Kalen DeBoer will let Alabama football linebacker Justin Jefferson make the official announcement.
But the Crimson Tide coach seemed to spill the beans on the fifth-year linebacker’s 2025 plans before the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“I know he was pretty excited to hear about the opportunity,” DeBoer said. “So that can give you an indication of, kind of, where I think his head’s at.”
In light of a lawsuit against the NCAA by Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, the NCAA announced Dec. 23 a waiver to allow student-athletes who once played at a non-NCAA school to play the 2025-26 school year.
“We’ve had the talks, and I’m pretty confident that he’s excited to continue playing college football. Nothing official. But that was certainly a big, big announcement there right around Christmas. Good Christmas present for him, good Christmas present for us for sure.”
Jefferson played in 11 games for the Crimson Tide in 2024 and made two starts. He recorded 51 tackles, six tackles-for-loss, a pass deflection and a forced fumble.
Jefferson committed to Alabama as a four-star linebacker out of Pearl River Community College.
“I think we’re really optimistic about JJ coming back for next season,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “It’s something that he wants to do. So hopefully we have some confirmation about that sooner rather than later.”
Jefferson is set to be a big boost for the Alabama linebacker room with Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell’s 2025 plans unannounced. The Crimson Tide added Colorado transfer linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green as a likely plug-and-play starter along with Wolf linebacker.
Alabama will kick off against Michigan in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl at 11 a.m. CT Tuesday on ESPN.
