Longwell wants to play ‘big-time ball’

AUBURN | Bryan Longwell saw Auburn win a physical 13-10 game over Texas A&M Saturday night. He heard and felt the atmosphere inside a jam-packed Jordan-Hare Stadium.

He wants to make that experience his own.

“I’ve always wanted to play big-time ball so I want to be in big-time stadiums, big-time games, I want loud noise, I want all that. I want to be a part of all that. It sounds awesome,” said Longwell.

An inside linebacker from Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tenn., Longwell spent the weekend in Auburn on an official visit.

“It was awesome,” he said. “The game was awesome, they obviously won so it was electric throughout the night. Got to see some cool traditions. Toomer’s Corner, all the toilet paper and all that, it was cool.”

That there was such an atmosphere around two teams that came into the game with identical 3-6 records certainly stood out to Longwell.

“I think it’s a very passionate town,” he said. “They’re very close. They seem very loving of everything going on here. Even with them not having the greatest season, all the fans still sold out the stadium and were out there cheering and were just loud.”

Longwell, 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, said Auburn’s coaches had a simple message to him.

“They just want me there and they want me to play here and to be an impact-maker. But also that they want me to fall in love with Auburn, not just them,” said Longwell. “Because you don’t know how the coaching stuff is going to go and all that. They’re very transparent with all that and they don’t know where it’s going to go yet but they want me to fall in love with Auburn and not just the coaches themselves.”

Longwell lists Auburn, the first Power 5 school to offer him a few weeks ago, as his current leader. He’s also receiving serious interest from LSU.

He plans to take his time making a decision.

"I’m not going to sign until February so I got a lot time to see what opportunities come throughout December and January and just see and go from there,” said Longwell.