During the offseason, eagle-eyed Alabama football fans might have noticed a change to the Crimson Tide’s online roster. The defensive lineman formerly known as “Jaheim” Oatis, changed the spelling of his first name, and is now listed as “Jeheim.”
The change signaled the possibility that Oatis’ name was spelled wrong at some point and was just being corrected. On Tuesday, after Alabama’s 11th preseason camp practice, the junior from Mississippi explained the switch.
“Back when I was in primary and younger school, I spelled it two different ways,” Oatis said. “In high school I spelled it ‘Jehiem’ and when I was younger, I spelled it ‘Jaheim’, so they’d be asking me which one I wanted to put on the list so I just put the ‘Jehiem.’”
Regardless of how he’s spelling his first name, Oatis is expected to be a major contributor for the Crimson Tide this season. He stuck around this offseason, after Nick Saban retired and Kalen DeBoer brought in Kane Wommack to run the UA defense.
He missed spring football with an injury, but was well up to speed by the the time camp started on July 31. Wommack praised how well he dealt with the situation, especially given his well-publicized issues with weight early in his Crimson Tide career.
“Jehiem was maybe 415 pounds when he got here as a freshman,” Wommack said at the beginning of camp. “And think about how easy that would have been for him to climb the ladder back up the wrong way when you’re injured and you’re not going through all the workouts and [you have] some of the mobility issues.
“I think he did a tremendous job of taking care of his body. He stayed in the weight room. He stayed in the meeting rooms learning our defense. And so far, I have seen him pick things up very quickly.”
Staying healthy will be a major key for Oatis, who was injured early in 2023, limited his productivity throughout the season. He said Tuesday that he’s back to moving as well as he was in 2022, when he made the SEC’s all-freshman team and started 10 games.
According to the 325-pound interior lineman, his role remains largely the same in Wommack’s defense.
“Technique, eyes, feet work, where your hand-placement is, same thing as coach Saban,” Oatis said. “Make sure you control stay in your gap. You control your gap.”
Alabama continues preseason camp on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide opens the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Western Kentucky at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
With 18 days until the season-opener, Oatis said the defensive line is coming together.
“What I’ve seen from the D-line is some dawgs,” Oatis said. “All the way from the small, to the freshman to the older guys. All of them putting in the work. Coming in here every day, putting in the work. They know their stuff, they’re on their stuff.”
