The University of Alabama has a wide receiver that is bringing the “Rydeouts” culture back to the position room.
Former standouts for the Crimson Tide such as Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie, and Jameson Williams took their roles seriously as receivers.
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Each of them made plays for the quarterback, but they were very unselfish about helping teammates. JaMarcus Shephard, Alabama’s assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and wide receivers coach, sees the same fire in Kendrick Law.
The Louisiana native came to the Tide as a four-star athlete in the 2022 recruiting class. Law carries a running back’s build, but he possesses great speed, hands, body discipline, routes, and toughness as a receiver. Nick Saban called him a ‘dawg’ several times during his coaching tenure at Alabama, displaying his appreciation for Law’s work ethic. The Tide lost Jermaine Burton to the NFL Draft and a few receivers transferred to different schools, but Law returns as the leader in the room. Shephard said to reporters on Friday that he wants to be like Law. He praised his effort, energy, playmaking skill set, and overall leadership.
“I really want to look like him when I grow up,” Shephard said about Law. “He physically is imposing as a receiver. He has easy speed, can go from 0 to 100 very rapidly without a ton of movement. He is a leader amongst leaders, and that has been my biggest impression of Kendrick Law. He has the guys showing up here at 5 a.m. in the morning to do extra work, to watch additional film, to ensure they know what’s going on at practice, but he is also pulling the group in and talking to them about the things we need to improve on. He has done a great job of coming to me and saying, ‘Hey Coach, let me know what we need to do and I’ll make sure it gets done.’ He is a leader, and he’s doing a great job of influencing the rest of the players on the entire team the right way.”
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The 5-foot-11, 201-pounder caught 15 passes for 135 yards and retuned 17 kickoffs for 405 yards in 2023.
Law helped Alabama to a Southeastern Conference Championship last season, but more will be expected of him.
He is ready to do more, and Tide fans are ready to see more of him.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
