Rodney Orr, of TiderInsider.com, TV show host, author of Bigger Than Bama

Another day, another five-star for Bama

For the second straight day, Alabama has landed a five-star prospect. On Saturday, the Tide landed five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham of Ackerman, MS. Today, five-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood has committed to Alabama. The 6-5, 295-pound Haywood, of Denton-Ryan, TX, joins an elite Tide OL class that includes another five-star, Michael Carroll, and four-stars Jackson Lloyd, Micah DeBose and Mal Waldrep. Haywood chose Alabama over FSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. He becomes the second Firecracker Five member, joining Cunningham, to pick Alabama.

Another big one picks the Tide...

Five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham of Ackerman, MS has committed to Alabama. The 6-2, 190-pound Cunningham chose the Tide over Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and numerous others. Cunningham is the first member of TI's Firecracker Five to announce a commitment.

Just got a little colder in Tuscaloosa! Alabama fans know what I'm talking about. The "cold summer" continues with the commitment of Cincinnati-Winton Woods standout linebacker Justin Hill, who chose Bama over Ohio State, Oregon, USC and several other top programs.

Stay tuned Bama fans.
More 🥶🥶🥶 is in the forecast!

Tide lands top LB

The wait for linebacker Dawson Merritt is finally over. After nearly two weeks of speculation that the four-star linebacker from Stillwell, KS would soon commit to the Tide, Merritt pulled the trigger today. He chose Alabama over Nebraska, giving the Tide 19 verbal commitments in the 2025 class.

Hey Bama fans, things are going extremely well on the recruiting trail. DeBoer hasn't missed a beat. A few paragraphs from my late Sunday night update on TI...

DeBoer's recruiting has the feel of Saban's heyday

When Kalen DeBoer arrived in Tuscaloosa on January 12, I wasn't sure how well he would recruit at Alabama. There was no way of knowing. But it didn't take long to begin to see some signs.

Glimpses came early when -- barring a few departures -- he and his staff held the current roster and the 2024 recruiting class together in impressive fashion.

The real tip came when DeBoer reeled Ryan Williams back into the fold after only 15 days on the job. Then there were the January and spring portal additions.

The last three weeks or so have felt a lot like the Saban heyday when Alabama was pulling in just about every top kid the Tide wanted. As June winds down, Alabama is seriously threatening for the #1 recruiting class.

Over the last month, Bama has picked up commitments from the following prospects:

--Four-star (soon to be five-star) QB Keelon Russell

--Two top 35 overall prospects in OLs Michael Carroll and Jackson Lloyd, as well as four-star OL Michah DeBose and three-star OL Mal Waldrep.

Carroll and Lloyd are potential five-stars.

--Four-star corner Chuck McDonald

--Three-star DL London Simmons.

--One of the nation's top punters, Alex Asparuhov.

It's a long way to go until the early signing period in December. But it's been one heck of a June...and it looks like there's a lot more to come.

As Courtney Morgan would say, it appears the summer is about to get even colder in Tuscaloosa...

From my segment this morning on The Gary Harris Show...

On the addition of Michigan State offensive lineman Geno VanDeMark from the portal over the weekend and what he'll add to the OL

"I think the experience is really good. I think the versatility is really good. He has experience at guard and center. I think the departure of (center) James Brockermeyer (to TCU) makes this an even bigger pick up because of VanDeMark's experience at that position.

"He's 6-5, 300. I've talked to a few people with connections at Michigan State and they said he's a good player -- a really good player. The issue is that he's had some injuries. I know he missed four games with injuries last year. He started six games at guard last season. His experience at center is really big.

"Overall, I think with the offensive line numbers (being down), I think the versatility that so many guys up front have, whether it's Jaeden Roberts or Tyler Booker or Wilkin Formby or Elijah Pritchett, who could play either tackle spot, those guys being able to play multiple positions when your numbers are down is certainly helpful."

On the addition of Penn State freshman safety King Mack who played in a top high school program, has great speed, and what all he brings to the Alabama secondary

"Like you said, he played at St. Thomas Aquinas in the Fort Lauderdale area. It's a great program. If you can be a star there, you certainly have a lot of potential.

"When you flip on his senior highlight tape, the thing that jumps out at you is he's an incredible kick return guy. Whether it's kicks or punts, he took a lot of them back for touchdowns, so he could be valuable in a lot of different ways.

"He was a four-star rated player. Chose Penn State, went there and played in 13 games last season as a freshman. Only had 3 tackles. Don't know how much he actually played in those 13 games.

"He's a talented kid -- 5-10, 190, a kid with ability who can add some depth. (Alabama) lost a lot of DBs in the last two portal periods, so I think bringing him in is a big addition."

Some sad news, Bama fans...

Former Alabama football great and later UA athletic director Hootie Ingram passed away this morning. He was 90.

Hootie and I had become pretty good friends several years ago. He called me often to discuss the latest on Alabama football and sports in general. He loved the Tide.

I knew that Hootie was going through a health related issue the past several weeks but he appeared to be on his way to recovery.

This last Friday, Hootie called me and we talked for nearly 25 minutes. It was great hearing from him. He sounded great and he was looking forward to getting back to full-speed soon. He said he was going to follow through with his offer to take me to lunch as soon as he could.

I'm really, really going to miss his calls.

Alabama hosted Wake Forest cornerback DaShawn Jones on an official visit this weekend and it appears that Jones is set to commit to the Tide, according to Matt Zenitz of 247.

Jones, a native of Baltimore, played in 22 games over the past two seasons at Wake Forest. He started in nine games last season, finishing with 37 tackles, including 27 solos. In 2023, he led the team with three interceptions.

In case anyone missed it...

Cliff O to Bama!

Jon Rothstein is reporting that Rutgers transfer center Cliff Omoruyi has committed to Alabama. Over the past two weeks, the Tide staff has been confident in its position to land the highly-coveted 6-11, 240-pound center, but it was a battle to the end before Alabama finally won out over North Carolina, Georgetown and Kansas State. "I felt Alabama was the best fit for me of all the schools I visited," Omoruyi told College Hoops Today. "They showed me the path to obtain the mutual goals of winning and player development."

Nick Saban received rave reviews for his work on ABC’s coverage of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. Did you get to watch, and if so, what did you think of his analysis?

Credit: NFL/ABC

On another basketball note, as we reported in TiderInsider.com earlier this week, sources have told us that Alabama is likely to receive a commitment from highly-touted guard Labaron Philon in the very near future. Philon was released from his NLI by Kansas yesterday.

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