Let’s face it: New Jersey is not a state often associated with Alabama football — or SEC football in general.
But stand next to a 6-foot-5, 325-pound offensive lineman like Geno VanDeMark, and you might have a hard time figuring out if he’s from the Garden State or the back yard of one of the South’s powerhouse college football programs.
Walking off the practice field Tuesday in his crimson jersey, VanDeMark had the throwback look of a no-frills offensive lineman. No gloves, taped-up and scraped-up hands, and a slight neck roll adorning his shoulder pads.
Except instead of being raised on a football field somewhere in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi or Georgia, VanDeMark hails from the Northeast. He lived at one point outside Buffalo, New York — in Amherst, the hometown of future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski — but played high school football at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey.
It turns out they play football in New Jersey, too.
“In your teeth, smash-mouth football in North Jersey,” VanDeMark said. “Gritty guys, trying to play some tough-nosed football.”
Alabama offensive lineman among names to watch in 2025, former teammate says
Sixty years ago, the vast majority of Alabama’s roster came from the state itself. Browse the 1965 roster and the most exotic hometown you’ll find is Canton, Ohio — otherwise every other player was from Alabama or another Southern state. That has gradually changed over time, and in-state players have become a minority on the roster.
That’s true within VanDeMark’s offensive line room, which draws players from Iowa (Kadyn Proctor), Arizona (Parker Brailsford) and as far as Finland (Olaus Alinen). It’s true across the rest of the roster, too, with Alabama featuring players from states like Nevada (wide receivers Germie Bernard and Derek Meadows), Illinois (kicker Conor Talty) and a host of players from California.
But even though New Jersey is known more for Bruce Springsteen than its football, the state has been well-represented lately on the Tide.
The 2025 roster includes three players from Jersey in VanDeMark, safety Keon Sabb and freshman wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks. Last season’s roster included VanDeMark, Sabb and linebacker Jihaad Campbell, while Tyler Booker is a Connecticut native who brought experience playing at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey.
For comparison, Alabama’s had four players on its scholarship roster since last season from the Tuscaloosa area in Wilkin Formby, Kevin Riley, William Sanders (Brookwood) and Jah-Marien Latham (Reform). It has five players from the Birmingham area this season in Tim Keenan, QB Reese, Jeremiah Beaman, Jaylen Mbakwe (Clay) and Kelby Collins (Gardendale). It has two players, James Smith and Qua Russaw, from Montgomery, and three players from the Mobile area in Deontae Lawson, Micah DeBose (Theodore) and Ryan Williams (Saraland). There are no scholarship players from the Huntsville area.
In other words, the state of New Jersey is about as well-represented on Alabama’s 2025 roster as some of the state of Alabama’s main metro areas.
“That’s Jersey ball right there, bro,” Sabb said on Williams and Mbakwe’s “New Wave” podcast last year. “We got a good number of guys.”
Booker, Sabb and Campbell all later played at IMG Academy in Florida, but the three players with New Jersey ties are no slouches despite being initially foreign to SEC country. Campbell is a potential top-15 pick in next month’s NFL draft, Booker should be picked within the top 50 and Sabb has potential to be an early-round pick in 2026.
A handful of recent Alabama players have ties to New Jersey, too. Minkah Fitzpatrick is the headliner but Anthony Averett and Antonio Alfano (a five-star prospect in 2019 who transferred) also come from the state, and Canadian wide receiver John Metchie spent a prep year in New Jersey before coming to Alabama, too.
And that’s before Brooks — a Millville native who is already catching the attention of quarterback Keelon Russell — has played a snap for the Tide. There’s also Xavier Sabb, the younger brother of Keon who is 247 Sports’ No. 7 overall prospect for the 2027 class.
When Alabama general manager Courtney Morgan arrived last year, Nick Saban told him, “Get the best players. You win the championship and no one’s going to look up and say, ‘Well, you only had this many players from Alabama.'”
And whether a player is from Northport or the Northeast, Alabama is simply looking for football players.
Said Morgan to Bama247 last year: “We don’t limit ourselves in saying, Where are you from?”
VanDeMark played his first three seasons at Michigan State before following offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic from the Spartans last offseason. He played a rotational role along Alabama’s offensive line last fall, starting at left guard for one September game while often giving banged-up Jaeden Roberts a breather at right guard, too. This spring, VanDeMark might be the favorite in a competition at left guard to replace Booker, who entered the NFL draft.
Whether it’s the Big Ten or the SEC, VanDeMark feels his experience playing high school football far from Tuscaloosa carries over.
“I think translates to any football conference,” he said. “Physicality is always gonna be a part of the game. That’s big — preached at my [high] school, at least. I know it’s preached at other schools in my league.”
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