Mercer Transfer DB Carmelo O’Neal Making Strides After Impressing Tide’s Staff When he Arrived

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Mercer transfer defensive back Carmelo O'Neal jumps off the page with his length and athleticism. He has a rare frame for a defensive back, standing at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack told reporters on Friday that when he arrived in Tuscaloosa, O'Neal was ahead of where Alabama expected him to be, coming from a lesser program.

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"Yeah, Melo, he's a guy that I remember when we were watching, we were preparing to play Auburn and Mercer had played them maybe one or two games before us. I'm watching this long DB, I'm like, man, this guy is impressive," Wommack said. "All of a sudden he shows up in the portal, and we went after him quickly. It's hard to have - there's not many guys who have that kind of length and athleticism. I knew there was a skill set to work with. He was athletically further ahead. It was better than what I had anticipated, even what he anticipated when we got here. He came out here in the fourth quarter program and was running drills, and you realize there's a lot to work with here."

Despite coming in ahead of schedule, the junior originally from Atlanta, Georgia, hasn't taken a mental lapse as he begins his first fall camp with the Crimson Tide.

"And then Mo Linguist from the fundamental standpoint, development standpoint is as good as it gets, so Melo has just - he's dove in. He's got a professional mindset. He works at it every day. He's very coachable. He's just made huge strides in the last eight months."

Check out Kane Wommack's full press conference here:

Alabama will return to the practice field on Monday, August 10. The Tide will open the season on Saturday, September 5, against East Carolina.

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_.