Coach speak: What Auburn is getting in ‘dynamic duo’ Keldric and JJ Faulk

HIGHLAND HOME, ALABAMA – Auburn Live caught up with Highland Home head coach Will Pouncey shortly after 4-star linebacker Jakaleb “JJ” Faulk chose Auburn on Monday evening.

Pouncey, having coached both of the Faulk brothers, was able to share some great intel on both Keldric (Faulk) and JJ. He believes Auburn’s defense is in great shape for the future with the two brothers playing together.

Shortly after Faulk put on the Auburn hat, his brother Keldric walked through the door to surprise and applause from those in attendance. The two embraced at mid-court in the gymnasium. Coach Pouncey said this was planned by the Auburn coaching staff.

“Man it absolutely has to be a dream come true for both of them as you just saw the emotion when Keldric walked into the door,” Pouncey said. “It surprised everybody, nobody knew Keldric was coming. The coaching staff told him today at 4 to come to his brother’s commitment. I think that speaks volumes about Auburn’s staff right now and they value what is really important in life. They wanted him to be here for his brother.”

‘Dynamic duo’

Pouncey is impressed with the two as players, but the duo as people has impressed him, too.

“You put those two on the field together, it’s crazy that they’re brothers, but the dynamic duo that they’re going to be and the havoc they will wreck. The best thing about them are the people they are, the humans they are. If you talk to Auburn coaches or anyone who has met them, they rave about the quality of people they are over the great athletes they are as well.”

Pouncey broke down the decision that was made by the younger Faulk. He knows that while big brother is at Auburn, that truly was not the main factor in his commitment.

“From what I saw, when Keldric made his announcement, JJ Faulk wanted to make sure that Keldric knew he was not making his decision for him,” Pouncey said. “Keldric didn’t make JJ’s decision. JJ is going to Auburn because Auburn’s staff did the best job recruiting him, it felt like home to him, that is where he wanted to play, and those are the guys he wanted to play for.”

“The guys they have on campus right now, the direction they are heading, it is an exciting time for Auburn. Especially with these two guys going up there. They are putting it together. They did a really good job even before Coach Freeze had gotten on board. It was Coach Caddy and Zac Etheridge were mainstays holding everything together and moving things forward until Coach Freeze got there. Just the staff that he has hired with Coach Aldridge and Coach Garrett have just done an amazing job building relationships with Keldric in a very quick time. They have had more time to build and recruit JJ. They had a common thing to talk about with Keldric, but they recruited him as JJ Faulk, not Keldric Faulk’s brother. That is why he is going to Auburn today.”

What is the ceiling for JJ Faulk?

As a player, Coach Pouncey is impressed with the progression from the younger Faulk, and he should be. He is now looking his older brother nearly eye to eye.

“There is no ceiling for him, it is unbelievable the potential he has,” Pouncey said. “His brother is standing up there at 6-6 288 the last time they weighed him and is going to get a lot of snaps if not start his freshman year of college. Then you have JJ, he has two more years of high school and he is looking at him dead in the eyes standing there beside him. JJ is actually a little more elusive then Keldric is. He might not be as big or as heavy as Kel, but he does some things better than Kel. Kel does some things better than JJ as well.”

The potential, or ceiling, is limitless on the defensive side of the football. He has a skillset that could fit all three levels of the defense. We wrote something similar in the commitment breakdown for Faulk.

“JJ’s potential, he can play any position on the field on defense. If you wanted to line him up as a nose guard over a center he could wreak havoc. If you wanted to play him at strong safety, he has the hips and the speed to do that. Of course his calling card is going to be outside or inside linebacker. He has been primarily an outside linebacker, edge guy, He’s 225 right now going into his junior year. By the time he gets to Auburn, he could be 240-245 and they could play him just as well at inside backer. However Coach (Ron) Roberts wants to use him he can use him in just a variety of ways.”

The buzz around Keldric

Coach Pouncey hears from Auburn staff a good bit as they have been all over the recruitment on JJ Faulk. Of course, the status of Keldric comes up often.

“Nothing but good things,” Pouncey said. “He doesn’t have to be humble because he is as humble as they come. I hear nothing but good things of course. The coaches call me all the time, because they are still recruiting JJ of course, but they just rave about how good Keldric is doing and how good of a camp he has had, and the commitment he has shown. He is doing it all in the classroom as well. That is something that I know that he learned from his family values, but something we also teach through our high school program at Highland Home. The way you do anything is the way you do everything. There’s just a great amount of pride, great sense of pride in everything that they do.”

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