Keon Keeley discusses move to Bandit, game-ending sack at South Carolina

Keon Keeley changed positions before the 2024 season, moving from outside linebacker to the Bandit spot along Alabama’s defensive line. He played in five games a year ago after the move and has seen his role increase this season, appearing in six games for the Crimson Tide.

For the first time, Keeley discussed his position switch with the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

“I like to look at it as just being a defensive lineman,” Keeley told Crimson Drive host Roger Hoover. “That’s a big thing in our defensive line room is being able to be versatile. That increases your value to the team if you can do multiple things. I came in as an outside linebacker, happened to be switched to Bandit, just due to simply like things that happen with football — frame, size, all that stuff, but also strengths.

“I see a lot of my strengths can help in the defensive line room, and they saw that, as well.”

Keeley has played defensive snaps in each of Alabama’s last four SEC games. The former 5-star recruit has recorded 1.5 sacks this season while only playing 38 combined snaps in the Tide’s conference matchups. Although he mostly lines up on the edge and checks into games on passing downs, Keeley knows he can’t be just a one-dimensional player.

“Being able to be a defensive lineman isn’t just about being a Bandit or about pass rushing,” Keeley said. “It’s about being everywhere on the D-line, because they all go hand in hand. I got to set the edge on the end. Well, when I’m playing the 4-i, I still need to play double teams just like the 3-tech does, just like the nose does. So in those indie drills, I need to learn how to play double teams just like Tim Keenan needs to know how to play double teams.

“They’re not going to change the expectation of a double team just because, more times than not, I’m on the edge. They want my double teams to look the same as Tim Keenan‘s double teams. And obviously, Tim Keenan is probably the hardest dude to move in all of college football. A lot of those things are, in the D-line room, they go hand in hand with every single aspect of being a defensive lineman.”

Keeley was the nation’s No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2023, per the Rivals Industry Rankings, behind only quarterback Arch Manning. His recruiting profile lists him at 245 pounds, but he is now up to 277, according to his Alabama bio. Keeley has transformed his body in three years and a position change. He discussed his physical differences on Tuesday.

“I’d say a lot of it came naturally just from, you go from high school to college, get on a different meal plan, a lot more working out, a lot more … expectations on your body,” Keeley said. “And a lot of being able to understand, ‘Hey, I got to eat, I got to do this, I got to  do that.’ But a lot of that came natural, just simply by growing, getting older, but also being in a program that expects nothing but greatness.”

Keeley is typically the third Bandit to see the field after LT Overton, a senior starter, and Jordan Renaud. He registered his first career sack at Missouri on October 11, though it was ruled a half sack, and tallied his second at South Carolina before Alabama’s second and final bye.

The sack of Gamecocks’ quarterback LaNorris Sellers sealed the 29-22 win for the Tide.

“Just being on the sideline, being ready to go out there, execute, do my job,” Keeley said. “I remember lining up on the ball, looking, the ball snapped, I went, happened to do a power rush, and I have such great players around me, Yhonzae (Pierre) and LT. Yhonzae did a great job forcing the quarterback to bounce out and basically just happened to finish on the play. So it felt great.”

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