Alabama debut arriving right on time for freshman WR Kobe Prentice

Forget the track-star speed and ankle-breaking elusiveness. The PlayStation stats from high school are impressive, but even they don’t tell the whole story. When Mike McCoy wants to convey what makes Alabama freshman receiver Kobe Prentice special, he comes back to one simple fact.

“He was never late.”

Prentice, who was named Alabama’s starting slot receiver earlier this week, took the long road to early success. Literally.

The Calera, Ala., native began training with McCoy, a former Crimson Tide receiver, heading into his senior season of high school last year. During the fall, that meant waking up at 5 a.m. every weekday to make the 45-minute drive to Performance Institute LLC in Bessemer, Ala., where he’d workout for an hour and shower before racing back down I-65 in order to arrive in time for his first class.

Prentice never missed the bell at either stop.

“If you have that type of discipline at that age as a teenager, you’ve already told me that you have a pro mentality,” McCoy said. “That right there told me that he’s different. We’ve got kids who stay three minutes away from here that come in five minutes late every day. He has a different tenacity about him, a different mindset. This means something to him.”

Those early-morning treks occurred during a time when Prentice’s name barely blipped the national radar. The 5-foot-10, 171-pound receiver was virtually an unknown commodity before clocking a 4.38 time in the 40-yard dash during a camp at Alabama in June of last year. Even then, it took a while for the Crimson Tide to jump on board.

While Prentice’s impressive camp performance earned him a visit to Nick Saban’s office, Alabama didn’t come through with a committable offer until two weeks later, shortly after the receiver had already announced his commitment to Maryland. Prentice’s stock continued to rise following his flip to Alabama later that month, but the now-Rivals100 receiver wasn’t ranked until after a senior season that saw him pile up 1,229 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air.

McCoy realized his potential well before then.

Within a few minutes of their first training session last summer, McCoy stopped Prentice and asked him who he had worked with in the past. When Prentice replied “no one,” McCoy’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

“I was like, ‘Bro, are you serious?’” McCoy said. “I told him, ‘You’ve got it, and you don’t even know it.”

McCoy, who played for Alabama from 2006-09, developed his training philosophy from former Crimson Tide strength coaches Scott Cochran and Terry Jones while also receiving some influence from renowned speed coach Loren Seagrave. While McCoy has his athletes lift weights three times a week, the majority of his focus revolves around speed and agility work. As he likes to put it, he doesn’t train buffaloes, just cheetahs and pit bulls.

He sees Prentice as a combination of the two.

“He reminds me of my former teammate, Marquis Maze, with just a little more polish,” McCoy said. “He’s very instinctive. A lot of what we work on is just getting him to be more explosive. I told him, ‘Instead of making you an American muscle car, I’m gonna make you a foreign car. I’m fixing to change the motor and put a Ferrari or a Lambo kit under the hood.’”

Following a bit of fine-tuning, that new souped-up engine could be capable of reaching higher speeds. According to McCoy, Prentice ran his breakout 40-yard dash at Alabama last year before the two began working on his form. While the receiver hasn’t been timed in the event since then, McCoy is confident his protégé will be posting times in the 4.2-range by the end of his college career.

Prentice’s quickness might have sparked his fast start at Alabama, but his rise up the depth chart is the product of persistence. Since joining the team in late May, he’s pored over the Tide’s playbook, studying the route tree from every receiver position to ensure his spot on the field.

While noting Prentice still has room for improvement, Saban praised the freshman last week, crediting his work ethic and upbeat attitude for his early development. Quarterback Bryce Young seconded the head coach’s remarks, stating Prentice’s willingness to put in extra time outside of practice has allowed the two to establish better chemistry during camp.

"He's had great energy since the moment he stepped foot on campus,” Young said. “He's someone who wants to work with you after and always wants to be coached. He's worked hard, you know. He's been able to make some dynamic plays for us in practice and in the scrimmages.”

According to sources, Prentice recorded a handful of receptions in both of the team’s preseason scrimmages. Alabama will now look for him to carry over that production when it counts as he takes over the slot role for JoJo Earle, who will be sidelined until October with a broken foot.

“He’s definitely a guy who could go in the slot, put pressure in the middle of the field, or just step back on a screen and just run by people after that,” said Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney. “He’s a guy who just didn’t rely on his speed to really stand out. He’s also a playmaker with that speed.”

Added McCoy: “Once he gets the ball in space, if they don’t condense him right then and there, it’s going to be a long night for whoever is guarding him.”

Prentice is set to make his debut Saturday night when No. 1 Alabama opens its season against Utah State at 6:30 p.m. CT inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Much to McCoy’s delight, the freshman receiver will be wearing the same No. 80 he donned for the Crimson Tide.

“I’m not going to say he chose it because of me, but when I found that he’d be wearing it, it made my day,” McCoy said. “I talked to him and told him that 8-0 looks good on him. He’s bringing it back. It’s his time now.”

Fortunately for Alabama, Prentice isn’t in the habit of showing up late.