SWEET WATER — Bulldog junior Chris Landrum offered his verbal commitment to Auburn University last week, opting for the Tigers over a number of other Division I suitors.

“When I went up there, it was the most comfortable place to be in,” Landrum said of his visit to The Plains. “I liked the players and the coaches and there wasn’t anything I didn’t like.”

Landrum, a fullback and outside linebacker for the Bulldogs, projects to slide over to a middle linebacker spot for the Tigers.

“They want me in the middle,” Landrum said. “They want a player that can get in coverage and stop the run and has speed.”

“They are getting one that is big and physical,” Sweet Water head coach Stacy Luker said of Auburn’s haul in the Landrum commitment. “He can put his hand on the ground rushing or stand up and play in space.”

Landrum becomes the first of a promising crop of rising Marengo County seniors to make his collegiate plans known.

“I wasn’t really rushing it, it was just about when it felt right,” Landrum said of his early decision. “But I can take my mind off of it and focus on my senior year.”

“He seems to have such a belief in Auburn and their staff,” Luker said of Landrum’s feelings toward his future coaches.

The move will send Landrum around 175 miles from home, a factor that he said played a role in his decision.

“I knew I wanted to stay around here somewhere,” Landrum said. “I didn’t want to go far off.”

“He comes from a great family that has a good faith about them,” Luker said. “(Auburn is) getting a good kid more so than a good football player.”

Landrum will now set his attention to doing all he can to help Sweet Water earn its fifth state championship in seven years.

“Getting in better shape at the start of the season and not have to play my way into shape,” Landrum said of his focus for the offseason. “And being able to ready plays better.”

Landrum, who also plays baseball and basketball for the Bulldogs, passed on offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Duke and Southern Miss.