MOBILE, Ala. – With recent changes in NCAA rules making it easier than ever for student-athletes to transfer, it seems as if an individual who feels slighted — whether it is a loss of playing time or a request to switch positions — is in a rush to find a new program. In the last couple of years, that has included announcements by players choosing to redshirt after the season has begun rather than continue to compete at the first sign of adversity.
But what happens when the individual elects to stay the course and see things through?
For Roy Albritton and the University of South Alabama football program, that means a story with an uncertain start can have a satisfying conclusion.
Coming out of Pensacola (Fla.) High in 2015, size was not the issue for Albritton. He already measured 6-foot-2 and weighed 335 pounds, and was entering the collegiate level coming off a senior campaign in which he earned second-team all-state honors, and was a first-team all-district and all-area selection as well, after recording 32 stops with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble while helping the Tigers qualify for the state 6A playoffs.
Unlike so many high school players, Albritton wasn't necessarily chasing scholarship offers from collegiate programs.
"All through high school I never really thought about getting a scholarship for football, I was playing and having a good time with some funny, funny friends," he said. "It was enjoyable all the time, I figured if it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't. When I was at camp at USA I ran a 4.9, and the funny thing was I didn't know I got offered until a week later because right after I got through that camp we had to go to a senior leadership camp for ROTC and that whole week we had no outside communication. It was like a fun boot camp, so I didn't hear anything until I got back that Sunday and my coach told me I had an offer from USA. I was like, 'Cool.'"
Recruited by former head coach Joey Jones and his staff as a defensive lineman, he was unsure of what would happen once he arrive on campus.
"I didn't know what to expect, I just knew I was going to a Division I institution and there were going to be people just as good as me if not better," he explained. "There was so much to grasp at one time. In high school you're one of the best of the best and you think it can't get too much higher than this, so going to college was mind blowing; you have these great athletes all around you, you have to come to work every day and just get better."
His first season with the program Albritton sat out as a redshirt, continuing to work with the Jaguar defense that fall and during spring drills. By the time preseason camp began the next year, he was working with the second unit with thoughts of earning playing time.
Then, on the eve of the start of the season, the coaching staff made the decision to move Albritton from the defensive to offensive line. Facing the prospect of getting limited, if any, playing time due to the last-minute decision he could've easily chosen to move on from the program. But that wasn't the road Albritton opted to take.
"There was a lot of frustration with the uncertainty," he recalled. "All fall camp I worked with the defensive line, I was in the rotation with the 'twos' and then once the season arrived I was told I was being moved over to the offensive line. So I said all right, let's see what I can do there. There was a drastic learning curve in the fall of 2016, the next spring I started to pick it up pretty well and it started clicking late in 2017 and early 2018."
Perhaps Albritton was better suited to the challenge at hand than others, as throughout his formative years there was very little he attempted to do.
Born and raised in Pensacola, Albritton grew up playing tenor saxophone and the trumpet in the band and also enjoyed robotics. It wasn't until the year before entering high school that he participated in his first athletic competition. "The first sport that I ever participated in was the shot put in eighth grade," he said. "We took weightlifting seriously going into my ninth grade year, which was the first time I had ever lifted weights in my life. The growing pains were very bad, I can say that."
In fact, he was practicing with the band before the start of school when a decision was made that would alter his future. Although it was not necessarily initiated by him. "In the time after eight grade when we were going into ninth grade we were going through band camp and my coach came and got me after one day and said, 'You're playing football tomorrow,' so I figured I would give it a try," said Albritton.
Practicing with the Tiger football team led to work in the weight room, where he performed well enough to be included on that team as well. But in order to compete with his friends, Albritton put in a request to participate in a third sport.
"They told me I was good at lifting weights so I was on the team, I just asked if I could play lacrosse and when they said yes I wanted to do both," he recalled. "Across the bay in Gulf Breeze, a lot of my friends played lacrosse growing up. You have a stick, the ball and get to hit somebody? Come on, it can't get any better than that. The only issue was a lot of people were smaller than me and relatively quick, that meant I had to adapt to the speed of the game and eventually I was faster than them."
Having a hard time picturing a 300-pounder playing lacrosse? You wouldn't be the only one.
"I know everybody was different before they got to college. I know I was 250 pounds, I played baseball and basketball," said one of Albritton's best friends on the team, Jeffery Whatley. "But he's 300 pounds and playing lacrosse, and he was in the band and he plays football? Lacrosse was hard to believe until I saw the pictures on Facebook, I didn't believe him until he showed them to me.
"It's kind of funny, but it's also impressive; he has quick feet and he's pretty fast too."
As it turned out, the combination of weightlifting and lacrosse helped Albritton become a better football player.
"Lacrosse and weightlifting go hand-in-hand with football because of the coordination of strength, power and stamina; good God, there was so much running in lacrosse. They allowed me to play football faster than the guy in front of me," he explained. "In high school everything was kind of easy, you could get your hand on somebody and either 'shock and shed' and get them on the ground to get to the quarterback or you could just play the gap, get them out of the way get a tackle for loss. On the offensive line you didn't even have to have technique, just get to that person and knock them back and let the running back run behind you.
"High school was very simple compared to college."
As Albritton was finding out at South. After being moved to the offensive line, he failed to see the field that fall as the Jaguars earned a berth in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl. The following season, he saw limited action primarily blocking for the team's field-goal and extra-point units. But at the end of that fall, the program would undergo a change far more significant than the one Albritton faced the previous year.
