Three-point Stance: Alabama, Track Translates, 2028 Qbs

Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. has thoughts on the early recruiting returns from Kalen DeBoer at Alabama, examples of track success translating to major football offers and a very early look at 2028 quarterback standouts.

This was the quote those in the recruiting industry have heard for ages about the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban. The expectation for incoming players was to compete, win and probably get drafted after it all ended as the program became the standard in both recruiting and certainly on the field. Since his retirement in December, many questions on the recruiting side have been asked about replacement Kalen DeBoer – and he has somehow quietly answered the bell.

Alabama capped its 2024 cycle nearly ideally under the former Washington head coach, winning a hotly-contested battle for the state’s top recruit and No. 2 overall wide receiver Ryan Williams in addition to flipping some one-time Huskies commitments and/or signees. The 2025 cycle opened up with a batch of decommitments, but the Alabama staff has battled back and won out for one of the initial defections in defensive lineman Antonio Coleman to pair with in-staters Anthony Rogers and Myles Johnson. Since, the offensive pedigree DeBoer brings to the table has helped Alabama land the versatile Zymear Smith and two-way star Derick Smith (no relation) of late.

For those keeping score at home, DeBoer has already won a national battle with minimal time (Williams), flipped a recruit from rival Auburn (Coleman) and rallied with a pair of blue-chippers seemingly trending elsewhere when he took the job (Smith and Smith). Sure, it’s a small sample size and plenty more movement is likely to come, but this coaching staff knows the ceiling of what Alabama can be on the trail and they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel along the way. So far, it’s working.

One source on hand for a recent recruiting visit updated the longstanding phrase we so often hear. “Alabama is still Alabama.”

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As much as college football recruiting changes, some principles remain as steady as ever. In the spring months, it means secondary sports help answer questions about some prospects. Wrestling, basketball and other sports can round out an evaluation, but nothing gets the scholarships flowing like track and field.

Whether it’s the sprinting events for skill players or field events for the trench talent, offers fly this time of year as tangible results trickle in. Without a deep dive on it, just in the state of Florida, there are several prospects whose verified speed on the track has resulted in booms on the offer list.

Seffner (Fla.) Armwood running back Girard Pringle had a brilliant 2023 football season, rushing for nearly 1,700 yards and 24 touchdowns. He has supplemented the tape with a head-turning 10.56 in the 100 meter dash and now sports as strong an offer list as any running back nationally.

Miami (Fla.) Northwestern secondary prospect Tywan Cox made plays in the return game as well as at cornerback and safety for one of Florida’s most storied programs in 2023. Since, he has set the national mark for the 400 meter dash at 46.43 seconds, and now ACC programs are joining his offer list including local Miami.

Class of 2026 Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage wide receiver Zamarii Sanders has the third-fastest 200 meter dash time in America right now at 20.97 seconds – you can guess what his offer list is about to look like.

There are others on a similar trajectory all over the country, and more will do the same at camps and other venues this offseason, proving once again that camps and 7-on-7 aren’t the only ways to boost recruiting stock when the pads aren’t on.

No, that’s not a typo.

There are, according to the Rivals database, a half-dozen class of 2028 quarterback recruits with standing Power Four scholarship offers to their name. Now, we understand that 8th grade prospects are very unlikely to ever play for a coach offering them anything in middle school, but if there is one position where at least tracking the names of those in that very small minority are worth at least knowing – it’s at quarterback.

Three of the six getting a head start on the process reside in the state of Florida. The most notable, at least from a national sense, is probably IMG Academy quarterback Jayden Wade. Not only is he the most offered of the bunch, as he is closing in on double-digits with Georgia, Oregon and Utah among those already on board, but he plays at the best program and offers the most head-turning frame at a legitimate 6-foot-4, 190 pounds. He also throws with a smooth, mature motion and happens to have clocked a sub 4.5-second 40-yard dash time at the IMG Pro Day last month.

The next name to know turns heads because of, well, his name. Brady Quinn is beginning to add scholarship offers out of Naples (Fla.) First Baptist Academy and we’re told he is not related to the former Notre Dame and NFL quarterback by the same name. Quinn already sports offers from Ole Miss and Louisville coming off of an Under Armour All-America 8th grade Game selection in January.

In South Florida, there has been a prep quarterback garnering attention since before 8th grade in Neimann Lawrence. Able to play varsity ball at the private school level, he stepped in and lived up to the hype at Ransom Everglades in leading the program to wins in their first eight games of the season. Also an Under Armour All-American, Lawrence is known as a dual-threat and already holds offers from Miami and Nebraska.