Growing up less than two hours from Athens, Will Anderson couldn’t deny he grew up a Georgia fan.
Dutchtown High School is an easy drive from the scenic campus to the east, trip this former recruit would become routine. A 2018 interview with Rivals couldn’t have been any clearer.
“UGA is my dream,” Anderson told Rivals the summer before his high school junior season. “I grew up a fan. That’s the offer I want most.”
It doesn’t appear as if that ever came.
Neither Anderson’s Rivals, nor his 247Sports recruiting profile listed an offer from Kirby Smart’s program before eventually signing with Alabama and becoming one of the most dominant college football players in the nation.
“I got recruited by them a little bit,” Anderson said Monday. “I didn’t get too much attention from them, but it all worked out well. I’m here at Alabama, and I love it here. It’s been great so far.”
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Georgia signed one outside linebacker in that 2020 class. MJ Sherman was the No. 33 overall player in the 247Sports composite and the No. 2 outside linebacker. The Washington DC product has eight tackles in his two Georgia seasons as a reserve on a defense that’s among college football’s best in the past decade.
Alabama had a more immediate need in 2020 for outside linebackers with 2019 starters Anfernee Jennings and Terrell Lewis moving on to the NFL. Anderson went from the No. 390 overall prospect before his junior season in the 247Sports composite to the No. 17 player in the final rankings. Early in his recruitment in that 2018 Rivals story, he listed Vanderbilt, Missouri, Purdue and Georgia as his favorites before evolving into the pass-rushing phenom.
“Oh, we loved Will Anderson in high school,” Nick Saban said Monday. “He had great size. You could see the initial quickness, explosive power. We didn’t know for sure if he’d end up being a stand-up player or end up playing down. He kind of does both for us now and does both very well. He’s certainly been everything that we thought he would be, and I think that’s because of the kind of person he is, the kind of competitive character he has, the leadership qualities that he has. The guy’s always trying to get better.”
The national leader in sacks and tackles for loss who is getting Heisman Trophy buzz will instead see Georgia on Saturday for the second time as an opponent. Anderson is an offensive tackle’s nightmare off the edge with his 13.5 sacks entering Saturday.
Smart was not asked specifically about the recruitment of Anderson on a Sunday teleconference but he made a comparison between the Tide junior and a linebacker he coached two years as Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
“When I see him play, it reminds me of Rashaan Evans at times before Rashaan moved to inside backer,” Smart said. “He’s so explosive, twitchy, and tough. So he strikes people and really strikes blocks really well. It will be a key part of the game in terms of the way he plays and affects the game. He does a really good job.”
Looking back now on his recruitment, Anderson said he found the mindset that fit his.
“In high school, I told myself I wanted to be surrounded by people who have the same mentality as me, same expectation, same standard,” Anderson said. “When you come to a place like Alabama, everyone in the locker room has the same expectation for themselves, the same mentality, and the competitiveness here.
To be at Alabama, you have to be a very good competitor and you have to be able to compete every day even when you don’t feel like competing. So it’s a different type of mindset when you come here to Alabama.”
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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