Alabama added a significant preferred walk-on commitment from in-state punter Jack Martin earlier this month.

“It’s amazing,” Martin told BamaOnLine of committing to the Tide. “I have been a Bama fan from day one and to have this opportunity is a dream come true.”

Nick Saban stopped by McGill-Toolen in Mobile, Ala. on Jan. 23 and watched film of Martin. The now Tide pledge was on a senior retreat that day, but Saban told Yellowjackets head coach Earnest Hill that he was interested.

A few weeks later, Martin got a call from special teams coach Jeff Banks giving him the good news that Alabama wanted him. Martin was actually at a Mardis Gras parade and had to step into Pollman’s Bakery so that he could talk on the phone.

“[Banks] told me to take a few days to think about it, but I told him there was nothing to think about,” Martin said.

The in-state specialist had one call to make and that was to the Ole Miss football staff. Martin had quietly made commitment to walk on in Oxford, but when Alabama came calling things changed.

“I really like Ole Miss and their staff, but when Bama became a real opportunity I just couldn’t pass it up. Bama is the only school that I applied for during this whole process. That was months ago before any of this began to happen.”

Martin plans to visit campus this weekend and then report to the team in the summer. He is expected to compete with the specialists already in place at the Capstone.

“They told me that they looked at seven high school punters and really thought that I separated myself from the rest with my mechanics and the way I hit the ball.”

Alabama showed interested in South Alabama grad transfer Corliss Waitman late in the 2019 cycle. The now Mississippi State signee works with Martin.

“I know they were really interested in Corliss, but he ended up at State,” Martin said. “Corliss and I have been training together for a while now. I guess you can say he’s like my mentor. He’s a great guy to learn from. He has provided me with a lot of knowledge of the game. I’m looking forward to it. I love to compete. Just have to be ready when it happens. I’ve been pretty busy working and training as much as I can.”

Here’s the evaluation on the Chris Sailer Kicking: