AUBURN | When Caleb Wooden takes part in his first practice at Auburn, he’ll obviously be wary of what the coaches think, but for the safety commit, there is another critic that he’ll hear from: his older brother and current Tigers’ defensive end, Colby.

“He [Colby] pushes him,” Andy Dyer, who coached both at Archer High School, said. “He's a big brother. He'll tell him what he thinks too.”

Don’t get it wrong, though. There is an advantage to having an older brother to learn from and see what it takes to compete at the next level. For the younger Wooden, that is where Colby’s experience in his first two seasons at Auburn will give him an edge.

“He's been around it so much that he's seen it, and seeing it and doing it's two different things, but he'll have a really good leg up just because he knows the expectations, and he's seen what his brother's doing,” Dyer said. “That's a big deal.”

While having Colby on the Plains gave the Tigers an advantage in the recruitment of Caleb, it wasn’t a sure thing that he’d follow in his brother’s footsteps. In fact, there were several other schools in play for the three-star safety.

“He's had his eyes wide open on four or five different schools,” his coach said. “I told him, just like I talked with Colby when he was going through it, I said, ‘We don't want just an offer. We want the right offer and what's best for you.’”

Auburn ultimately won out for his commitment, so what will the Tigers get in the safety? His coach calls him “the total package.”

“He is a super high character, great athlete,” Dyer said. “He fits all the pieces that you want as a coach. He's a good teammate. He's competitive. He's just going to excel. He does a great job in the classroom. There's no downside.”

Not that the coach hasn’t had to get on him at times. One specific moment that came to mind for Dyer was recently during a 7-on-7 tournament. The coach knew that Wooden wasn’t playing up to his ability and, as coaches do, let his player know about it. How Wooden responded made the coach laugh.

“I pointed out all the three or four interceptions that he should've made in the previous games, that he didn't break on. In the next game, I think he had three picks in about the first three possessions. He wants to please his coaches. He wants to please his teammates.”

So what sort of leader is he on the field? Dyer says there is a mixture of both a bit chirpy and silent confidence that comes with Wooden, crediting it to the fact that he has been around the Archer program for so long.

“I think one of his good qualities is he knows when it's time to just be quiet and play, and he knows when it's time to encourage and pull up a teammate. I think that's just a good, mature quality that he already has.”

Transitioning to the collegiate level, especially the SEC, is difficult for anyone, but having older brother Colby on the same team and defensive unit can be nothing but helpful.

“They're in two different positions, so Colby's not going to cut him any slack, in terms of if he's not playing up to his potential or whatnot, he'll hear about it,” Dyer said. “It'll be a good match. It'll be an interesting dynamic.

“It's typical big brother, little brother. They love each other.”