Will Dylan Lonergan play baseball this spring? Rob Vaughn weighs in
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Will Alabama quarterback Dylan Lonergan split his spring between the football and baseball fields? Coach Rob Vaughn addressed that on the first day of practice.
“There’s been conversations with Dylan over the last year or so,” Vaughn said on Friday. “Obviously, I think the stuff across the street has been a lot of changes over the last few weeks, right, and it’s been very well-documented what those changes are.
“Dylan right now, I think, is going to focus on what he’s got going on in football. He’s extremely talented. (Jason Jackson) has seen him pitch and loves him. What that means for him moving forward long-term, that’s going to be up to Dylan a lot and kind of see where that shakes out. Surely, we would love to have him be a part of what we’re doing, no doubt. I think he’s a talented kid.
“But I think as of right now, he’s going to kind of focus on what’s in front of him, and I think that’s a testament to who he is and what he’s really earned over the last six or seven months over at that football field across the street. Time will tell kind of how that shakes out, but as of right now, he’s not going to be around a ton right now.
“Longterm, we’ll kind of see how that plays out. I’d welcome that kid over here anytime he wants. He’s a competitor. He’s cold-blooded. If you can do it over in Bryant-Denny, you can do it at The Joe. We’ll see kind of how that plays out in the long term.”
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A 4-star football recruit out of Snellville, Ga., Lonergan was also a big-time baseball prospect, who touched 90 miles per hour as a freshman. A right-handed pitcher, Lonergan was the No. 9 RHP, and No. 23 player in Georgia, according to Prep Baseball Report. He was the 55th overall right-handed pitcher and among the top 175 prospects in 2022.
Lonergan did not participate in baseball as an early enrollee last spring due to a turf toe injury, and as a true freshman in the fall, he rose to the No. 3 quarterback role behind Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson as the 2023 campaign progressed. Lonergan appeared in one game this past year, playing against Chattanooga, and completed both of his attempts for 12 yards.
Lonergan is one of four scholarship quarterbacks currently on the Alabama football roster under new head Kalen DeBoer, joining Milroe, Simpson and Washington transfer Austin Mack. But he showed progress in his first season to climb the signal-caller pecking order.
“Dylan has been up with us throughout the season,” said now-former offensive coordinator Tommy Rees before the Rose Bowl. “He did a really nice job through the offseason and through camp, and we just felt like his ability to develop and have him up, have three guys repping was important, especially that kind of post-South Florida, working him in the mix.”
Alabama baseball opens the season Friday, Feb. 16, with a series against Manhattan College.
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