Alabama added a major commitment from four-star defensive lineman Byron Young last week to literally ring in the Fourth of July holiday.

The Laurel (Miss.) West Jones product announced his decision on Twitter at midnight on July 4 choosing the Crimson Tide over Georgia, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, among others.

At 6-foot-4, 279 pounds, Young is rated the No. 9 strong-side defensive end and the No. 121 overall player in the country, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings.

The new Tide pledge’s head coach at West Jones, Scott Pierson, shed a little light into what makes Young special.

“I think he’s just so physically strong,” Pierson told BamaOnLine. “Outside of his size, his hands and his leverage and his length — all those things give him a great advantage at our level. Now, at the next level it’s going to be a little different, but at our level just the sheer power that he brings … and he’s only 17. The upside is real, real high on him.”

Young didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year of high school. Up until then he played basketball, but once he shifted his focus, it was clear he had a future on the gridiron.

“We could tell he was starting to grow into his body,” Pierson said. “Before then, he was always a big kid but he wasn’t really strong enough to move his body. Once he started to get into the weight room and develop on that end, you could see the potential. He was 6-foot-4, 250 pounds in the seventh grade. He had big feet, big hands, and big body, but he wasn’t able to really maneuver like he is now. Now it’s night and day.”

Young isn’t the type of kid that’s going to hype himself up on Twitter like we see with many recruits nowadays. As the youngest of five, Young is about as humble of a person as can be. Pair that with his work ethic, and Alabama has the makings of a special player come 2019.

“First of all he’s a ‘yes sir, no sir’ kid, and he’s a high-character kid with morals and values, which this day and age get more rare unfortunately,” Pierson said. “He’s the first one there; he’s the last one to leave. He comes up on his own time and works out. When he comes up there, he doesn’t come up by himself, he gets three or four players to come up there with him. He’s the first one in line to run sprints after practice. He’s just one of those kids — goal-oriented, driven, all the things you’d say about someone that has the ability to play at a program like Alabama.”

And while National Signing Day is months away, Pierson doesn’t foresee much drama in Young’s recruitment.

“He’s just raised a little different,” Pierson said. “He’s not going to be one of those kids that flops around and changes his mind and does the hats on the table. I think he waited a little bit longer than most thought he would, but he waited that long to make sure he knew where he wanted to go. I feel pretty strong about where he’s committed to go, I really do.”