TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — At Alabama, it’s rare for a freshman to grab the media spotlight in fall camp.
However, in the midst of multiple position battles and the team displaying the “participation trophy” it received at the national championships in the cafeteria; Jahiem Oatis losing 74 pounds prior to the start of preseason practice, caught the attention of his teammates and coaches.
“I’m very excited about Jaheim,” Will Anderson said. “He’s great. He comes to work every day, and he’s a hard worker. A lot of big guys would complain about being that big and having to lose that type of weight. But he came here, head down, worked hard, lost the weight. He’s moving good. For a guy that size to move like that, it’s crazy.”
The freshman defensive lineman shared he’d lost the weight in July trimming down from 416 pounds to 342.
Defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who originally recruited him from Columbia (Miss.) High School has watched him mature from the No. 97 recruit on the Rivals250 to a potential contributor with the Crimson Tide.
“Obviously we could see on his tape out of his high school career that he could be really special. You could see a lot of plays where he took a play off and that can get you beat,” Golding said. “Looking back, he’s always been a great kid. When he expected to come to Alabama he knew what it was going to take, he knew it was going to be hard. He could have gone to a lot of places where he wouldn’t be asked to do what he would be asked to do here.
“He knew the weight was the biggest thing we had to focus on, and that ended up being one of the biggest [reasons for his] decision to come here was the nutrition with Miss Amy (Bragg), the strength and conditioning, to develop him and get him down to where he needed to be to play good, winning football. And he’s been an unbelievable guy with that, so I’m excited about him.”
Oatis is one of three true freshman defensive linemen on the team coming in with Isiah Hasting and Khurtis Perry. Perry and Oatis were both early enrollees, and the Columbia, Mississippi native made an impact at A-Day, recording two tackles and a sack.
Oatis currently sits behind four returning defensive line starters in D.J. Dale, Justin Eboigbe, Byron Young and Tim Smith. While it seems to be a crowded defensive line room, Golding did not rule out that fans would not see Oatis in action this season.
“I think Jahiem has got a lot more wiggle than you guys think he’s got,” Golding said. “So he’s a guy internally that if you leave one guy on him, good luck. But we’ll package that. … We have a lot of guys who would normally be five-techniques in a 4-2 system that when you get to third down, you bump them inside to the three-techniques and get those guys one-on-one. I think it doesn’t matter.”
The weight loss has not affected his game at all according to Anderson, who warned against opposing offenses leaving him with a one-on-one matchup.
“Sometimes, I get distracted watching film, watching him take on blocks. It’s like a steel wall like he’s not moving. He gets those one-on-ones and he’s in the backfield like this fast. It’s great watching him.”
