Why Did Alabama Sign Two Quarterbacks in 2026?

The Alabama Crimson Tide added two quarterbacks to its 2026 roster with the signings of four-star quarterback Jett Thomalla and three-star quarterback Tayden Kaawa. It's a strange sight to see any team sign two quarterbacks in one recruiting class, but the Crimson Tide added Thomalla and Kaawa. Why?

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"You just don't know what the future is," head coach Kalen DeBoer said on Wednesday during the Tide's signing day press conference. "You always want to have five; I always felt like if you recruit one every year, you lose one, you've still got four, and I think that's obviously tougher and tougher. We had a great situation a year ago; this year, we've got three on scholarship. And we found the right guys. Between Jett and Tayden, just love what they bring from arm talent, winning mentality, go-getters, it was important for us. They both knew that each other was coming; we were very transparent with that.

"I love that. I love that they're open to competition. competing with the other guys in our program that are really good already, and then both of them coming in as freshmen in the same class. You know, here at Alabama, you've gotta have guys that are gonna compete. You want them to be competitive, compete against the opponent, but they gotta compete here internally as well. I love that about them."

Both Kaawa and Thomalla led their high school teams to a state championship win in their final seasons of high school football.

Alabama signed 20 players on early signing day for the 2026 recruiting class.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.