Tim is Keen On Extra PT Heading into Iron Bowl

For the vast majority of his first two seasons at Alabama, noseguard Tim Keenan of Birmingham sat the bench. That's changed in 2023, when Keenan finds himself the starting "man in the middle" as the Crimson Tide's nose tackle.

So what changed? Keenan did.

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Just my commitment,” said Keenan at a Tuesday media availability at the Mal Moore Building. “First, I want to give glory to God because that’s the reason I’m here. I was committed to Him, I dedicated my outside life to Him, and football just kind of fell into place.”

Funny how that works. Many of us would concur.

“It’s definitely been a blessing just to come in and have that type of impact,” Keenan added. “I really just try to show my teammates do as I do, not do as I say. So I don’t want to tell you anything that I wouldn’t do, so I try to be an example and just try to branch off of that.”

We've heard for a year about defensive lineman Jaheim Oatis' three-digit weight loss. Turns out, he's not the only Alabama starter up front in Club Diet.

“Just really stop being a baby,” said Keenan in describing his own weight loss of around 30 pounds. “No food tastes good but sometimes, you can’t be eating past really like nine o’clock. So I just had commitment to myself and I wanted to prove to myself that I can overcome something and I can be someone that a lot of people see what I can be.”

Sage advice. And his teammates have taken notice.

Edge rusher Chris Braswell has had a bird's eye view of Keenan's improvement. He said, “Tim Keenan has been great this year. He’s grown a lot. He knows the plays. He’s physical. He’s a great leader and everybody wants to play around a guy like that.”

Keenan and No. 8 Alabama will travel to Auburn for a 2:30 Saturday kick you can her on Tide 100.9, 95.3 The Bear and AM 1230 WTBC.