Jones would depart, and in would come new head coach Steve Campbell. And with a new set of eyes looking upon him, Albritton's fortunes were about to change.
"You could tell that Roy was a big, strong guy, he is one of the strongest players that I've been around as far as his weight room numbers," Campbell stated. "But you could also see that he had been moved around a lot between the offensive and defensive lines, and that he really needed to find a place to call home. My impressions were that if we could get him in one spot and leave him there for long enough he would have a chance to become a really good player."
Even with a fresh start, Albritton's class schedule limited the amount of time he could spend on the field with the new staff during spring practice. As such, he began the 2018 campaign as a back-up at right guard, but after recording assignment grades of 91 percent — along with a season-best four knockdowns — in a win over Texas State, 92 percent at Memphis and 87 percent at Georgia Southern, Albritton earned his first-ever start at the collegiate level.
"The big thing was, he was being productive — he was playing hard and getting a lot of knockdowns," assistant coach Mike Bangtson observed explaining why Albritton was moved to the first-team unit. "You just can't teach his size, what he brings to the table with his body and how he moves; he is a big, agile guy. Part of that too was he fell behind our first spring because of his class schedule, but as the fall went on his conditioning got better and I felt more comfortable playing him which helped develop him into the starting role that he has been able to hold on to."
"It was knowing what was going to happen, knowing the technique and who you were going against," added Albritton. "All those little things added up and made a difference."
Albritton was given an assignment mark over 80 percent in his first two starts against Alabama State and Troy, and in the season finale he earned a 95 percent assignment grade — his best of the year — as the Jags defeated Coastal Carolina.
Some individuals might be happy, after years of sitting out, to be moved into a prominent role, but Albritton was not one of them. "My approach this season was the same as the last one, focusing on constantly getting better every day," he said. "It's as if I am still fighting for my job." Nearing the midway point of the season, his final one at the collegiate level, Albritton graded out better than 80 percent in each of South's first two contests against Nebraska and Jackson State and he leads the team with 28 knockdown blocks after posting a career-high 12 in last week's Sun Belt Conference opener at ULM.
"One of the biggest things in Roy's development has been his ability to learn the schemes, spending time with him getting it all down. From our first year to this season we've seen a big improvement," Bangtson said. "Last year he was kind of unsure on some calls and on fronts, but last spring and summer we've seen a big jump and now he's one of the more confident guys on the line. The other thing has been pass pro[tection], he has really worked on it and tried to hone his craft in that aspect as well."
"I've seen him grow a tremendous amount, going from a guy who didn't have a place to hang his hat position-wise to one who has taken ownership of a leadership role on the offensive line," added Campbell. "When we first got here and the class schedules were already made, we were trying to go through spring training and he had classes and some other things going on. Now, he's pretty focused on being a really good football player but you can see how he has grown and matured.
"I've seen him come a million miles since we first got here."
Where will Albritton go from here? "I would love it if I could play at the next level, I work toward that goal every single time I practice but if it doesn't happen I won't be mad because I know I gave it everything I have," he said.
As a political science and criminal justice double major who is set to graduate in May, Albritton arrived at South with the hopes of serving in the United States Air Force.
"The goal was to be a special tactics officer. I may have matured, and seeing things for what they are that might've changed," he explained. "Long term I would love to work for the FBI and help find missing or lost children, or people who have been involved in human trafficking. It would be cool if I stayed down here, but I am not set on saying if I can't work down here I'm not going to pursue a job because I would not mind travelling."
Travel has always been of interest to Albritton, perhaps because he and his family didn't do much of it while growing up. "We're from Florida, of course everybody has been to Universal and Disney World, but other than that we didn't do too much travelling," he said. "Outside of Minnesota [where he went on a recruiting visit], the farthest north I've ever been is probably App State, and I've been to Pasadena and Sacramento out west because we have family out there."
He also has an appreciation for good food, his favorite being oxtails — "My auntie makes really good oxtails. Not many people are into them, it's a delicacy that's very good. If you find somebody who makes some good oxtails, you will love it," he said — and also enjoys being on social media. Throw in music and movies, and you have an individual who enjoys entertainment. And knows how to entertain.
"He's great, I've really come to love Roy," stated Bangtson. "He is a great leader in our room, they rest of the guys feed off of him. He brings the energy to our offensive line, and that's true on and off the field. When I walk into a meeting, he is usually cutting up with the other guys; you know he is the ringleader if they are doing something. He's probably trying to imitate me or Coach Campbell."
"Roy has a fun personality, he exudes a lot of good vibes and is a gregarious guy; everybody loves Roy," said Campbell. "When you are around him he always has a smile on his face and a positive attitude. Roy is a fun guy to coach."
His teammates enjoy being around Albritton as much, if not more, than the Jaguar coaching staff. "All we do is clown around, we just argue about miscellaneous stuff," Whatley said. "We like to cut up and have a good time because away from football is when we can really be ourselves — we're serious on the field, when we get away we like to talk and laugh."
Would all of this — the playing time, a spot on the first-team, the love in the locker room — have happened had Albritton decided to depart the program when faced with adversity? Obviously not.
But it should serve as a lesson to many down the road that there are rewards when you stay and take on a challenge. When asked what is the most important thing he will take from his time at South, Albritton was quick to respond.
"I would have to say it's the ability to never quit," he said. "I signed here and worked as a defensive lineman, but never played and was moved to the offensive line. I could've easily said this is not what I signed up for and quit or gone to a junior college back then, but I chose not to because I felt that I was going to do something much larger.
"I didn't quit, now look at me."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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