How Nick Sheridan Impacted the Commitment of Jett Thomalla

This could be a difficult transition for some coaches, but Sheridan worked well with Grubb in the spring and he led the effort to flip 2026 4-star Iowa State quarterback Jett Thomalla on June 17.

Thomalla had been committed to the Cyclones since April, but he spoke on Tide 100.9's The Game with Ryan Fowler on Monday and illustrated how Sheridan changed everything.

"Coach Sheridan followed me on whatever platform, texted me, got my number and said he wanted to come and watch me throw," Thomalla said. "He actually got down [to Nebraska] pretty quickly after saying that, so that's when I noticed the interest was real.

"He came to watch me throw, we got some dinner afterward and just talked about ball, the future with them and when they're going to kind of make a move. So, he took film and clips from the day I threw because they'd already watched all of the high school film, so they know I'm a good enough player for their level and he just wanted to see it with his own eyes."

Thomalla explained that seven days after Sheridan watched him throw at a training facility, head coach Kalen DeBoer and Grubb looked at the clips and the Alabama quarterbacks coach offered him over the phone in the middle of May.

"At that point, I knew I had a lot of interest in Alabama, so I think I got down there a week later for unofficial...and I talked ball with coach Sheridan for a while and coach Grubb too and it felt like home to me. It was still a really tough decision coming down to the wire with Iowa State and Alabama but I'm feeling really good about the decision I made."

There's not much to dispute about the University of Alabama having the reputation of being the mecca of college football. 18 national titles, well over 100 First Team All-Americans eight straight years of having the most active NFL players and so many more accolades can be intriguing but could also put pressure on recruits, especially those from lower-populated states.

"Everyone was saying 'Oh Alabama is such a bigger stage,' but coach Sheridan made me feel confidence in myself," Thomalla, a Nebraska native, said. "Just our talks when I was there and over the phone, I can play there and he thinks I can play there.

"It's going to be a lot of hard work and if I stay on that path, he thinks that I can be a starting quarterback at Alabama. It's pretty crazy to think about, but I'm just doing everything I can right now to prove myself."

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