Jase McClellan says his family cheers for Texas, he ‘wasn’t feeling it’ during recruitment

There is plenty of crossover between Alabama and Texas heading into Saturday’s matchup. Not only with the coaching staff but players as well. Nick Saban has not been afraid to recruit the state of Texas, while Steve Sarkisian has dipped into the Yellowhammer State. One victory Saban had over the former staff in Austin was running back Jase McClellan, a prospect out of Aledo High School.

During his recruitment, McClellan was a long-time Oklahoma commit, pledging to play under then-head coach Lincoln Riley. He was a late switch to Alabama and was a part of a large group of players from the state of Texas to play in Tuscaloosa.

McClellan’s family though — they wanted him to wind up at Texas. There was even a tie to the football program but the Longhorns were never able to close McClellan out. Although, he never really seemed too interested in wearing burnt orange.

“My family was Texas fans,” McClellan said. “It’s somewhere they wanted me to go coming out of high school. But I didn’t see myself going there. My cousin actually played for them, he tried to get me to go there but I wasn’t feeling it.”

Tom Herman was the head coach at Texas during McClellan’s recruitment, someone who was notorious for whiffing on big-time in-state recruitments. As for the running backs coach, Stan Drayton was there leading the forefront. McClellan could have gone to any school in the country and was keen on going out of state.

Missing on McClellan might hurt but Bijan Robinson did sign out of the 2020 recruiting cycle. But imagining a two-running back class of Robinson and McClellan is a scary thought. Robinson is in the NFL now but maybe the Aledo product is wearing burnt orange come Saturday.

As for is the game will mean anything different for the running back, the answer is no. While McClellan might have a ton of family involved with the Texas program, he is just treating it like a normal week.

“Not really,” McClellan said. “Just the next game. I’m from Texas so a lot of Texas people feel a little way about it. So, I got a lot of family watching.”

McClellan made a statement last year in Austin, ripping off an 81-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. It wound up being just one of two touchdowns Alabama scored on the afternoon.

He will have the opportunity to have a similar moment at Bryant-Denny Stadium but will have over 100,000 people on his side this time.