Roller coaster recruitment ends Wednesday for Pappoe

AUBURN | Grayson (Ga.) four-star linebacker Owen Pappoe will sign with Auburn Wednesday morning, ending a seven-month commitment that has been somewhat of a roller coaster at times.

“I’m going to sign with Auburn,” Pappoe said. “It just feels right. I don’t even know how to explain it. It just feels right. Every time I come here I’m happy all the time.”

Pappoe committed to Auburn in May, choosing the Tigers over Georgia and a host of other schools. He appeared locked in with Auburn until a visit to Tennessee in November and late-season rumors swirled of Gus Malzahn’s job being in jeopardy.

“It was times where I was wavering a little bit because of all the stuff going on with Coach Gus,” Pappoe said. “But once I actually sat down with him, talked to him, he cleared everything up as far as him being here. I already knew where I wanted to go.”

Pappoe reaffirmed his commitment to Auburn two weeks ago after an in-home visit from Malzahn and linebackers coach Travis Williams. Pappoe then made an unofficial visit to Auburn on Dec. 7 and returned this past weekend for an official visit.

“It was really important,” Pappoe said of his official visit. “We got to go to Coach Gus’s house, see that for the first time. Got to spend quality time with Coach T-Will and the rest of the staff. It was really good. My family came. They’ve been here a bunch of times too. I came here with my girl and her family, too, so it’s their first time seeing it, so it was cool.”

Pappoe met and spoke more with the Auburn coaches, including Malzahn, Williams and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele. They outlined their thoughts on how quickly Pappoe could contribute at Auburn.

“All three of them, they’re telling me with three seniors leaving, the opportunity’s there,” Pappoe said. “They told me they’re not going to promise me that Day 1 it’s going to be me; it’s going to be a struggle. Every freshman goes through his ups and downs, but he’s telling me that he believes in my athletic ability and that I’ll be able to play early too. I just got to come in and do what I have to do.”

Pappoe also spent time during the visit with fellow four-star commitment Colby Wooden. The two will be roommates at Auburn.

“It was cool getting to bond with each other a little bit,” Pappoe said. “We kicked it a lot too. It was real cool.”

Pappoe and Wooden both are scheduled to report to Auburn Jan. 6.