Denzel Devall (born 1994) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

from 2012 to 2015. In July 2016, he started serving as a personnel assistant on the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The Alabama Crimson Tide, Crimson Tide competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the Nat ...

coaching staff. In January and February 2017, he was promoted first to assistant strength and conditioning coach and then promoted again to director of player development.

Early life

A native of

Bastrop, Louisiana Bastrop is a city in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the parish seat of Morehouse Parish. The population was 9,691 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 11,365 in 2010 United Sta ...

, Devall attended Bastrop High School, where he played on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team. He finished his junior season with 108 tackles, five sacks, three fumbles caused, two fumbles recovered, and one interception. Bastrop finished the season with an 11–2 record, losing 26–20 in a hard-fought four-overtime game to Anthony Johnson's O. Perry Walker team in the Class 4A semifinals. In his senior year, Devall was credited with 73 tackles, including 53 solo stops, two sacks, three pass breakups, one fumble forced and one fumble recovery. Bastrop fell short of the playoffs, with a 6–4 season record. Nonetheless, Devall was a 2011 Louisiana Sports Writers Association 4A All-State selection. Considered a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

, Devall was listed as the No. 5 inside linebacker in his class. He chose Alabama over offers from Louisiana State,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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, and Texas Christian.

College career

Contributing as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, Devall saw action in all 14 games at the "Jack" linebacker position, and totaled 18 tackles, with two sacks, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries en route to being named to ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' Freshman All-America Team. His biggest game came on October 27, against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, when he recorded two tackles for loss (one sack) and received Defensive Player of the Week honors from the Alabama coaching staff. Devall drew comparisons to former Alabama outside linebacker

Courtney Upshaw Courtney Tremaine Upshaw (born December 13, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, earning first-team All-Ame ...

. In his sophomore year, Devall took on a bigger role in Alabama's defense. He played in thirteen games, recording 30 tackles (including 14 solo), and five tackles for a loss of yardage. He also tied

Adrian Hubbard Adrian Hubbard (born February 27, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. College career As a redshirt sophomo ...

for second-most quarterback sacks on the team with three, behind

A'Shawn Robinson A'Shawn Robinson (born March 21, 1995) is an American professional football defensive end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was selected by the Detroit Li ...

's 5.5 sacks. In a 52–0 shutout against

, Devall was credited with three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry.

References

External links

*
Alabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devall, Denzel 1994 births Living people People from Bastrop, Louisiana Sportspeople from Morehouse Parish, Louisiana American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Players of American football from Louisiana Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Coaches of American football from Louisiana