After months of speculation, Alabama has officially lost a veteran linebacking and special teams presence. Probably.
Early last month, Nick Saban indicated it was unlikely that Keith Holcombe would return to the Alabama football team for a fourth season after playing three seasons for the Crimson Tide baseball team. In providing the latest update to the linebacker’s status moving forward, the head coach confirmed Wednesday that Holcombe had decided to forego playing football in order to focus solely on a career in baseball, although he did seem to leave the door at least slightly ajar for a future return to the gridiron.
“I think he would add a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge and diversity to our defense because he’s very smart if he decided to come back,” Saban said by way of al.com. “But that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.”
After redshirting as a true freshman in 2014, Holcombe played in 44 football games for the Tide the past three seasons. In addition to a team-high 11 special teams tackles during their run to the national championship, he was also credited with three pass breakups and two tackles for loss on defense in 2017.
On the baseball side, Holcombe started 87 of the 97 games he played, including 45 of 47 this past season as an outfielder. He was third on the team in hits with 51.
While he wasn’t drafted this past June, he was taken in the 37th round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Instead of signing with that baseball organization, he headed to Tuscaloosa on a football scholarship.