Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer on California OT Jackson Lloyd: 'He's just an athlete'

First Monterey County football player to sign to Alabama, the three-sport star hopes to lead unbeaten Carmel to state 5-AA title

Carmel 6-7, 285-pound OT Jackson Lloyd, ranked the fourth best recruit overall in California, signed to the University of Alabama on 12-4-2024, the first day for the early signing period. / Photo: Eric Taylor

The 2,220-mile route from Carmel, California to Tuscaloosa, Ala. is a road less taken. 

Known for its picturesque oceanside views, upscale cafes, art galleries and chilli temperatures, Carmel is a destination spot for romantic couples, oversea vacationers and retirees. It’s considered somewhere between sleepy and peaceful on the tranquil meter.  

It has little in common with the sweltering west-central Alabama town of Tuscaloosa, population 100,000, which no doubt captures the Southern charm of the region, but is most certainly famous for the University of Alabama and its Crimson Tide football team. 

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City leaders, in fact, gave it the moniker “The City of Champions,” thanks to the national championships hauled in by the Tide in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. 

On Wednesday, these two points connected officially when Carmel’s behemoth 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive tackle Jackson Lloyd signed a letter of intent to play for Alabama and coach Kalen DeBoer spent more time talking about the three-sport standout than any of his other 20 signees.

Besides being ranked the No. 4 overall recruit in California from the Class of 2025, Lloyd is also a star basketball player who led the Padres to a Central Coast Section championship last winter and he was also a standout baseball player. 

He’ll be the first Monterey County football player ever to play for the University of Alabama or in the Southeastern Conference. 

Jackson first came on DeBoer’s radar when he was the head coach at Fresno State at a youth camp. 

“Just to be really blunt, I mean, you see his size, and you flip on the film, that's one thing, you see his athleticism,” DeBoer told a group of reporters Wednesday. “But you look at basketball, baseball, football — the guy is an athlete.

Jackson Lloyd (77) has only been playing tackle football for four years and combined with his athleticism — he's a three-sport star at Carmel High School — his potential is considered limitless / Photo: Eric Taylor

"So you got this big body. Then you got this athlete and you've got a mindset. I don't know if there's ever been a time where I haven't talked to him — and I know there is — but where I haven't either called him or he's texted me and I texted back, 'What are you doing?' And it involves a workout that he just finished or that you're heading to. So you just love that about him that he just loves the grind.

"He loves just sport in general and all the things that he's done, being a part of different athletic teams, the different sports. Just really — and that coordination is there and the footwork's there — and now that he really just focuses on football you can probably imagine what that's gonna be when you get a year-round program here just focusing on that alone."

Before he leaves for Tuscaloosa at the end of the month — he plans to graduate early from Carmel and enroll early at Alabama — he’s hoping to bring home a historic state title. The Padres (13-0) host Acalanes in a CIF State Division 5-AA championship game Friday at Monterey Peninsula College. 

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The winner advances to the state finals next week in Southern California. 

No matter how it turns out, he’ll go down as arguably the best lineman Monterey County has ever seen, said Monterey Herald longtime journalist John Devine.

That's a mouthful, considering the County has produced some excellent NFL products, including Pleasant Grove’s Eric Mahlum (Indianapolis), Chris Dalman (49ers), Dalman’s son Drew Dalman (currently with the Falcons) and North Salinas’ Carl Nicks, who won a Super Bowl with the Saints and was at one time the highest paid guard in the NFL. 

“(Nicks) is as close to a comparison to Jackson I can think of in terms of size and athletic ability,” said Devine, who has written stories in Monterey County since 1979. “(Nicks) was a basketball and track guy and threw the shot put 50-some feet.” 

Jackson Lloyd (77) also plays defense for the Padres, who take on defending state 3-AA champion Acalanes in a Northern California 5-AA region Dec. 6 at Monterey Peninsula College. His Padres are 13-0 after winning a Central Coast Section D3 title. / Photo: Raul Ebio

Besides being a four-year varsity lineman for the Padres, he was the co-MVP of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division in basketball by averaging 15.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game — “he was a double-double machine,” Devine said — and despite coming out four weeks late for baseball due to the late hoop run, he was 2-0 on the mound with a save and blasted three home runs. 

Interestingly, football came third in his own pecking order, never having played tackle football until his freshman year. He was a 305-pound eighth-grade flag-football quarterback who grew to quickly love the sport while growing three inches and shedding 35 pounds by playing three sports. 

Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, then the UCLA head coach, encouraged Jackson to keep playing three sports. A late-bloomer to weight lifting as well, Jackson’s improvement in football was immense and why he climbed the recruiting ranks. 

“I’ve never focused on one sport,” Jackson told Devine after being named the region’s 2023-24 Athlete of the Year. “I’ve only played tackle football for three years. I am excited to see how my game takes off at the next level.” 

Before then, he has one more go-around with the Padres. 

“Playing with my best friends one last time means the world to me,” Lloyd told John Devine of the Monterey Herald. “I just hope we can end it on a good note.”

Carmel OL Jackson Lloyd signed his letter of intent to Alabama on Dec. 4 / Courtesy photo: Jackson Lloyd