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JACKSON, Ala. — If anyone had a successful pitch for 2026 running back Ezavier Crowell, it was Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn.
Fresh off a national championship win with a tandem of running backs who are both projected as either Day 1 or Day 2 picks in the 2025 NFL draft — one of whom hails from the state of Alabama — Locklyn pitched Crowell on being next; on taking that same path.
But it was a pitch, Jackson High School football coach Cody Flournoy remembers, as having its limit. Locklyn, a Montgomery native, knew what he was up against: Alabama football and Auburn.
“He told us sitting right in here that he didn’t think EJ was going to get out of the state,” Flournoy told The Tuscaloosa News. “But if he did, Ohio State would be a good place.”
Ohio State is just one of many schools after Crowell. A carousel of high-profile college football coaches have been parading into that same field house, making that same pitch, seeing Crowell as the guy, the gamechanger for a College Football Playoff contender.
That’s the only running back Crowell knows how to be. From the first time the 5-foot-11, 215-pound back touched a football at Jackson, he was evading tacklers and barreling through anyone keeping him from the end zone.
Crowell is enjoying the recruiting process. He originally set his commitment date for Dec. 31, one he wavered on in mid April before officially making a change April 28, leaving an open date for a potential decision, which could come before his junior and final season at Jackson after reclassifying from the 2027 recruiting class.
But Crowell doesn't feel a rush. When the time comes, he will sit down with his family, measure each option and pick what feels right.
“When you come to make your decision, make sure it’s the right decision, one that you don’t regret," Crowell said.
For Alabama football, Crowell’s decision feels much bigger.
Crowell is a top-30 prospect nationally who lives 130 miles from the Crimson Tide’s football facilities. He is the state’s highest-ranked running back prospect since Roc Thomas, an Auburn signee, in 2014. Crowell is a prospect who admits he grew up a Crimson Tide fan.
In this new era of Alabama football, one that continues to try and cement itself as an in-state recruiting power, Crowell feels like a turning point, a commitment the Crimson Tide may have to have.
“The stuff, the talent, the quality, it’s all there. Of course, the program's different," Flournoy said. "That’s kind of one of the things, and, it’s no discredit to coach (Kalen) DeBoer, but I really feel like, if (Nick) Saban’s there, it’s a no-brainer for him. But everybody’s still got the jury out on coach DeBoer. Again, no disservice to him. I thought he did a great job this past season. And he’s still trying to get some of his talent in and some of his mold.
“They’re recruiting the right guys, I’ll say that. They’re still pushing that mold that it’s Bama as usual.”
Crowell’s first contact with Alabama came shortly after Kalen DeBoer’s hire in 2024.
Then a 2027 running back, Crowell reported his Crimson Tide offer Jan. 31 after programs like Georgia, Miami, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida State and Auburn, which put itself in the race in November 2023.
But Alabama was an offer that genuinely excited Crowell.
“Just being a little kid growing up in Alabama and just watching them, and to get the offer meant a lot to me,” Crowell said.
Robert Gillespie, Alabama’s running backs coach and a carryover from Nick Saban’s staff, made it clear to Crowell that he would fit in right away, saying Crowell’s combination of speed and power turned into the “all-around back” the Crimson Tide was looking for and wants to develop.
Even though leadership had changed at the top with DeBoer, the program pushed that nothing else about Alabama had changed.
“It was, ‘Hey, we’re still Alabama and we’re still doing Alabama things,’” Flournoy said. “The same things that allowed them to win are the same things they are still pushing.”
Crowell said it’s a pitch that impressed him, especially when he’s been in Tuscaloosa, saying “they show a lot of love” each time he’s on Alabama’s campus.
Alabama is not the only school Crowell has heard from.
Auburn’s pitch, Crowell said, is “very good.” Auburn is a program that emphasizes how much of an impact Crowell could make immediately and how much the coaching staff wants him on The Plains. Even seeing what Ohio State has done with its pair of running backs and how wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has become a star in Columbus has been intriguing for Crowell. Texas was also in on Crowell early. And Georgia continues to push.
Flournoy sees another element to Crowell’s recruiting decision. It’s what helped Crowell decide to reclassify to the 2026 class in the first place.
