Alabama Football was no stranger to West Coast products under Coach Nick Saban, who handpicked 5-star talents like quarterback Bryce Young and offensive tackle Jonah Williams from the Golden State.
Under the current regime, Alabama has leaned even more into its West Coast pipeline. Coach Kalen DeBoer came to Tuscaloosa from Washington and also had a stint at Fresno State.
Coach DeBoer brought a handful of coaches and transfer players with him from Seattle, immediately infusing Alabama’s 2024 roster with talent and West Coast ties. Former Huskies such as Parker Brailsford and Germie Bernard were starters and some of the most dependable players for the Tide this season.
Heading into 2025, Coach DeBoer finally has his first recruiting class on campus and his West Coast roots will once again be on display. Coincidentally, they will be disproportionately represented in the Alabama secondary.
Most notably, Alabama’s 2025 cornerback room will feature a trio of cornerbacks who all played at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. Returning starters Domani Jackson (a former USC transfer) and Zabien Brown will be joined on the 2025 roster by a fellow former Monarch in true freshman Chuck McDonald.
Jackson projects to be a first-round draft pick by next spring, and Brown and McDonald hope to follow a similar trajectory. Brown was very impressive in 2024, starting for the Tide as a true freshman, and McDonald is said to have a similar level of technical skill.
This trio will be joined by another dynamic freshman in 5-star Dijon Lee out of Mission Viejo, CA. Though Alabama returns a lot of cornerback depth, Lee is talented enough to push for a major role in year one.
More West Coast influence on Alabama’s 2025 roster
Another Mater Dei product, linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr., will join the Crimson Tide this season. Bama’s 2025 signing class also includes offensive tackle Jackson Lloyd (Carmel, CA), wide receiver Derek Meadows (Las Vegas, NV), tight end Kaleb Edwards (El Dorado Hills, CA), and punter Alex Asparuhov (Fresno, CA).
JUCO defensive line pickup Kevonte Henry also hails from California and has a direct connection back to Coach DeBoer’s days at Washington. Coming out of high school, Henry visited Washington and received an offer less than two weeks after DeBoer took the job in Seattle. Now, he has come full circle and will play for DeBoer at Alabama.
Lastly, transfer portal additions Nikhai Hill-Green (Colorado) and Cam Calhoun (Utah) come to Tuscaloosa from the Mountain Time Zone and add more experienced depth to the Alabama defense.
When he came to Alabama, Coach DeBoer faced a lot of doubts about his ability to recruit the South. He answered those questions pretty convincingly in the 2025 class, thriving in states like Georgia and Mississippi. Skeptical Alabama fans will point to the glaring in-state misses, but DeBoer has already gone all-in on establishing himself in-state going forward.
In the meantime, he has infused the Alabama Football roster with lots of talent from the PAC-12 footprint. We will have to wait and see if that strategy will eventually deliver a championship.