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Alabama Flips 2026 Safety Recruit From Rutgers

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Hunter Hodies | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 6:31 PM ET

Monday has been a good day for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

They flipped four-star running back Javari Barnett from the Illinois Fighting Illini after he had been committed to them since April. They never stopped recruiting him, and it paid off by securing the flip.

They got their second flip when safety recruit Rihyael Kelley flipped his commitment from the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to the Tide. He had only been committed to the Scarlet Knights since June 8.

Kelley is a three-star recruit from Cincinnati and the No. 42 recruit in his home state (Ohio), per 247Sports composite rankings. He is also the No. 85 safety recruit in the country.

This brings the Tide's total number of recruits up to 10 for the 2026 class. They now have the No. 28 recruiting class in the country and will likely improve that number significantly once they get more recruits.

The Tide are coming off a nine-win season in 2024, their lowest since 2007 when they only won seven games. This was Kalen DeBoer's first season as head coach after he took over for Nick Saban.

He wants to get them back to being a national contender for this season and beyond. He was with the Washington Huskies for two seasons before taking the job with the Tide, winning 25 of 28 games.

The Tide will start the 2025 season on the road against the Florida State Seminoles on August 30. Kickoff will be at 3:30 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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