Alabama-Texas more than just ‘the next game’ for Jase McClellan's family

Jase McClellan says this weekend’s matchup against Texas is just another game. As far as the Alabama running back is concerned, that’s mostly true.

McClellan, an Aledo, Texas native, grew up rooting for the Longhorns. His cousin, Jonathan Gray, played running back for Texas from 2012-15, and he has several other friends and family members who pull for the ’Horns. There will be texts, trash talk and ticket requests, but very little will fall on McClellan’s shoulders as he prepares for the game.

His mother, Mia, on the other hand, has her hands full.

Mia McClellan spent the week searching for two additional tickets for Saturday’s game. Like usual, she’ll be headed to Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch her son along with his older brother and godparents. This week, Jase’s cousin and trainer wanted to take in the marquee matchup as well. A modest total of six tickets was nothing for Mia, who managed to find seats for 21 friends and family members for last year’s game against Texas in Austin.

Every Alabama player is allotted four tickets per game. Trades are popular between families in situations where extra seats are needed. However, Mia attends all of Jase’s games, home and away, leaving her without much to send in return. In situations such as last year’s trip to Texas, she relies on a Facebook group of players’ families to donate her their extra tickets.

Scrounging up enough passes isn’t easy, so if friends and family members want to make it through the gate, they need to follow Mia’s rules.

First off, casual fans shouldn’t even bother.

“I can be somewhat of a turd sometimes,” Mia said with a laugh. “If it’s only the Texas games that you’re asking tickets for, I won’t give you one. I hate to be that way, but that’s the way it goes.”

Next, you better come dressed for the occasion. After compiling all 21 tickets for last year’s game against Texas, Mia sent out a group text with a few instructions: Show up to the team hotel to pick up your ticket, and come wearing crimson and white.

That wasn’t a problem for most of the McClellan clan, but things got fishy when one of Jase’s cousins from Houston texted Mia asking if he could just meet her at the gate for the tickets.

A bit skeptical, Mia insisted they stop by the hotel on their ride into Austin. Sure enough, he and his wife walked up wearing burnt orange still looking for the ticket.

Mia sent them away empty-handed.

“I was like, ‘Did you not read the text?’” Mia said. “He was like, ‘“Yeah, but were you serious?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, and I can tell you, if you don’t have anything else in your car to wear, you’re not getting this ticket. I won’t even tell you where the gate is.”

Fortunately for the cousin, he and his wife were able to round up a pair of white T-shirts by the time the met up with Mia again at the game. While it wasn’t Alabama gear, it was close enough to the required dress code to get them in the door.

On top of blotting out all of the burnt orange she can in the family tree, Mia is also in charge of dealing out the trash talk in place of her son. Despite his starting role in Alabama’s backfield, Jase is one of the Tide’s most softspoken players. You’ll be hard-pressed to find him running his mouth during any game week, much less one of this magnitude.

Meanwhile, Mia has been rolling out of bed ready to exchange friendly barbs with her friends and relatives. Thursday alone, she woke up to a trash-talking text from her cousins before joining a social media space titled “Texas fans think they sh** don’t stank.”

“I get all the trash-talking,” Mia said with a laugh. “My cousins have called, and they said, ‘Are you ready to take this L Saturday?’ I’m like, 'The only L I will be having on Saturday is lemonade because that’s what I’ll be drinking all day.’”

Aledo, a roughly 5,000-population city 20 miles west of Fort Worth, is home to several alumni from TCU, Texas and Oklahoma. None of the above were thrilled with Jase’s decision to head east to and roll with the Tide in December of 2019.

“My family was Texas fans,” Jase said this week. “You know, that’s somewhere they wanted me to go coming out of high school, but I didn’t see myself going there.”

Mia claims Jase is going to kill her for revealing this, but he too pulled for the Longhorns when he was younger. He had an Earl Campbell Texas jersey growing up and later donned the burnt orange No. 32 of his cousin, Jonathan Gray.

Still, when it came to choosing schools, Jase spurned Texas on multiple occasions. The first time came when he committed to rival Oklahoma in July of 2017. That actually wasn’t met with as much backlash.

Norman, Oklahoma, is just a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Aledo, and Mia has four cousins on her dad’s side of the family who played for the Sooners. Jase also had several friends at Oklahoma and appeared to be a perfect fit for the team’s future plans at running back.

The surprise came a little more than two years later when the four-star talent flipped to Alabama on Early Signing Day before immediately signing with the Tide. While the move shocked and angered Sooners fans at the time, it didn’t surprise Mia one bit.

Mia still remembers traveling to Tuscaloosa with Jase during his official visit on Nov. 8, 2019. While the two took in Alabama’s 46-41 loss to LSU the next day, it was already obvious that the Tide had begun winning over his heart by then.

“I’ll be honest, I came to Alabama hoping he’d hate Alabama,” Mia said. “I didn’t want him that far away. But as soon as we got there, it reminded us of home. It was just really welcoming, and it had that family feel.

“I remember, we both sat in the car in front of the facility, and we just kind of looked at each other. You could just see in his face that he felt he belonged there.”

Mia cheered somewhat obliviously during the biggest run of her son’s career. Seated high in the upper deck of Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium during last year’s game against the Longhorns, she watched as Alabama took the field from its own 19-yard line on its second possession.

From there, Jase took a shotgun handoff from Bryce Young and broke through a hole in the right side of Alabama's offensive line before beating defenders down the sideline for an 81-yard touchdown. The play sent Mia and her section into pandemonium as she was met with high-fives and hugs from all angles.

The only problem was, she didn’t know she was cheering for her son.

“People are probably going to think I’m crazy, but I really didn’t know it was Jase. That’s how high they sat us,” Mia said. “I actually thought it was Jahmyr [Gibbs]. I’m cheering, and my family is high-fiving me, but I just thought it was a normal high-five. Then I hear, ‘Touchdown Jase McClellan.’ I actually had to rewatch the replay on the video board to really appreciate it.”

Once she did, the emotions began to kick in.

“I went crazy just because there was so many people that doubted him after he had his ACL injury the year before,” Mia said. “At that time people were still saying that Alabama would work him in, but that he would probably drop down the depth chart. To see him get that touchdown and get the offense going in front of his friends and family after all he went through, I know that was a big moment for him.”

After waiting behind a trio of NFL backs earlier in his career, Jase has taken on the leading role in Alabama’s backfield this fall. During last week’s season opener, he started his senior campaign on a high note, rushing for 39 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries during the Crimson Tide’s 56-7 victory over Middle Tennessee.

Should he provide any more highlights this weekend, Mia will be well-positioned to see them as she leads her six-person cheering section into Bryant-Denny Stadium for Saturday’s 6 p.m. CT kickoff against the Longhorns.

“I can’t wait,” Mia said. “It’s always great to see him play, but this one is going to be a little more special.”