feature immediately
The hope for Michigan State Spartans transfer and former Thompson Warriors star Stanton Ramil is to build up his value by protecting Byrum Brown's blindside enough this fall to springboard to a late-NFL draft pick or undrafted free agent next April. Ditto for James Madison Dukes transfer Jo Simmons.
In 2027, von Brandt is a logical true freshman to throw into the fire. Auburn has long lacked the kind of athlete at the tackle spots who can keep elite SEC edge-rushers at bay. Every Tigers QB who started the majority of games in a given season dating back to Jarrett Stidhm has had to be mobile to make up for it. It's partly why TJ Finley did his best work after leaving the Plains, and why Bo Nix is a Super Bowl-caliber NFL QB1 who didn't look anything like that in his home state.
Obviously, that wouldn't have been possible for von Brandt in South Bend. von Brandt would've had to outduel Guerby Lambert, Styles Prescod, and Matty Augustine on Notre Dame's depth chart to get a look next year. There's a clear runway for von Brandt in Lee County, Alabama, once he arrives.
von Brandt stands at six feet seven inches and continues to add size to a 300-pound frame. Physically, he should be able to handle himself right away against potential 2027 additions like Jabarrius "Chicken" Garror and/or Jackson Vaughn. If Jared Smith doesn't declare for the NFL draft next year, he could also be a good obstacle for von Brandt to improve his game in practice.
Golesh gets it. With von Brandt, Golesh gave the only thing he could while running a downtrodden program and going up against a rich juggernaut like the Fighting Irish: the chance to play immediately.
It got the job done. That should help Golesh get his job done over the coming years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google