Coming out of high school, LT Overton was "50/50" between picking Alabama football and Texas A&M .
The five-star prospect out of Milton High School in Georgia ultimately picked the Aggies , spending the last two seasons in College Station. After the 2023 season, though, Overton entered the transfer portal and became the first player to join coach coach Nick Saban the Crimson Tide from the transfer portal. A month later, when Kalen DeBoer was named coach and his staff was being finalized, Overton stuck with his commitment.
His decision to transfer to Alabama , Overton said, was simple.
"Really (coach Freddie) Roach," Overton said following Tuesday's practice. "I feel like buy into a place, I've built it off of family, and Roach bringing me down here I felt the biggest connection with him and my teammates now.
"(Whenever coach DeBoer came) he main thing my coach told me to really be apart of was to trust the process. We knew they were going to bring somebody in that was going to be able to hold down what Saban had left in the past. As long as they kept Roach I knew I was going to be fine."
Overton's father, Milton Overton, also used to work within the Alabama athletic department, further helping Overton's transition to the Capstone.
"Everybody knew who I was as soon as I transferred here," Overton said. "They knew it just off my dad because of how much I was here back in the past. I flew to all the games, all of Nick Saban's games, even his first game, I was on the plane with him."
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Under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack's 4-2-5 "swarm" defense, Overton will be playing the bandit position, which is basically a defensive end but is more of a hybrid defensive lineman/edge rusher. Overton called the position more natural for him, going onto add he did not feel he was used to his best abilities at Texas A&M. With the Aggies, Overton saw time at defensive end, playing in 23 games and tallying 48 total tackles, three for a loss, and one sack.
"I love (the bandit role)," Overton said. "I feel like it gives me more of an opportunity to free rush, play my type of game that I like playing and just really being explosive on the ball.
"I feel like my rushing game is like 10x better when I came here. Now that I am more man-down, hand-down, I have that ability to be able to rush that passer instead of having to do 50/50 drops every now and then."
Two years ago when he arrived in College Station, Overton said he weighed in at about 280-pounds, eventually dropping down to around 245 and 250. On Tuesday, he weighed in at 284-pounds.
"The bandit position, you're going to have to be a little huskier because you're going to move from a five to a nine to even a three or a two-eye, so you got to be able to play every position," Overton said. "I don't think being 245 would be the best to try to play a three or two."
Wommack praised the work he has seen from Overton, who missed the first few practices of fall camp, along with Jah-Marien Latham, adding that the two are "ideal" to play the bandit role and that he's been impressed with their athleticism.
"LT has a great skillset and you can tell he's honed in his pass rush ability," Wommack said on Tuesday. 'He's got really good complimentary answers to his fastball. He's a great speed to power rusher. He's done it probably a million times over his life, he can feel whether the offensive line is on his top hip or bottom hip and know how to counter back inside and outside. He's a really great on-body pressure."
Alabama held its 11th practice of fall camp on Tuesday morning. The Crimson Tide continue practice on Wednesday, preparing for its season-opener game against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football: LT Overton on his decision to transfer, fit in defense
