Joshua Josephs remains patient in recruitment after Auburn offer
Joshua Josephs’ recruitment continues evolve. Auburn recently offered the North Cobb High School (Georgia) outside linebacker.
Josephs camped and visited the Auburn campus a few weeks prior to the offer. For a player like Josephs, recruiting has been interesting.
The 6-foot-3-inch-tall edge rusher’s recruitment a lot in the last year. Josephs has grown physically.
Patience has been a key factor for Josephs. In June, many programs were seeing him for the first time. The Auburn offer is a perfect example of that patience. The Tigers were interest in Josephs but wanted to see him workout in person before they offer him a scholarship.
Many players in his class are making their commitments known this summer after a frenzy of official visits in June. Josephs has had to wait.
Offers are still coming in. Josephs is still weighing the options he has. Josephs feels he needs to wait until around the midpoint of his senior season to announce his commitment.
“I’m kind of waiting until mid-season to announce my commitment,” Josephs said. “My recruitment is going well. I’m truly blessed and thankful to get the offer from Auburn. I’m feeling alright about it.”
What about Auburn offer is standing out for Joshua Josephs?
The Auburn offer stands out for a few reasons for Josephs. The Tigers have a North Cobb connection in Chandler Wooten who is a senior linebacker.
The SEC has a big recruiting allure for Josephs who has grown up in the state of Georgia.
Kennesaw is mushed between major multiple SEC programs.
Auburn’s outside linebackers’ coach and special teams coordinator Bert Watts has been Josephs’ main point of contact with the Tigers. Watts delivered the news of the offer to Josephs.
The new coaching staff’s energy has stood out to Josephs. Wooten has shared his excitement about Auburn’s new coaching staff with Josephs and it further intrigued Josephs.
“They’ve got a lot of energy,” Josephs said. “I’m peeping good vibes all around. I was talking to Chandler Wooten, and he was like ‘I love this place’. He talked about my length and skillset. He said I’d be a perfect fit there. With the new coaching staff coming in, they’re rebuilding and if I have a chance to be a part of something that’s new, I’d love it.”
Joshua Josephs playing close to home?
For Josephs, playing close to home would mean playing in Athens at Georgia. Kirby Smart and staff haven’t offered as of now.
The next closest program is the Tennessee from the Kennesaw product Josephs. The drive is around three hours between North Cobb High School and Neyland Stadium.
The Volunteers endured an offseason of transfers and the hiring of a new head coach in Josh Heupel.
Josephs is intrigued by the opportunity to be a part of building something new.
Josephs also speaks highly of his relationship with outside linebackers’ coach and special teams’ coordinator Mike Ekeler.
“That’s my dog,” Josephs said with a laugh. “I talk to him almost every day. I talk to coach (Josh) Heupel here and there, but I talk to coach Ekeler every day. We have random conversations. It’s not even just about football. I feel blessed to be one of their top targets in the 2022 class. I feel good about it.”
Josephs took an unofficial visit to Knoxville back on June 4 and another on June 27. He has been to Knoxville three times. One of those times was pre-COVID-19 in which the coaching staff was different.
He hopes to take an official visit on September 18 when Tennessee host Tennessee Tech. It will be Josephs first live college football game.
Timing has kept Josephs from pushing through the turnstiles of a college football stadium. Prior to COVID-19, there wasn’t a ton of recruiting interest in Josephs.
High school athletes were not allowed on campus last season.
Josephs is excited to see an SEC crowd at full capacity in September. He doesn’t know what to expect during the visit.
“Their stadium is already big in capacity, the number of fans they hold in there is a lot, so I’m expecting a lot,” Josephs said. “I think it will be a good experience.”