Fall camp isn’t for the fainthearted, as Bryan Harsin attested to in his opening day press conference. But a moment of relief from the daily grind on Saturday brought the team together in a special way. Jake Levant, a walk-on linebacker who has been part of The Tigers football team since 2020, was awarded a full scholarship by Coach Harsin. Surrounded by his teammates at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the news flashed up on the huge scoreboard. Before Levant realized, he was being mobbed by his peers:
https://twitter.com/JPattersonTV/status/1561028071796375552
Afterwards, in typical classy fashion, Bryan Harsin headed to the press conference and let the linebacker address the media. Levant admitted that he wasn’t prepared for the situation, but it was a touching moment for the team:
“It took me a second to realize what was happening. All of a sudden people were jumping on me.”
Jake Levant: Born A Tiger
A member of the recruiting class of 2020 and hailing from Birmingham, Levant received six scholarship offers. But he turned down the likes of Tulane, UAB, Harvard and Yale in order to head to The Plains. Levant had four siblings attend Auburn and felt a connection with the university that he couldn’t ignore.
After finding his feet in 2020, Levant contributed on special teams as a sophomore, playing eight games for The Tigers.
An SEC Honor Roll student his first two years on campus, Levant is the epitome of an Auburn student-athlete. It was inevitable that a man with the work ethic and team-first attitude of Levant would appeal to the core values of Bryan Harsin. Since he was announced as head coach, Harsin has preached those sentiments time and again. And asked about the decision, he suggested Levant would be a major part of the teams’ special teams in 2022.
Celebrating In Style
Once the excitement had died down, the team got back to work. And Jake Levant crowned the day he will never forget with an interception of quarterback Zach Calzada:
https://twitter.com/CClemente247/status/1561069313884360710
Levant described it as ‘the cherry on top’. I couldn’t agree more. Congratulations Jake – WDE!