Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt was in the shower when he received the phone call. The former Georgia defensive coordinator had recently been announced as the successor to Kirby Smart, and although he wasn’t coaching the Crimson Tide during its playoff run, his focus was on the 2016 recruiting cycle and securing another top-ranked signing class.

Shortly after being hired by Nick Saban, Pruitt received a call from Gerald Smith, a former high school coach in the state of Texas that used to search for “high-profile kids that are not getting recruited.” He had found someone he thought Pruitt and Alabama would be interested in from Tulsa, Okla. And that someone was three-star, all-purpose back Joshua Jacobs.

At 2 a.m. the following morning, Smith received a text message from Pruitt.

“I’m on it,” Pruitt’s text read. “We want him.”

Jacobs committed and signed to play for Alabama on National Signing Day and enrolled at the university in June. Since then, he has ascended the running back pecking order and claimed the No. 2 spot in the backfield behind Damien Harris.

In four games, Jacobs is the Crimson Tide’s third-leading rusher with 150 yards and two scores on only 18 carries, trailing Harris and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts in terms of yards. The true freshman has the fewest carries of the four Alabama tailbacks, but his success isn’t a surprise to those that saw him run before his on-field debut in Arlington almost a month ago.

“When I saw his film, I was like, ‘You know what, this kid can play at Alabama all day long,’” Smith told BamaOnLine. “‘I don’t care what they say, who says he can’t -- because he’s not a high-profile back and he doesn’t have 25 offers.’ I just thought totally different about it, and I kind of just went from what I knew. I just had a gut feeling about it.”

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His recruitment was an intriguing one, to say the least.

Jacobs, a late bloomer in terms of exposure, did not appear on Saban’s radar until after the national title game against Clemson. The tailback who operated out of a wildcat offense then became one of running backs coach Burton Burns’ top targets. He visited him after Pruitt and wide receivers coach Billy Napier saw the film Smith sent them and an offer quickly followed.

But what was the reasoning behind his late arrival to the recruiting scene? Jacobs hails from a part of the country that isn’t heavily recruited. According to Smith, once a player receives an offer from in-state powers Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, the likeliness of that player leaving the state is slim. Jacobs, however, is an exception to this belief. Before the Tide offered him Jan. 29, Jacobs only held interest from teams like Wyoming and New Mexico State.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Jacobs was the No. 464 player in the nation and No. 11 all-purpose back. Individually, 247Sports ranked the Tulsa product as the 260th overall player, No. 6 all-purpose back and No. 2 player in Oklahoma.

Smith, who finds hidden gems and sends their film to big-time programs for free, also noticed something in Jacobs. After searching for a character issue or reason for the lack of interest, an opposing coach told Smith, “He just came out and played.” At that point, he felt comfortable sending Jacobs’ film out to bigger schools, because he saw the player that ranks third in the SEC with a 8.33 yards per carry average as Alabama’s No. 2 running back.

“The way he played. He played angry. He played like a guy that was the best player out on the field, every snap, every down,” Smith said. “I watched some actual game film on him to see does this kid play this way the entire game. One thing about it, I looked at the backs that Alabama was bringing in, and I was like, ‘You know what, when I watch this film and watch these guys, he’s right there. He’s right there.’ The only difference is no one knows about him.”

Jacobs played in only six games as a junior at McLain (Okla.) High School in 2014 because of an injury. He rushed for 948 yards and 13 scores in just over four games before his senior year where he was able to bounce back and amass 2,704 yards and 36 touchdowns. Jacobs finished his high school career at McLain with 5,372 rushing yards and 56 touchdowns.

That tough running style of his has also stood out in the early portion of the Crimson Tide’s 2016 schedule. Jacobs isn’t running like a player that was rated the 464 overall player in the country in last year’s recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite, but he does resemble one that wants to prove teams that overlooked him or said he would never play at Alabama wrong. That was evident from the very moment he stepped on campus.

“I saw Josh during fall camp have a couple of great days in the two scrimmages we had in the fall,” senior tight end O.J. Howard said. “I could tell he had some good talent. He made some plays that were positive because he was breaking tackles he shouldn’t have been able to break. I thought, ‘Yeah, this kid has some juice.’ That’s when I really noticed he was so good.”

Jacobs joined four-star B.J. Emmons as the two running backs Alabama signed in 2016. The latter was a top-35 player and the No. 2 running back recruit, per the 247Sports Composite, and the former was relatively unknown until after the New Year. Both players have provided depth at a position of need for the Tide this season, and Jacobs, as he did on the recruiting trail, has surprised a lot of people with his rise up the depth chart in Tuscaloosa.

A week ago against Kent State, Jacobs stepped up in a big way after Harris left the game with a sprained ankle. The freshman rushed for a game-high 97 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries and was named one of the Players of the Week following the 48-0 win over the Golden Flashes and received some high praise from the coach that offered him eight months ago.

“We found Josh a little late in recruiting but we were happy that we were able to get him,” Saban said. “We were very impressed with him. Typically a guy that shows great maturity and understanding and is very instinctive as a football player, and I think it shows up in his play and how he plays, and it’s certainly showed up in how he’s developed to be able to play.

“Hopefully he’ll continue to improve and get better and he’ll be able to be productive as we move forward.”

With Harris’ status for Saturday’s homecoming game against Kentucky in the air, Jacobs could face an increased workload in Alabama’s second taste of SEC play of the season. That’s quite an accomplishment for a player that only held a handful of offers from non-Power 5 programs less than 10 months ago. But it isn’t a surprise to those that saw his tape from Tulsa, Okla.

“If he starts against Kentucky, I think he’s gonna put a stamp on his name,” Smith said. “I think he’s really gonna justify why he should be there, and a lot of people are gonna regret that they didn’t recruit him.”

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