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The Tuscaloosa News
Why this 2026 Illinois tight end is strongly considering Alabama football
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Why this 2026 Illinois tight end is strongly considering Alabama football
Mack Sutter remembers exactly where he was when Alabama football first introduced itself.
The 2026 tight end was on a family vacation in Florida after his sophomore season at Dunlap High School outside of Peoria, Illinois. Sutter already held offers from programs like Nebraska, Illinois, Arkansas, Penn State and Missouri. But when Crimson Tide tight ends coach Bryan Ellis first reached out, everything felt different.
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" Alabama is Alabama ," Sutter told the Tuscaloosa News. "So I was shocked when I got offered by them. It felt crazy … It almost felt like I was talking to the president when I talked to them."
The awe of Alabama has worn off for Sutter. Now he views the Crimson Tide as like "family," as his "friends" down South. And Alabama sees Sutter as its top tight end target in the 2026 class: that perfect in-between of a player who could beat a linebacker, a safety or a corner in the passing game on one play, and block the C gap on the next.
Or in Sutter's words, "just an all-over guy."
"Like the best overall tight end you can think of, that's what I want to be," Sutter said.
Dunlap's Mack Sutter comes off the field after an Eagles touchdown against Washington late in the second half of their Week 7 high school football game Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 at Babcook Field in Washington. The Panthers defeated the Eagles 31-10.
Sutter knows what he wants to be. He just doesn't know where, securing official visits to Alabama , Ole Miss, Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State. And while Sutter had no set commitment date, he plans to make a college decision in late June.
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Sutter may not know yet where he will play college football. But his checklist is clear: the program's culture and footprint, and its tight end usage.
"They are all going to tell me the best things about their program," Sutter said. "But really what I kind of research on my own and see what they are telling me and what they aren't telling me is kind of where I will see their true colors."
But Sutter is not alone in this decision. It's a decision that's been expected ever since Sutter picked up a football.
Why Mack Sutter 'looks the part' as top 2026 tight end
Ed Sutter didn't think his son needed to play tackle football until sixth grade. Mack Sutter was a "big kid," Ed said, but not fully developed, just like all other kids his son's age. For Ed, it came down to concussion concerns, an unnecessary risk for someone who could develop at that age with a number of other sports instead of football.
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Ed would know. He didn't play tackle football until sixth grade and developed into a lightly-recruited linebacker who turned a collegiate career at Northwestern into NFL stops with the Cleveland Browns , Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons .
While he didn't play tackle until eighth grade, Mack Sutter was always on a football path. It was in his blood, stemming from his father and his three cousins — PJ, Nick and Charlie Mangieri — who each had Big Ten programs on their football resumes. Mack grew up learning of the "grind" of college football and its payoff of playing on Saturday nights "with everyone watching."
But Ed realized Mack's path would soon be different than his cousins, than his.
"A lot of it is just pure athletic ability," Ed Sutter said. "In Mack's case, he has more than that."
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Initially starting as a 6-foot-1, eighth-grade center who was over the weight threshold to carry the ball in his middle school league, Sutter first played quarterback at Dunlap High School, joining varsity as a sophomore and rotating series while also playing receiver and on defense. As a junior, Sutter permanently moved to tight end where he had 35 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns.
As a former quarterback who could "do it all," Sutter developed into a friendly target for any quarterback he played with, understanding the whole picture of the offense and his place in it as a tight end, one who filled out into a strong 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame.
"He looks the part now," Ed Sutter said.
Where Alabama football stands for Mack Sutter
Brett Cazalet had never dealt with an Alabama football coach before Mack Sutter. The Dunlap High School football coach had never seen or heard from the Crimson Tide, nor should he have, he said.
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"Being in central Illinois, Alabama doesn't come around here very often," Cazalet said.
But Sutter was different, listed as the No. 86 player in the country in the 2026 class per 247Sports' composite rankings, and the No. 6 tight end nationally.
Alabama was always "pretty much the standard," Ed Sutter said, dating back from his playing days at Northwestern. And that standard was made clear to Mack in his multiple visits to Tuscaloosa for the Georgia and Auburn games, in his conversations with players like tight ends CJ Dippre and Marshall Pritchett .
"They are all talking about national championships," Mack Sutter said. "They are all there to win national championships and that's the goal every day."
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Sutter is already close with Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, calling him "a Midwestern guy just like me" who reminds Sutter of his father. But ahead of his official visit in Tuscaloosa, Sutter still has questions to answer, whether it's through spending time with potential teammates and "getting a feel" for the Crimson Tide, or watching film and breaking down what a tight end in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's offense looks like.
Ed Sutter knows the decision is up to Mack. He's not going to sway him one way or the other. And for a 17-year-old, this decision is a big one. It's a blessing. But it's overwhelming.
To Ed Sutter, it's also a decision that will come down, simply, to his son's level of comfort, where he feels the best.
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"If you're not comfortable with where you are at, there's no need to go to school at a particular place, no matter how good they are," Ed Sutter said. "If you are going to be there, hopefully for four years. You want to make a commitment and be there. You don't want to be bouncing around, in my opinion, unless something goes south. I think for him, it's just going to be, it's going to have to do with the people."
Mack Sutter and his family have been around the country, trying to find a collegiate home. And to Ed, one thing is for certain no matter where his son ends up.
"Alabama is a great place," Ed Sutter said.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: 2026 Illinois tight end is strongly considering Alabama football
