Wednesday visit 'wonderful' for 2025 LB

The last time Eric Winters visited Auburn, the Tigers were blown out by Penn State.

With a new head coach at the helm, Auburn is looking to turn things around and it starts in recruiting. Hugh Freeze isn't just looking at the 2024 class, he's looking at the 2025 class as well.

It's one of the reasons why Winters, who's ranked in the Rivals250 for the 2025 class, visited campus Wednesday.

"Wonderful," Winters said about his visit. "It’s a whole new facility, it’s pretty nice."

He toured the facility, noting that the non-armory locker room was his favorite part, and also got to watch practice.

"It’s pretty intense, they went at it today," Winters said.

While at practice, Winters kept an eye on Wesley Steiner and Cam Riley, some of the Tigers' returning linebackers — the position Auburn is recruiting the 6-foot-2 Enterprise, Ala., native to play.

"I think it’s a pretty good spot for me in the future," Winters said.

He had conversations with both linebackers coach Josh Aldridge and head coach Hugh Freeze while on his visit. Both he described as "straightforward" in not only their coaching mindset, but also in their conversations.

"We were in [Freeze's] office for about 15 minutes," Winters said. "Pretty straightforward guy. Tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear."

The fact that Freeze, as a head coach, is already taking time to form a relationship with Winters is big.

"It’s a pretty important part, it’s what you look for in a program," Winters said.

Winters has other visits planned to Oklahoma and Ole Miss this month.