Mission Viejo High School football coach Chad Johnson was never going to move Dijon Lee to safety.
He knows what traditionally happens with players like Lee, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound cornerback who has the "arms of a 7-footer." And he wasn't sure what Alabama football was projecting out of its 2025 five-star commit, admitting "they know more than me."
But Lee was always Johnson's top cornerback, the guy who was going to follow an offense's best receiver and do what he loves.
"I get to shut down one side of the field," Lee said. "That's really the best part for me. The best part is definitely stopping their best receiver from catching the ball and stopping their main source of offense."
Since committing to the Crimson Tide on June 28, and as the early signing period nears, that's been Alabama 's pitch to Lee as well: to be the defense's long, tall boundary cornerback in a position to make tackles and make plays.
Alabama wants the California prospect to be next in line of the great cornerbacks who have come before.
"The DBs that have come out of there are legendary, and I want to be a part of that," Lee said. "Be one of the next ones to come out."
To Johnson, a player like Lee makes sense in a cornerback room.
Facing a wide receiver room filled with players of all shapes and sizes, Lee can be the the player to match big X receivers.
"We don't want to get Randy Mossed," Johnson said. "DJ would be a guy you would put on Randy Moss."
But Lee couldn't approach coverage like a normal corner. Instead of inching back at the line of scrimmage like smaller cornerbacks do, Johnson called for Lee to stay square, use more of a pure step off the snap and "use your ... length" against his assignment.
It's not natural, Lee said. It's hard to get hands on short, shiftier receivers. But he knows how to beat them: slowing down the route and getting hands on the receiver makes it hard for opposing quarterbacks to throw in that receiver's direction.
As a senior at Mission Viejo, Lee had 54 tackles, and four interceptions – including one returned for a touchdown – and three pass deflections.
"He was like, 'Gosh, I have to inch out because I'm so scared the guy's going to run it by me because my feet maybe aren't as quick or … I can't flip my hips as fast,'" Johnson said. "I was like, 'No, no, you don't get it. You're 6-foot-4. Get your hands on the (guy) and he's done.'"
From Johnson's perspective, Lee's recruitment is pretty easy to explain.
Holding onto offers from programs like Colorado , Colorado State and San Diego State , Lee got an offer from Kalen DeBoer and Washington in February 2023 ahead of programs like Oregon , Auburn and Georgia.
"It was Washington," Johnson said. "And then that staff went to Alabama. And it really wasn't, you know, a lot more than that."
Washington "always kept pursuing" Lee. And the five-star cornerback said he developed a love for how DeBoer runs his program.
Once DeBoer and his staff moved to Tuscaloosa, Lee said the call from the Crimson Tide came a day or two later, one that came with an offer to play at Alabama.
"I think football is football no matter what conference you're in," Lee said. "But the SEC is definitely a more (prestigious) conference, so I was really excited to find out they were going there, and I was real happy that they kept recruiting me and they wanted me even whenever they left Washington to Alabama."
After a June official visit, Lee committed to the Crimson Tide . He will enroll at Alabama in January, joining a class with six other California players: four-star offensive tackle Jackson Lloyd, four-star cornerback Chuck McDonald , four-star tight end Kaleb Edwards , four-star linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr. , four-star defensive end Kevonte Henry and three-star kicker Alex Asparuhov .
Lee said he grew up with Sanders and played with McDonald in the eighth grade. And since his commitment, Lee said he's been on the phone with each recruit and developed a relationship with five-star quarterback Keelon Russell.
It's a class that is on the same page, Lee said. He said every member of the class loves the environment around Alabama football and that they love what DeBoer has done in his career.
And now, as the early signing period approaches, every member of the class, Lee said, wants to get to work.
"We all fired up and ready for it," Lee 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: What Kalen DeBoer, Alabama football are getting in 6-4 CB commit Dijon Lee
