Best of Both Worlds: Alabama OL commit reflects on decision

Jackson Lloyd needed less than 48 hours after wrapping up his Alabama official visit to know where his future home would be.

A month ago today, Lloyd announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide. While there was some confidence in Columbus, Ohio, at one point, Bama remained steady in their pursuit of Lloyd and knocked it out of the park on his official visit.

For Lloyd, Alabama’s new-look football program presented him with the best of both worlds.

“Ever since that whole coaching staff was at Washington, they’ve always been my favorite coaching staff,” Lloyd told BamaOnLine of his decision. “When you combine that with the history that Alabama has… I’m not going to say it was an easy decision, but it was clear that I made the right choice.

The Buckeyes hosted Lloyd for back-to-back trips the previous two months. He took an unofficial on May 10 before returning for his official visit the second weekend of June.

“I was definitely considering [Ohio State],” Lloyd said. “But once I got to Alabama, it really felt like home. I feel like I didn’t feel as much of a connection at some of the other places, but I still love all the schools I visited.”

Lloyd would go on to cancel his official visit to USC for the weekend of June 21-23 after committing to Bama. He is also not currently communicating with coaches from any other program.

With that said, Lloyd will still not be entertaining other schools moving forward.

“It’s shut down,” Lloyd said of his recruitment. “I just don’t think there’s a better place to be. Both my parents think that’s the right place for me to be. Like I said, when you pair that coaching staff with the history Alabama has, what they produce, the resources they have, and all that stuff, it just doesn’t get better than that.”

Lloyd will not be at Alabama’s cook-out event later this month. He did say, however, that they’re looking into attending the Missouri game on Oct. 26 as it falls on his team’s bye week.

Alabama’s coaching staff receives high praise from Jackson Lloyd

Kalen DeBoer and his staff at Washington extended an offer to Lloyd following a camp in June 2023. It was just the fifth offer at that point for Lloyd, who was not a national prospect at the time. Lloyd says it meant a lot to be offered by them as both of his parents are from Seattle.

After attending the Oregon – Washington game in October, Lloyd had the Huskies as his No. 1 option. That interest carried over to the staff’s move to Alabama as he made the cross-country trip three times this year.

Lloyd shared his thoughts on DeBoer, who was in Dallas this week for the SEC Media Days .

“The record speaks for itself,” Lloyd said of DeBoer. “He’s a winner. I forget the exact record, but it’s something crazy. Great coach. Excited to see what he does this season, and I’m excited to work with him next year.”

The first Class of 2025 offer of the DeBoer Era was to Lloyd on Jan. 15. He received the good news from none other than General Manager Courtney Morgan .

“I love him,” Lloyd said of Morgan. “He’s the one who offered me right when they got to Alabama. I’ve had a great relationship with him since he’s been at Washington. Super nice guy. I like him a lot.”

DeBoer and Morgan made the move to Tuscaloosa with offensive line coach Scott Huff , initially. A few weeks after arriving in T-Town, Huff would go on to be hired by the Seattle Seahawks as their new o-line coach.

This was a notable change in Lloyd’s recruitment at the time, but Chris Kapilovic quickly formed a relationship with both him and his parents.

“It was definitely weird having Coach Huff leave because I had such a great relationship with him, so I didn’t know how I’d like Coach Kap,” Lloyd said. “But getting to know him, he’s a great guy, great coach. I’m just excited to get to know him. He’s a super down-to-earth, super good guy. He really cares about his players. So, I’m just excited.

“When I went to the spring practice, he really brought the energy,” Lloyd continued. “He prioritizes, like he said, the ‘Juice Squad.’ Really prioritizes bringing the energy day-to-day and not taking any reps off. I really like that.”

Lloyd has connected with several of his future teammates

One of the themes of the summer has been the involvement of the players in visits and recruitments in general.

For Lloyd, it was Joseph Ionata , Kadyn Proctor , Olaus Alinen , and Wilkin Formby that he clicked with on his visits. He’s enjoyed being around the players and seeing how close the o-line room is as a whole.

“100 percent, it’s a super close group,” Lloyd said. “They all like each other a lot, obviously. It just seems like they have a real brotherhood there.”

Adding to that talented o-line room next year is what is arguably the best offensive line class in the country. Lloyd (a top-30 recruit) is joined by On3 five-stars Michael Carroll and Ty Haywood , as well as in-state recruits Mal Waldrep and Micah DeBose , in this 2025 class.

“I think it’s a really special group of guys,” Lloyd said. “Obviously, we’re all pretty good, or else we wouldn’t be there. But I just think we need to get there, get to work, and see what it brings us. Obviously, we’re all trying to go win a national championship. That’s the main goal.”

And what does Lloyd think Alabama’s No. 1 standing in the rankings is a testament to?

“It shows how special this coaching staff is,” Lloyd replied. “I just don’t think there’s a better place to play football than Alabama.”

Lloyd, who also plays baseball and basketball, plans on enrolling early at Bama. The No. 6 offensive tackle in the nation explained who the Crimson Tide will be getting in him when he arrives on campus.

“I think they’re getting a hard worker,” Lloyd said. “We all have something to prove once we get there. The rankings can say whatever they want, but that doesn’t matter until we get there and start working.”

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