Jumbo Package: Alabama Football lands new 2026 commitment

Alabama picked up a new football recruit commitment yesterday in offensive lineman Sam Utu:

Kalen DeBoer continues to flex his recruiting prowess in the West, taking one of the top prospects out of California. Utu is a massive human being and is a 4-year starter, with ESPN listing him as a top-100 prospect.

“This commitment means so much to my family and me,” Utu said. “We’ve been through so much over the past few years, losing people who meant everything to us. I could only think about one person — my Uncle Mac — who was like a second father to me. I know he’s proud. My aunties are proud too. I know my family is proud.

“This is why I do what I do — and why it’s important to keep going. My family didn’t stop just because life got hard. They kept going to give my siblings and me a better opportunity. This commitment is also for my nieces and nephews, my cousins, and most importantly, for God — thanking Him for the opportunity to grow my platform and to play football at a high level.

“It’s bigger than me. It’s always going to be bigger than me.

“When I think about ‘Bama and what excites me most about playing and going to school here, it’s the amount of support and help I’ll have across the board. I’m stoked and proud to say I’ll be joining the family.”

From his comments here, he seems about as solid of a commitment as you can ask for.

We also keep hearing about WR Brian Williams Jr, who could very well be one of those spring sleeper prospects that launch up the rankings in the fall.

3-star WR Brian Williams Jr. was also in Tuscaloosa this past weekend, and the Alabama staff obviously made a big impression on the Lake Mary product. So much so that the Crimson Tide now has a commanding lead in the On3 RPM after picking up an official prediction to land him.

To this point, he’s a 3-star guy with limited production, but he’s got an impressive build at 6’4” with legitimate track and field achievements.

If their time at Washington is any indication, Coach DeBoer and OC Ryan Grubb strongly prefer the tall bodies at wide receiver, and had quite a lot of success with them, so targeting Williams isn’t a surprise.

On3’s Steve Wiltfong is a fan of what DeBoer is doing, and seems to be expecting a lot of positive news for Alabama fans going forward.

Alabama picking up steam

Following his official visit to Alabama over the weekend, I believe the Crimson Tide are setting the pace for the On3 Industry’s No. 2 safety Jireh Edwards. He talked about his experience here. Georgia, Oregon, Auburn, Texas A&M and Florida are others in his mix but the intel favors the program in Tuscaloosa.

It is definitely not out of the realm of possibility that Kalen DeBoer and Alabama could land the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked safeties in the country as they’re also one of the front-runners for fellow five-star Jett Washington. Washington took his OV to see the Crimson Tide two weekends ago and has since been to USC and Oregon.

Beyond those two, Alabama remains one of the favorites for five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin. He was on campus for his OV over the weekend and my On3 RPM remains with the Tide. Texas, Ohio State and Florida State are still working to change that.

Alabama is in the final two with Michigan for On300 defensive lineman Titan Davis. And it might be up to the Wolverines to change the pulse with the final official visit.

More on Crimson Tide QB recruiting

On the quarterback recruiting front, Alabama is near the top of the list for two On300 signal-callers in Jett Thomalla and Matt Ponatoski. Thomalla is an Iowa State commit who was in Tuscaloosa two weekends ago and Ames this past weekend. He says he’s still thinking it over between the two. He has had dialogue with Alabama since returning to ISU. Ponatoski talked about his OV and added this about the Alabama staff.

“When I got there I felt the conversation came easy,” he said of his time spent with DeBoer. Ponatoski will play football and baseball at the school of his choice. “We ended up talking about baseball for awhile and talked about football and life and had breakfast at his house and I talked to his wife.

“Coach Grubb we sat in his office and talked 45 minutes to an hour about things I can work on and things I’m good at and going over some stuff I can improve on. You love to hear it. Get good feedback and an honest assessment.

“Coach Sheridan from day one has been awesome. That guy is hilarious and the conversation comes super easy. It was everything I can ask for at Alabama.”

Ponatoski is expected to hear his name called early in the MLB Draft and from there he says it will come down to money on what his next move would be. Right now he’s planning on attending college and playing both sports. That could certainly be at Alabama.

If Alabama can land one of the two 5-star safeties and 5-star linebacker Xavier Griffin, plus pull in a QB, then it gives the class the bones it needs to really fill into being a great one.

Private equity has finally come to college sports.

Elevate is set to announce the creation of the Collegiate Investment Initiative, a $500M initiative backed by PE firm Velocity Capital Management and the Texas Permanent School Fund, Sports Business Journal has learned.

The investment vehicle will provide a new funding source for collegiate athletics programs pursuing capital-intensive projects like facility upgrades and renovations.

I mean, who doesn’t love a good private equity firm? Those NEVER cause problems with businesses getting away from what makes them great, right?

In all fairness, there are some benefits that could come from it. Having firms flush with cash could allow a lot of schools to improve things. But the fear of an even more corporatized college football will loom.

There’s been plenty of ink spilled about some of the shortcomings of Alabama’s softball team lately, but in some good news, two of the Tide’s incoming freshmen were just named Gatorade Player of the Year in their respective states.

Both were exceptional high school pitchers, so hopefully they can bring that success to Tuscaloosa.