To Crowell, his reclassification was simply because he is ready to prove himself.
“I feel like I’m ready to go to the next level,” Crowell said.
But it’s a decision Flournoy helped encourage solely because he knew what he and what Jackson had in Crowell.
Crowell had nothing more to prove with the Aggies. After two seasons, per 247Sports, he had more than 4,000 all-purpose yards and 62 touchdowns. And as a running back a year older than most in the 2027 recruiting class already, Crowell had an opportunity not many had.
“Physically, he’s mature. Mentally, he’s mature,” Flournoy saud. “This dude, he could stay here and it would be great for me, and we’d give him the ball a bunch and he’d shoot after state rushing records and stuff. But it kind of comes back to, 'Hey, this is real money that we’re talking about with NIL.' ... If his value’s a million dollars, he’s getting a million dollars. This is not scholarship dollars or room-and-board dollars. No, this goes to him and his family, and this is life-changing money.”
Crowell is a running back who knows what he wants.
Ideally, he would start as a college freshman or play early. But he wants to be developed both on and off the field. He wants to have a firm sense in how the program he chooses would treat him once he’s a member of its roster.
Crowell is like any other athlete, Flournoy said: He wants to play. Crowell is a back who has always played, and he will always play, Flournoy clarified.
“He’s a real person,” Flournoy said. “Real things matter to him. I have not seen him get caught up in the glitz and glam. … EJ’s a guy, he likes food. We always talk about what he eats on his visits. And he likes relationships. Of course, when you boil it down, everybody likes relationships, but he’s not so much caught up in, to me, the star-studded … and all the hoopla.”
Crowell hears it every day at Jackson High School: Auburn fans telling him to pick anywhere but Alabama, Alabama fans telling him to pick anywhere but Auburn.
“It really doesn't matter to me … in state or out of state, it don’t matter,” Crowell said. “I just want to play.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Ezavier Crowell may be a must-get 2026 recruit for Alabama football
Continue reading...
Fresh off a national championship win with a tandem of running backs who are both projected as either Day 1 or Day 2 picks in the 2025 NFL draft — one of whom hails from the state of Alabama — Locklyn pitched Crowell on being next; on taking that same path.
But it was a pitch, Jackson High School football coach Cody Flournoy remembers, as having its limit. Locklyn, a Montgomery native, knew what he was up against: Alabama football and Auburn.
“He told us sitting right in here that he didn’t think EJ was going to get out of the state,” Flournoy told The Tuscaloosa News. “But if he did, Ohio State would be a good place.”
Ohio State is just one of many schools after Crowell. A carousel of high-profile college football coaches have been parading into that same field house, making that same pitch, seeing Crowell as the guy, the gamechanger for a College Football Playoff contender.
That’s the only running back Crowell knows how to be. From the first time the 5-foot-11, 215-pound back touched a football at Jackson, he was evading tacklers and barreling through anyone keeping him from the end zone.
Crowell is enjoying the recruiting process. He originally set his commitment date for Dec. 31, one he wavered on in mid April before officially making a change April 28, leaving an open date for a potential decision, which could come before his junior and final season at Jackson after reclassifying from the 2027 recruiting class.
But Crowell doesn't feel a rush. When the time comes, he will sit down with his family, measure each option and pick what feels right.
“When you come to make your decision, make sure it’s the right decision, one that you don’t regret," Crowell said.
For Alabama football, Crowell’s decision feels much bigger.
Crowell is a top-30 prospect nationally who lives 130 miles from the Crimson Tide’s football facilities. He is the state’s highest-ranked running back prospect since Roc Thomas, an Auburn signee, in 2014. Crowell is a prospect who admits he grew up a Crimson Tide fan.
In this new era of Alabama football, one that continues to try and cement itself as an in-state recruiting power, Crowell feels like a turning point, a commitment the Crimson Tide may have to have.
“The stuff, the talent, the quality, it’s all there. Of course, the program's different," Flournoy said. "That’s kind of one of the things, and, it’s no discredit to coach (Kalen) DeBoer, but I really feel like, if (Nick) Saban’s there, it’s a no-brainer for him. But everybody’s still got the jury out on coach DeBoer. Again, no disservice to him. I thought he did a great job this past season. And he’s still trying to get some of his talent in and some of his mold.
