Alabama getting a healthy Domani Jackson back sends a message to the rest of the college football

The importance of Alabama adding Domani Jackson prior to the 2024 season cannot be overstated. A majority of the secondary was gone after 2023, whether that be first or second-round talents like Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry moving on to the NFL or key starters and depth pieces leaving via the transfer portal following the retirement of Nick Saban.

Alabama's secondary was in seemingly rough shape, but Jackson was already planning to come in after Saban's announcement. Fortunately, he stuck to that decision, as he was paramount in keeping the back half of the Crimson Tide defense on track.

The former five-star recruit had spent his first two seasons at USC, playing 713 snaps and starting 11 games. Then he arrived in Tuscaloosa and immediately assumed a starting job while more than doubling his snap count (717 to give him 1,430 total) and starting all 13 games. Yes, an undisclosed injury down the stretch caused him issues against Michigan in the bowl game, but his impact last year cannot be discounted.

Jackson missed the spring due to that injury, but he's now returned to the field. And with Florida State coming up in the season opener on Aug. 30, the 6-foot-1, 196-pound corner is back to being fully healthy.

“It’s the best I’ve been in all my college years, my last four years,” Jackson told BamaOnLine at Alabama's Media Day on Monday. “I feel great. And I’m ready to go. I’m 100%.”

Obviously, that's encouraging news. With fellow starter Zabien Brown back and other key additions brought in with Cam Calhoun and Dijon Lee, cornerback seems to be in good shape, but Jackson's combination of talent and experience elevates the room to another level. Those other guys were able to get some valuable reps in the spring with Jackson out though.

“I’m the oldest one in the group,” Jackson said. “We have a lot of freshmen. We have a lot of new incoming people. We have people switch positions come to our room. And I’ve been doing it for a while. So I just try to go into those meeting rooms and just if I see a little something that I don’t like, I just tell them what they should do.

“And obviously, Coach Mo (Linguist) is the coach. He tells them what to do. I just don’t try to be selfish. I’m an open book, and if they just gotta reach out to me, I’m here to help. So I think that’s what brings a team together, a great team, a championship team is no matter what, first, second, third string, you all communicate and you just all try to be the best to become one.”

This Alabama secondary has a chance to be one of the better units in all of college football. Whether you're talking about Jackson and Brown at cornerback, Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard at safety, DaShawn Jones at Husky or any number of depth pieces behind those guys, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and company should get even stronger play from this room in 2025 than they did in 2024.