Two years ago, Nick Saban pulled off one of his biggest-ever recruiting gets when he flipped five-star quarterback Bryce Young from hometown Southern California. Now, the Alabama head coach is trying to repeat the feat with one of Young’s former high school teammates.
Five-star cornerback Domani Jackson traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. this past weekend where he was able to reconnect with Young while talking to the Crimson Tide’s coaching staff. According to Jackson’s father, Randy, the current USC commit had a nice stop in the Deep South as the two enjoyed their visit to Alabama’s campus.
“I think he enjoyed it,” Randy told BamaInsider. “He enjoyed the time he spent with Bryce. He’s known Bryce for quite a while, so it was nice for them to get to spend time together. The times that I was there he was asking Bryce a lot of questions, breaking things down about the transition from southern California to Alabama.”
Young, who played with Domani at Mater Dei High School, has remained close to his former teammate since joining Alabama last year. The quarterback’s father, Craig Young is also friends with Randy, making it easy to gather plenty of knowledge about what life is like with the Tide.
“It’s good to have them there because they can answer any questions that you’d need to get from the football staff,” Randy said. “You can get the correct answers that you are looking for from a friend, so that’s really big.”
Along with catching up with an old friend, Domani and his father also had the opportunity to meet with Saban. According to Randy, the head coach told Domani that he liked his combination of length and speed and can see him having the versatility to play at multiple spots in the secondary at the next level.
“It went really well,” Randy said. “He answered all the questions that we had. He kind of explained that the biggest part is the development, not necessarily the playing time. You’ll play if you’re developed and if you’re a guy who they feel is going to have a positive impact. It’s not about the playing time, it’s about going there and showing them what you can do in practice.”
While the in-person meeting with Saban went well, Randy said he also came away impressed with what he saw from the head coach on the field.
“We got to actually see him down there,” he said. “Every drill that the corners were doing, he was down there. You have some head coaches who are not that involved but he was. I was pretty impressed to think that he would be one of the coaches that would be coaching Domani on a daily basis.”
In addition to Saban, the father and son also had the opportunity to meet with all of the Tide’s assistants as well as Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne. While Tuscaloosa, might be more than 2,000 miles away from home, Randy said it’s an environment he’d be comfortable sending his child to in the future.
“I was very impressed by the organizational structure that they have in place there,” he said. “I like the culture, how they’re all bought in, from the host that was taking us around all the way up to the athletic director.”
Domani, the No. 3 cornerback and No. 10 overall player in the 2022 class, committed to USC in January. Randy said his son is still committed to the Trojans and that the two have yet to discuss where Alabama stands in the recruiting process following the visit. Domani is planning an official visit to Alabama this fall.