“They’re recruiting the right guys, I’ll say that. They’re still pushing that mold that it’s Bama as usual.”
What is Alabama football's pitch to 2026 RB Ezavier Crowell?
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Crowell’s first contact with Alabama came shortly after Kalen DeBoer’s hire in 2024.
Then a 2027 running back, Crowell reported his Crimson Tide offer Jan. 31 after programs like Georgia, Miami, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida State and Auburn, which put itself in the race in November 2023.
But Alabama was an offer that genuinely excited Crowell.
“Just being a little kid growing up in Alabama and just watching them, and to get the offer meant a lot to me,” Crowell said.
Robert Gillespie, Alabama’s running backs coach and a carryover from Nick Saban’s staff, made it clear to Crowell that he would fit in right away, saying Crowell’s combination of speed and power turned into the “all-around back” the Crimson Tide was looking for and wants to develop.
Even though leadership had changed at the top with DeBoer, the program pushed that nothing else about Alabama had changed.
“It was, ‘Hey, we’re still Alabama and we’re still doing Alabama things,’” Flournoy said. “The same things that allowed them to win are the same things they are still pushing.”
Crowell said it’s a pitch that impressed him, especially when he’s been in Tuscaloosa, saying “they show a lot of love” each time he’s on Alabama’s campus.
What other recruiting pitches is Ezavier Crowell hearing?
Alabama is not the only school Crowell has heard from.
Auburn’s pitch, Crowell said, is “very good.” Auburn is a program that emphasizes how much of an impact Crowell could make immediately and how much the coaching staff wants him on The Plains. Even seeing what Ohio State has done with its pair of running backs and how wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has become a star in Columbus has been intriguing for Crowell. Texas was also in on Crowell early. And Georgia continues to push.
Flournoy sees another element to Crowell’s recruiting decision. It’s what helped Crowell decide to reclassify to the 2026 class in the first place.
To Crowell, his reclassification was simply because he is ready to prove himself.
“I feel like I’m ready to go to the next level,” Crowell said.
You must be registered for see images
But it’s a decision Flournoy helped encourage solely because he knew what he and what Jackson had in Crowell.
Crowell had nothing more to prove with the Aggies. After two seasons, per 247Sports, he had more than 4,000 all-purpose yards and 62 touchdowns. And as a running back a year older than most in the 2027 recruiting class already, Crowell had an opportunity not many had.
“Physically, he’s mature. Mentally, he’s mature,” Flournoy saud. “This dude, he could stay here and it would be great for me, and we’d give him the ball a bunch and he’d shoot after state rushing records and stuff. But it kind of comes back to, 'Hey, this is real money that we’re talking about with NIL.' ... If his value’s a million dollars, he’s getting a million dollars. This is not scholarship dollars or room-and-board dollars. No, this goes to him and his family, and this is life-changing money.”
What decision will 2026 RB Ezavier Crowell make?
Crowell is a running back who knows what he wants.
Ideally, he would start as a college freshman or play early. But he wants to be developed both on and off the field. He wants to have a firm sense in how the program he chooses would treat him once he’s a member of its roster.
Crowell is like any other athlete, Flournoy said: He wants to play. Crowell is a back who has always played, and he will always play, Flournoy clarified.
“He’s a real person,” Flournoy said. “Real things matter to him. I have not seen him get caught up in the glitz and glam. … EJ’s a guy, he likes food. We always talk about what he eats on his visits. And he likes relationships. Of course, when you boil it down, everybody likes relationships, but he’s not so much caught up in, to me, the star-studded … and all the hoopla.”
Crowell hears it every day at Jackson High School: Auburn fans telling him to pick anywhere but Alabama, Alabama fans telling him to pick anywhere but Auburn.
“It really doesn't matter to me … in state or out of state, it don’t matter,” Crowell said. “I just want to play.”
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Ezavier Crowell may be a must-get 2026 recruit for Alabama football
Continue reading...
