Keon Sabb credits his father for transfer to Alabama

An agent didn’t have the final word on Keon Sabb‘s decision to transfer from Michigan to Alabama this summer. A coach didn’t, either. During an appearance on The New Wave Podcast, the redshirt sophomore defensive back revealed who played the most significant role in his decision to join the Crimson Tide.

“It was really my dad,” Sabb said. “He was like my biggest support in that situation. He’s always told me right from wrong. I’ve always listened to him, and it’s got me this far — so, same situation here… My dad and my brothers got to come up to Alabama before I got to visit and see everything.

“I got to see it from them as well. Just having that trust with Alabama, knowing the lineage of this school. Just treasuring the process, really trusting Coach [Kalen] DeBoer and everything like that. So, it was a smart move. I’m glad I made it for sure.”

Crimson Tide fans are glad he chose Alabama too. Sabb boasts 16 tackles this season, the fifth-most on the team, and a team-high two interceptions. He’s also broken up three passes.

For his performance in Alabama’s season-opening 63-0 win over Western Kentucky, Sabb was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week and the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week. He turned heads again when he tallied five tackles against No. 1 Georgia.

Anybody who followed Alabama closely during the offseason hasn’t been surprised by Sabb’s success in the 2024 campaign. In August, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack raved about the transfer’s ability.

“Keon is a very special talent,” Wommack said. “He had some tremendous production at Michigan. Won a national championship there. We’re very fortunate to have that production and experience because experience is finite.

“For us, I think he has done a really good job of leaning into our scheme and what we do. I thought day one, week one, he did a really great job of going the extra mile to get the verbiage and the terminology down so that he could go execute and play at a high level. Now, you see him starting to lead on the back end.”

Now officially in conference play, Alabama will need Keon Sabb to continue to perform. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will square off against Vanderbilt at 4:15 p.m. ET. The game will air live on the SEC Network.