4-star LB Joseph Phillips locked in with Auburn: 'I'm done'

Tuskegee (Ala.) Booker T. Washington four-star linebacker Joseph Phillips committed to Auburn back in June. Now, he’s counting the days until he’s officially a Tiger.

Phillips chose in-state Auburn over Georgia. Despite the current competitive differences between the two programs, Phillips is convinced that within a couple of years, Auburn will be in a position to give the ‘Dawgs and others a run for their money.

“It’s coach Hugh Freeze and I think the atmosphere that’s coming around him,” Phillips said about why he believes in this staff. “It’s different when you run out there. With these recruits — the 2024 class and 2025 — he’s going to turn it around.”

And why else does Phillips believe in Freeze? Simply put, he’s already proven himself.

“One main reason is just because I know he can win,” Phillips said. “It’s not like he’s coming from anywhere — he’s coached before, I’ve been seeing some film, plays and stuff that he does. He’s a good coach. All the players are buying in, the whole city is pushing behind him. There’s nowhere else you want to be. You want to go to ‘Bama, you want to go to Georgia — but coach Freeze is doing all the same things that they’re doing.”

Excitement about 2024 class

As a member of that 2024 class, Phillips believes that his group has a shot to be one of the best classes Auburn has seen of late.

“It’s really big,” Phillips said. “Just because we have the potential to have one of the best classes in a long time. Especially if we get a few more big recruits in, it’s going to be awesome.”

Phillips plans to get back to Auburn for Big Cat Weekend — one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year for Freeze’s staff. He said that as long as a recruit has the right vibe and relationship with the staff, they have a shot to play for Auburn.

“They’re really going out on a limb,” he said about Auburn’s staff. “They’re taking time talking to their recruits. Seeing if it’s the right fit. They’re not just going to tell any and everybody to come.”

As for his own relationships with the coaching staff, Phillips has been closest with linebackers coach Josh Aldridge and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts. But he said that once he was ready to commit, the whole staff joined in.

“The week that I went up there, once everybody figured out that I was really coming, they really all tuned in,” Phillips said. “They’ve been texting, talking to me when they have a chance. . . It’s cool.”

Other schools still in contact, but Phillips is ‘done’

Just a few months away from the early signing period, there is no looking back for Phillips. Georgia and Tennessee maintain occasional contact with him, but most other schools have completely dropped off since his commitment.

“My whole thing was, I wanted to see once I committed to a school, would they still be how they say they would. They changed. Immediately. So I knew it wasn’t a real genuine conversation there.

“. . .I’m done. I’ve got six months and then I’m going to be an Auburn Tiger.”