In an early signing period coup, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama flipped 4-star OL Bryson Cooley away from Lane Kiffin and LSU.
Cooley has long been a target of the Crimson Tide's staff, but committed to the Tigers in July and had proven to be a tough flip. But with the coaching staff turnover, the Mississippi native rebuffed Kiffin's overtures for a second time.
BREAKING: Four-Star OT Bryson Cooley has Flipped his Commitment from LSU to Alabama, he tells me for @rivals⁰⁰The 6’6 330 OT had been Committed to the Tigers since July⁰⁰He’s a Top 150 Recruit in the 2026 Rivals300⁰⁰https://t.co/4n8sHRAYFX pic.twitter.com/49oGol5e24
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 5, 2025
Cooley is a consensus 4-star prospect, ranked as the No. 218 overall prospect and the No. 23 offensive tackle in the 2026 class, per the composite. He's got excellent size at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, and fits the athletic profile that DeBoer and the Tide's offensive staff seem to prefer.
Bryson Cooley rounds out an impressive OL haul for Alabama in the 2026 cycle
Cooley is the fifth commitment for the Crimson Tide on the offensive line in the 2026 class. He joins an impressive group that could anchor the future of Alabama up front.
- 4-star OT Jared Doughty
- 4-star OT Bryson Cooley
- 4-star IOL Chris Booker
- 3-star OT Bear Fretwell
- JUCO IOL Tyrell Miller
This group joins Alabama a year after DeBoer and company signed a four-man offensive line class in the 2025 cycle, which included 5-star Michael Carroll, who has taken over as the Crimson Tide's starting right tackle as a true freshman.
Getting lighter and more athletic has been a goal of this staff. A lot of the issues Alabama has had on the offensive line over DeBoer's two seasons as head coach are due to trying to fit square pegs into round holes. The Alabama coaching staff is working with offensive linemen who were recruited to play in Nick Saban's system, not DeBoer's.
That's the single biggest obstacle standing in the way of Alabama's offense being as consistent and explosive as it has the potential to be.
Guys like Cooley are coming in to change that.
Alabama's five-man haul up front features a lot of positional versatility and guys who could come in and provide some quick depth. It also represents several impressive evaluations by GM Courtney Morgan and company. Doughty and Booker, in particular, were lightly recruited until Alabama turned up the heat on them, which saw others do the same, and recruiting rankings adjusted accordingly.
The early signing period, NIL, and revenue share have taken most of the drama out of things at the end. But Cooley's flip is a nice late surprise for Alabama as DeBoer solidifies a second straight elite class.