AUBURN — Auburn football's latest addition in the Class of 2025 doesn't have too much in common with his potential position coach, but their relationship has become strong regardless.

Four-star offensive tackle Broderick Shull, rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 192 prospect in the country, announced his commitment to the Tigers on June 7. Shull's pledge gives Auburn five offensive linemen committed in 2025. The Tigers haven't signed five or more players at the position in a single class since 2020, and before that it was 2015.

The difference this time, however, is the quality of recruit. The five currently committed in 2025 — Shull, Tavaris Dice, Carde Smith, Tai Buster and Spencer Dowland — have an average composite rating from 247Sports of .9009. The five-man crew in 2020 finished with a composite rating of .8813, and the group in 2015 wrapped up at .8934.

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Auburn hasn't inked five or more offensive linemen with an average composite rating over .9000 since 2012, when it nabbed four-star prospects Avery Young, Jordan Diamond and Patrick Miller to go along with three-star recruits Alex Kozan, Will Adams and Robert Leff.

That group combined to start more than 100 games for the Tigers.

How is Auburn angling for its deepest class of offensive linemen in more than a decade? It starts with offensive line coach Jake Thornton and his abilities as a recruiter.

Shull is passionate about theater, performing in his school's production of "Freaky Friday" in April. He's also an avid beekeeper, which is something he had in common with Nebraska offensive line coach Donovan Raiola. Shull chose the Tigers over the Cornhuskers in spite of that.

What stood out about Thornton was his ability to connect with Shull despite their apparent differences. Thornton figured out Shull's infatuation for nature and fishing, which gave him an opening.

"He's the most real guy I've known as a coach," Shull said of Thornton. "He might not have the same interests as me with theater or even the same music, per se, but that's what kind of makes it work. ... What was different about coach Thornton is he kind of had no interest in that. We are basically different people."

Shull hopes to go fishing with Thornton, plans the two have already begun discussing: "I really like that because fishing is one of the main things that calms me down in life," Shull said. "... (Thornton) connects with me in different aspects of what my interests are. He connects with me outside of football with nature."

Thornton was also the only coach throughout the recruiting process to show up for Shull's acting performance: "I really enjoyed that," Shull said. "That was another amazing thing."

Thornton's boots-on-the-ground mentality coupled with his ability to relate has put Auburn in position to pull in what could be its most impactful crop of offensive linemen in years. The next step is holding on, as the Early Signing Period isn't set to open until December.

Other programs will push to flip some of Auburn's commitments. That includes Shull, whose composite score of .9271 makes him the highest-rated offensive recruit in the class. But as long as Thornton maintains what he's been doing, his odds of keeping the group together seem high.

"Also what impresses me is he's very young for an O-line coach," Shull added. "Most O-line coaches, especially in college, are usually in their 40s or something. He's early-30s, but yet he has a good track record. It's pretty impressive, especially for his age. ... He knows exactly what he's doing."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football: How Jake Thornton has found success in recruiting