No reason to sweat over recent decommitments

Amidst a storm of major commitments the Alabama Football program has received this summer, the Tide had two members of its 2025 class decommit on Wednesday.

4-star linebacker Myles Johnson decided to leave Alabama’s class, a choice that has long been anticipated. Johnson committed to Alabama and Nick Saban back in October, and was one of the only 2025 commits to stick with the Tide through Saban’s retirement. The in-state product from Brewton did not play his junior season due to a torn ACL, and was unfortunate to play a position that Kalen DeBoer and the rest of the new staff have recruited very well. 

For these reasons, Johnson’s decommitment is hardly a surprising or devastating blow. The Tide already has pledges from quality inside linebackers such as Duke Johnson, Abduall Sanders Jr., Jaedon Harmon, and Luke Metz in 2025. It is also heavily in play for Ty Jackson, one of the best linebackers in the country.

Bama also lost the commitment of 3-star athlete Zymear Smith on Wednesday. Smith committed back in March shortly after receiving his Alabama offer and was one of the first commits of the Kalen DeBoer era. An explosive two-way player from the state of Maryland, he was expected to play defensive back at Alabama. Even after Smith’s departure, blue-chippers Chuck McDonald, Derick Smith, and Dijon Lee make up a star-studded secondary class for the Tide that is only expected to grow. 

While Myles Johnson and Zymear Smith are both very good prospects that will likely enjoy successful college football careers at the Power Four level, there is plenty of silver lining for the Crimson Tide. There has been far more positive news than negative on the recruiting front this summer, and the losses of Johnson and Smith create more space in a 2025 Bama class that has tons of momentum.