Kool-Aid McKinstry shares young Alabama players standing out in defensive backfield

Seemingly every season year after year Alabama‘s secondary seems to be one of the strengths of their team, and 2023 should be no different.

Big names in the secondary last year like Brian Branch, Jordan Battle, and DeMarcco Hellams have all moved on to the NFL, but the Crimson Tide defensive backfield is still loaded with young talent and depth at various positions. The tip of the spear in the secondary is All-American cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, and at SEC Media Days, he revealed who’s been standing out lately in the defensive backfield.

“We have a lot of young players this year, young secondary. I feel like Caleb Downs has stand out, Dezz Ricks, Jahlil Hurley,” McKinstry said. “Even the newcomers that we have, the transfers, are standing out, learning the defense, looking good for the coaches.”

Downs, Ricks, and Hurley are three members of Alabama’s impressive 2023 recruiting class that ranked No. 1 in the country according to On3’s Industry Ranking. As recruits, the trio combines for 14 stars, and have clearly made a good early impression on the team in their short amount of time in Tuscaloosa thus far.

Making a good impression on a coach with the presence of Nick Saban probably isn’t the easiest task in the world, especially as a young player at a position that Saban has notoriously coveted and given extra attention to over the years at defensive back.

But McKinstry understands the tall task and is doing his best to guide and mentor Alabama’s young DBs and prepare them for life with Saban.

“Well, of course, when I first came in, I was a little shaky about being around Coach Saban,” McKinstry admitted. “I’m pretty sure those guys have the same mindset about that. I just tell them, like, Coach Saban is a guy that you have to be able to trust. If he don’t trust you, it’s going to be hard for you.”

If anyone knows how to get on Saban’s good side it’s McKinstry, who earned himself significant playing time as a freshman in 2021 earning Freshman All-SEC Team honors. He’s only continued to build on that solid foundation he started as a freshman and is now looking to make sure Alabama’s newest defensive backs are also starting off on the right foot as well.

“Just go out there, showing Coach you know what you’re doing, looking like you know what you’re doing even if you don’t know what you’re doing, just playing hard at all times, flying around. That’s what I tell the guys,” McKinstry said.