Alabama football didn’t sugarcoat Jack Sammarco. The Crimson Tide knew what it needed from a potential tight end transfer.
Alabama needed another body, another scholarship player that could be a go-to inline blocker in the run game in a room ravaged by injuries, a room that had only one scholarship player available at the end of spring.
Alabama needed a player of Sammarco’s size and Sammarco’s skillset, standing at 6-foot-6, 240 pounds. And Sammarco quickly saw he fit the bill.
“I’m a pretty physical blocker,” Sammarco told The Tuscaloosa News.
Sammarco was sold, committing to Alabama after one season at West Virginia. The Cincinnati native appeared in each of the Mountaineers’ games. On offense, his primary role was that inline blocking tight end Alabama needed, recording one catch for four yards last season.
Alabama was without Josh Cuevas, Danny Lewis and Marshall Pritchett for the majority of spring practice. Kaleb Edwards, a true freshman, will join the team after graduating high school. Jay Lindsey was the only scholarship tight end available for Alabama at the end of spring.
Short term, Sammarco, a former three-star prospect, said Alabama’s pitch was already too good to look past.
“I know I’m going to get playing time at the University of Alabama,” Sammarco said. “So that is pretty hard to pass up.”
But with three years of eligibility remaining, Sammarco has higher aspirations than just being an inline run blocking tight end.
“Hopefully, if everything works out the way I want, I want to be an every down guy,” Sammarco said. “Like I can play in every situation. You don’t have to sub me in and out for a receiving guy.”
No matter what Sammarco’s role is, he knows what he will get from Alabama.
“They will develop me into the best football player I can possibly be,” he said.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Jack Sammarco brings to Alabama football at tight end