These days, Kalen DeBoer isn't just cooking when it comes to recruiting. The man is an artist and the grill is his canvas. Too far? Hey, sorry if so, but the point is that the second-year Alabama football head coach is absolutely crushing it by landing elite recruits.
This week alone, DeBoer has brought in several new pledges for the 2026 class. Things were electric when 5-star running back Ezavier Crowell and 4-star tight end Mack Sutter committed. Then on Sunday, 5-star linebacker Xavier Griffin made things even better by announcing his pledge.
It wasn't long ago that the Crimson Tide were getting trolled left and right with the '26 class being in the 40s in the nation. Those same people bashing Alabama and DeBoer are silent now, as the Griffin addition now has Alabama at No. 8 in the country per the 247Sports rankings. Wow.
Alabama landed 5-star LB Xavier Griffin in a monster recruiting win for Kalen DeBoer
The week just keeps on getting better for the Tide. Griffin had a boatload of offers, but he was down to Alabama, Texas, Ohio State and Florida State. All four of those schools were hopeful of getting big news on Sunday, but it was the Tide who came out on top.
According to 247Sports, the 6-3, 200-pounder is ranked five stars, the No. 1 linebacker in the country, the No. 1 player from Georgia and the No. 8 prospect overall for '26. He's got elite playmaker written all over him and people are already dreaming about what he'll be able to get done in Tuscaloosa.
He'll put the pen to paper with Alabama during the Early Signing Period in December and then people will be counting down the days for him to start donning a Bama jersey. With Griffin on board, DeBoer is up to 14 pledges for this cycle. Will some more 5-star commits be on the way for him? That could be the case, as DeBoer is proving once again he's an ace recruiter.