The Iron Bowl arguably has some of the most interesting recruiting stories of any rivalry in college football.
Alabama football and Auburn University have battled for some of the most talented recruits in the nation.
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Reuben Foster and Rashaan Evans, both linebackers, attended Auburn High School. Foster had an Auburn tattoo that he ultimately had to cover up because he flipped to the Crimson Tide in 2013. Tiger fans were filled with anger when Evans decided in the following recruiting cycle to choose Alabama over Auburn. Auburn dominated the coast in recruiting for the state of Alabama until Nick Saban arrived in 2007. Saban’s first big fish was Julio Jones of Foley High School in the 2008 class.
Players such as Mark Barron, Robert Foster, T.J. Yeldon, Ryan Anderson, C.J. Mosley, Jamey Mosley, Da’Ron Payne, Marcell Dareus, Quinnen Williams, and AJ McCarron all grew up deep in the Iron Bowl rivalry.
They could have been developed at Auburn; however, they chose Coach Saban at Alabama and have national championships to show for it. Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry, a University of Alabama alumnus, was committed to Auburn out of Pinson (Ala.) Valley High School. He was a three-time state championship athlete and a five-star in the 2021 recruiting class. McKinstry ended up flipping from Auburn to Alabama, and he does not regret his decision. He described the moment that made him flip during an interview with Robert Griffin III — 2011 Heisman Memorial Trophy winner — on his podcast, “RG3 and The Ones.”
“Man, I don’t want to be a part of that… I was a winner in high school.”
Kool-Aid explains why he decommitted from Auburn 😂 pic.twitter.com/1ns6NmLrkj
— RG3 and The Ones (@rg3andtheones) April 27, 2024
“To tell you the truth bruh, I actually watched them play,” McKinstry said Griffin about Auburn.
“I committed to them on a Wednesday. We are watching them play somebody, and I am just sitting there looking at the game like ‘I don’t think I want to be a part of that.’ I was a winner in high school. I won three state championships in football, I was around great players all the time. I was like ‘I don’t want to be a part of that.’ They got beat worse than the score was. You could see like they were getting beat worse than the score was. It felt like it was 52 to something. I went to sleep that night and when I woke up Sunday, I called Malachi Moore who was still at Alabama. I called him was like ‘Bruh, tell me what’s up with ‘Bama, bruh.'”
McKinstry wanted to be part of a winning culture, and he got it. He became a two-time first-team All-SEC selection (2022, 2023), a first-team All-American (2023), and two-time SEC Champion (2021, 2023) in three years with the Crimson Tide.
He is now a New Orleans Saint as the program selected him in the second round (No. 41 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft.
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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.
