Alabama DB Brylan Lanier Transfers to Indiana

After spending one season at Alabama under Nick Saban as a preferred walk-on, defensive back Brylan Lanier announced on Friday that he will transfer to Indiana.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen added depth to the defensive back room on Friday, landing Brylan Lanier from Alabama. Lanier spent his first collegiate season in 2021 under Nick Saban as a preferred walk-on.

Lanier, a Tuscaloosa, Ala. native, was a three-star recruit out of Paul W. Bryant High School. Standing at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, he was the No. 1142 player and No. 99 cornerback in the class of 2021. Lanier originally committed to Georgia State, but quickly entered the transfer portal and returned home to Tuscaloosa. 

Lanier did not see any game action for the Crimson Tide in 2021. In the 2022 Golden Flake A-Day football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on April 16, Lanier was one of seven players to earn the Bear Bryant Outstanding Non-Scholarship Award.

@IndianaFootball = Home .. 1000% committed!! No More Talking, Lets Work!! 🥷#GodSon pic.twitter.com/uSJEE0btG8

— ฿ⱤɎⱠØ “₲ØĐ ₴Ø₦” Ⱡ₳₦łɆⱤ (@BrylanLanier) May 13, 2022

Lanier joins an Indiana defensive back room with high-level talent and experience at the top. Senior Tiawan Mullen is the leader of the group, and was a first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2020. Jaylin Williams, who has been an All-Big Ten selection the last two seasons, will likely play opposite Mullen at the cornerback position. Like Williams, safety Devon Matthews is back for his fifth season with the Hoosiers and was named Indiana’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.

Because of the players Indiana returns in the defensive backfield, Lanier has a difficult path to playing time in his first season at Indiana, but he'll bring depth to a position group that suffered a multitude of injuries in 2021.

Related stories to Indiana football:

• DL TRANSFER FOCUS: Playing in one of the most physical conferences in college football, head coach Tom Allen said Indiana needed to get bigger in the interior. Indiana added JH Tevis from Cal and LeDarrius Cox and Patrick Lucas Jr. from Ole Miss through the transfer portal, who look to bring size and experience to the defensive line. CLICK HERE
• LB TRASNSFER FOCUS: Indiana's defense allowed the most points per game in the Big Ten last season, and its leader Micah McFadden is now in the NFL. Tom Allen added a trio of linebackers through the transfer portal to help bolster the defense. CLICK HERE
• RB TRANSFER FOCUS: With Indiana's top four running backs from 2021 gone, Tom Allen hit the transfer portal to bring in Shaun Shivers from Auburn and Josh Henderson from North Carolina. And with a new running backs coach, a featured role is up for grabs. CLICK HERE
• WR TRANSFER FOCUS: With the departure of Ty Fryfogle and Miles Marshall, Indiana brought in a pair of transfer wide receivers. Emery Simmons becomes a Hoosier after three seasons at North Carolina, and Cam Camper takes a step up from Trinity Valley Community College. CLICK HERE