Courtney Morgan knows what major college football feels like.
The Alabama football general manager was a Michigan offensive lineman, winning Big Ten titles in 2000 and 2003. He’s worked at UCLA, San Jose State, Fresno State, Michigan and Washington, working either as a director of player personnel or director of player development at each stop.
Morgan was Kalen DeBoer’s first hire at Alabama, following the former Washington coach to Tuscaloosa. He and DeBoer had previously crossed paths at Fresno State.
Morgan knows what major college football feels like. It’s filled with pressure. But the pressure at Alabama, he said, is “a little more intense.”
“The players here, I think they feel a little more pressure than anywhere I’ve been to win,” Morgan told The Tuscaloosa News. “I think the coaches, here, just everyone here … it’s a heavy weight on their shoulders. And I’m not saying that it’s negative. You shy away from it, but it’s a driving factor every day.”
In Morgan’s first year leading the Crimson Tide front office, directing the personnel and recruiting departments and managing the team’s roster, Alabama won nine regular-season games, falling in road meetings with Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Alabama will try for its 17th straight season with 10 or more wins Dec. 31 in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan.
Before Alabama’s bowl trip, Morgan spoke to The Tuscaloosa News about the Crimson Tide’s top-five recruiting class and what fans should expect for the future of Alabama football in 2026 and beyond.
Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and for length.
Courtney Morgan: So I’ll be fully transparent. I stay away from quarterbacks. Quarterback evaluations are really tricky because ultimately, that decision is made by the offensive coordinator and then with our head coach being an offensive guy, he’s really hands-on about quarterbacks. So that process with Keelon really came from (Alabama assistant director of player personnel) Jerret McElwain, who loves quarterback evaluations, who learned a lot under (Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator) Ryan Grubb when we were at Washington. I learned a lot about quarterbacks through Grubb. … At the time, we were looking at a couple other prospects who had bigger names, but we didn’t feel that with NIL and the financial piece that it matched. Not talent, but it just wasn’t a good fit. So we went looking for other guys. And then, as you look … quarterbacks commit early in the process. We take pride, and I think a lot of it comes from our background at Washington and having a Group of Five background, even being at Fresno State, I’ve always looked for the guys that weren’t rated by the sites high but I knew had talent. Jared has been with me since Michigan. Our most famous guy is Mason Graham. Mason Graham was a three-star recruit committed to Boise State, but we watched him and we thought he was one of the top defensive linemen in the nation. Now he’s a unanimous All-American and a top-10 draft pick. So if you look at Keelon Russell, you have the (Julian) Lewis’, all these high names. But there’s a kid over here committed to SMU who had a live arm. The thing about Keelon, when you look at it, it’s not just his arm and his ability, which he’s had. He’s as talented as anyone in the country. He played at Duncanville, which is a powerhouse. He’s a winner. He’s a leader. And he’s been around alphas. He’s an alpha, So a lot of times, you see quarterbacks in high school who play at schools where they either play lesser competition or they’re the best player on the field. … He was on the field with Dakorien Moore playing against really, really good competition. And he dominated. And he led. … We don’t offer quarterbacks until we see him throw live. So we met Keelon, started looking at Keelon like in March, April, and then sent coach (JaMarcus Shephard) and coach (Nick) Sheridan down to see him throw in May or April. They walked away like, “No-brainer.” It wasn’t just about the way he threw the ball. It was the way he competed in a really, really intense practice setting. … So we knew we had a dude. And then the world found out what we saw. It’s funny. When we first committed to us from SMU, we flipped him, the fans were like, “Oh, we’re dead. Alabama, we’re dead. We’re flipping players from SMU.” In our head, we’re like, “He’s the best quarterback in the country.” And it came true.
Morgan: I think everybody’s different. You look for traits, and based off those traits, how far off are they from being college-ready? But they all have to possess the traits for the position. And then from there, you look to see where they are in their development. … I think wide receivers, DBs today are more developed than ever because of all the trainers, the 7-on-7s and all the extra work they can do. … Like California, Texas, you can fall out of bed and find 10 people to train you. Those kids are never (short) of someone to work with them on skill development. So those guys come in a little more ready, I think. I think for your core guys, your linebackers and your interior linemen, it’s hard for them to play early unless they are really special. Tyler Booker was really special. They have the traits, but they have to get in the weight room and develop strength. (Kadyn) Proctor was different. We think Michael Carroll can be a guy because of how massive and how physical he plays. But a lot of it is more about emotional maturity too. It’s not just physical development. It’s emotional maturity and how competitive they are. They are all competitive, but (it’s) how they learn how to compete on a consistent basis in college.
Morgan: They both possess the key quality of playing wide receiver: They can run. Lotzeir’s small, but he can run. Like rare twitch and speed. He’s a gamebreaker. Derek’s 6-6, but he can run. Derek’s been verified at a 4.5 (40-yard dash time), 6-6, 210 pounds. And not only can he run in a straight line. Derek can also change directions and drop his weight. So he’s explosive for a big guy. You first look at do they have the traits? Fast? Can they catch? How natural a catcher they are? And then, like Derek, Derek trains. Lotzeir may be a little more raw than Derek because Lotzeir’s coming from a different background. … We think both those guys will make an impact next year.
Morgan: I think our plan, in any year, is to recruit the best players. We were behind with in-state players. We made a point to go after Micah DeBose. Offensive linemen, they’re hard to find. So you get a premium in your backyard, you go get them. A lot of the kids, we were just behind them because (Auburn coach) Hugh Freeze had been there for a while. But we tried. We don’t sit around and look at the map and say, “We need to get X amount of players in California.” What we try and do is to find the best players. And once we find the best guys, we go get them.
Morgan: Having Freddie Roach, Freddie’s had deep relationships, especially in Birmingham and the state of Alabama. … Freddie’s relationships are so deep. He does such a great job with that part that kids will go other places and (if) they’re not happy, their parents are going to call Freddie. Having someone like coach Roach and having Freddie be retained was a big reason why we were able to get guys like Kelby. And you see what he did with (Jaylen) Mbakwe. He’s just a really good dude. People believe and trust in what he says.
Morgan: Ty has (the) love of his teammates. They all like him. They all think he’s a good dude, a good person. He’s a coach’s kid. He gets it. He’s been patient. He hasn’t been a cancer. He hasn’t been a person who’s wondering why he is he not playing. He’s kind of been playing this role, understanding it is the long game. I think everyone believes in Ty. Ty has a really live arm. When he’s on, he’s on. I think it’s something to say about confidence when the job is actually yours. When you come into the spring and you’re expected to be the guy, I think that confidence and that believe in your team or coaches, that helps him play better. So we’re looking forward to it.
Morgan: It’s crazy. … I wouldn’t have the football until the football is over. And I wouldn’t allow the portal to be open until the completion of all the football season. … It’s just a lot to manage. And people just think about acquiring players. Retaining a roster is just as hard. Every day is different. Come in here, you don’t know who wants to leave. … You get a text from compliance, (a player wants) to meet with me, you know what that means now. You’re scrambling to replace that guy. … It’s a lot. It used to be, after signing day, you got to take a breath and get a little vacation. You weren’t even happy on signing day because five days later, the portal was open. It causes anxiety.
Morgan: I think that’s just the trend now in college football. Kids normally make the decision after June visits, early July. Very rarely do the kids go all the way to the fall to make a commitment. The hard thing about that is that you have to hold onto the kids. If they commit in June, you have to hold onto them all the way through.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him atcgay@gannett.com or follow him@_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
