Alabama surprisingly stole a top recruit from Lane Kiffin and LSU to take massive jump in the 2026 rankings
Alabama flips top-150 recruit Bryson Cooley from LSU.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is still focused on the season as it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia in the SEC Championship and lock in a spot for the College Football Playoff.
There’s still work off the field to be done, however, and Alabama’s head coach, Kalen DeBoer, hasn’t skipped a beat with the season going on and the distractions of coaching rumors over the last few weeks. The college football world has been locked in for the early signing period for the 2026 recruiting class, and there have been many flips and surprises.
Alabama has lost a few of its own players, but it also flipped a top-150 recruit away from LSU and Lane Kiffin to put the bow on a strong 2026 class.
Alabama flips OT Bryson Cooley from LSU
Alabama was poised to finish just outside the top-5 in recruiting with its 2026 class, and it looked like it was done after all of its targets officially signed. Deboer and the coaching staff still had something up their sleeve, however, and it was announced on Friday that Alabama flipped offensive tackle Bryson Cooley away from LSU.
Cooley is a 6-6, 330-pound offensive tackle out of Laurel, Mississippi, and the 134th player in the country according to ON3/Rivals’ rankings. The flip is surprising after he committed to LSU back in July, and the flashy hiring of Kiffin, who has done a great job of recruiting since he landed in Baton Rouge.
Alabama makes massive jump in 2026 recruiting rankings
Alabama already had a stacked recruiting class as expected, but adding Cooley helps it jump from sixth in Rivals’ rankings, all the way up to fourth for 2026. Cooley is Alabama’s 11th 4-star recruit for the 2026 class, and the third offensive tackle of the class.
Alabama’s offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic has had a great recruiting cycle for 2026 after landing three offensive line recruits in the top-250, with Cooley joining Jared Doughty and Chris Booker. The 2026 class is loaded with immediate impact players like 5-star running back Ezavier Crowell, and the offensive line looks stacked for the future as well for whoever is the quarterback next season.
Hopefully, Alabama will get a win in the SEC Championship this weekend and have more hardware to show off to recruit in the upcoming 2027 class.
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