Alabama Loses Former Top Recruit To Transfer Portal Following Bowl Loss To Michigan
01/03/2025 04:12 PM
In the days since Alabama's stunning loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl, several promising players have entered the NCAA transfer portal. On Friday, another one followed suit.
According to Pete Nakos via Charlie Potter of On3 Sports, Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander has entered the transfer portal too. The former four-star prospect leaves after three seasons in Tuscaloosa but with little in the way of production under either head coach Kalen DeBoer or former head coach Nick Saban. In three seasons he had just nine combined tackles.
"Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3's Pete Nakos reports. Alexander is the 18th Crimson Tide player to transfer in the winter window," the outlet reported.
"Alexander, a redshirt sophomore, played in 10 of Alabama's 13 games this season and made five tackles. The in-state linebacker stepped in for starter Jihaad Campbell, who left the bowl game with an injury, and recorded one tackle in the 19-13 loss to Michigan in Tampa."
#Alabama LB Jeremiah Alexander has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to @PeteNakos_
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) January 3, 2025
🔗: https://t.co/C79T3Rc7y4pic.twitter.com/aGLXu1MhIY
Coming out of high school in 2022, Alexander was ranked as the No. 50 overall prospect by 247Sports. He was the No. 5 edge rusher in the country and the No. 1 player from the state of Alabama.
Yet in three years with the Crimson Tide, the former four-star recruit couldn't find reps as anything other than a reserve.
The past couple of days have seen several more former four-star recruits hop into the transfer portal. Since New Year's Day alone there have been five new entries, including Alexander, four of which were ranked as four-star recruits out of high school.
Granted, none of them have named new destinations yet, so there's a chance that some of them could return to Tuscaloosa without finding new teams.
Nevertheless, the departure of so many players that were initially recruited by Nick Saban puts even more pressure on head coach Kalen DeBoer to knock the 2025 recruiting class out of the park.
DeBoer is going to have a new starting quarterback, so settling on a new starter is going to be the toughest task of his coaching career. Though even after he finds that new quarterback, he's going to have to make sure he's got more than just Ryan Williams for them to throw to.
Will Alabama be better or worse in 2025?
Related: Another Alabama Wide Receiver Transferring After Bowl Loss To Michigan
