Kalen DeBoer and Alabama whiff on prospect named after Bear Bryant

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football have plenty of momentum on the recruiting trail and they will undoubtedly sign one of the top classes in the nation in the 2026 recruiting class. But Friday's miss was brutal with everything that was working in Alabama's favor.

4-star IOL Bear McWhorter announced on Friday his commitment to Michigan over Alabama. McWhorther is a fringe 4-star prospect who is ranked as the No. 385th overall player in the 247 Composite rankings, but he is a player the Tide wanted and they could not have started further ahead in his recruitment.

As you might guess by his name, he was in fact named after legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and grew up a massive fan of the Crimson Tide. Those factors made it seem likely that he was a slam dunk for DeBoer and company, but Michigan made a major late push in his recruitment and landed the IOL prospect out of White, Georgia.

Alabama already has a commitment from 4-star IOL Chris Booker and OT is a bigger priority in this class, but the Crimson Tide was hoping to wrap up its interior line class early with McWhorter's commitment. Now, DeBoer and company are back to the drawing board in hopes of landing another interior linemen in this class.

Michigan has gotten the better of Alabama recently in a trend that can't continue

Michigan has made sure Alabama's season ended in defeat two years in a row. The Wolverines beat the Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl on their way to the National Championship in 2023 and then stunned Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl in December despite being heavy underdogs.

On the recruiting front, Michigan flipped Alabama 5-star OT commit Ty Haywood in the 2025 cycle and landed RB Justice Haynes in the Transfer Portal.

Alabama did get a pretty good consolation prize by flipping safety Ivan Taylor in the 2025 class. Taylor has made immediate waves in Tuscaloosa and could find his way onto the field as a freshman despite a loaded secondary at the Capstone.

Losing out on a fringe 4-star recruit is not the end of the world. But it's a bigger blow when the recruit is the namesake of one of the most legendary figures in the history of Alabama athletics.