SEC commit previews Alabama official visit, talks interest in the Tide

This month, Alabama will welcome multiple prospects committed elsewhere on campus for official visits. One of those recruits is Tupelo (Miss.) High School linebacker Tristan Jernigan, who has been committed to Texas A&M since May 1.

Since then, Jernigan has visited The Capstone a couple of times for a camp and their game against Texas on Sept. 9. He’ll be back in Tuscaloosa this upcoming weekend for an official visit before returning to Texas A&M from Dec. 15-17. Jernigan spent the first two years of his life in Florence (Ala.), and returned to the state for his freshman year of high school.

He’ll be joined by his parents and brother on his official visit to Alabama.

“I’m happy for their success and I’m really excited to get back down there for my official visit,” Jernigan told BamaOnLine on Sunday. “Looking forward to really just seeing the school side of it. I’ve seen all the football activities. I’m ready to get to the school.”

Whether you’re a recruit, coach, die-hard fan of a team, or just follow college football and sports in general, Selection Sunday was a big day that had a lot of attention on it.

The playoff field of Michigan (No. 1), Washington (No. 2), Texas (No. 3), and Alabama (No. 4) was set on Sunday. Jernigan shared with BOL his reaction to the Crimson Tide landing in the College Football Playoff.

“It was great,” Jernigan said. “I knew they were going to make the playoffs after they came back after that Texas loss. That was crazy, though… I’m proud of them. I was glad they made the playoffs because it feels good to be recruited by a school that’s in the College Football Playoff.

“Feel like they can make it to the national championship again,” Jernigan continued. “I feel like they can win it.”

Ahead of Saturday’s SEC Championship, Jernigan predicted Bama to snap Georgia’s 29-game winning streak. The top-15 senior in the state of Mississippi was impressed with what he saw from Nick Saban’s group this past weekend.

“I feel like they played great on defense,” Jernigan said. “It’s a hard thing to keep Georgia in the 20-point range because they really score a lot. For them to hold Georgia to that many points, they played great on defense.”

“I feel like Deontae [Lawson] and Dallas [Turner] played pretty good,” Jernigan added. “No. 17 played a real good part when he got that fumble. I feel like the linebackers did pretty good stopping the run.”

Only two schools remain in consideration for Jernigan

Jernigan has racked up nearly two dozen offers in his recruitment. He tweeted last week that Ole Miss would receive an official from him after Alabama, but has replaced that with another official visit to Texas A&M; he is allowed to take a second official visit with the Aggies because of the change in head coaches at the program.

So, who are the players in Jernigan’s recruitment right now?

“It’s just Bama and Texas A&M,” Jernigan replied.

After his official visit with Alabama, Jernigan is expected to host a couple of coaches for an in-home visit. He’s not sure of the date, but Jernigan says position coach Robert Bala and Saban himself are likely to be by.

Bala has kept in touch with Jernigan over the past few months, and has built a good relationship with the three-star linebacker.

“Him and I have a great relationship,” Jernigan said of Bala. “I feel like he would be a great coach. He’d coach me hard. I take a lot of hard coaching already.”

Jernigan also noted that he caught up with Saban over the phone last week.

“Nick Saban, I think I talked with him on Tuesday,” Jernigan said. “He was saying they want me to come play for them. They need depth with their linebackers. They want me to come play for them and be a part of their defense.

“I’m really excited that I’m a priority for Bama,” Jernigan continued. “It’s a dream for everybody to be a priority for Bama and Bama really wanting you to play for them. I’m really excited.”

Bama is one of the two remaining schools in Jernigan’s recruitment. The Alabama native plans on signing his National Letter of Intent on Dec. 22. That is the final day of the three-day Early Signing Period, which begins on Dec. 20.

Jernigan opened up about what is making Alabama a top contender for his services.

“I feel like they play a good part in my recruitment right now,” Jernigan said. “It’s the way they play and the mindset they have to win. It would mean a lot. It’s really a great choice to play at Bama. They win a lot at Bama. They really have a great coaching staff. They’ve had a great coaching staff for a lot of years.”

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