Quinnen Williams explains why he ultimately flipped from Auburn to Alabama

Who doesn't love their alma mater? While I regularly rep the Red and Black for my beloved Georgia Bulldogs, New York Jets star Quinnen Williams is all about the Crimson Tide from his storied college career at the University of Alabama. What I realized when do research ahead of my interview with him was Williams initially committed to Auburn before flipping to Alabama very late in the recruiting cycle.

The four-star recruit from Birmingham was going to play for Gus Malzahn at Auburn. As any native of Birmingham, a football player's dream is to play for either the Tigers or the Tide. Williams initially committed to Auburn on Jan. 31, 2015 before decommitting a few months later on June 5. He then flipped to Alabama at the end of the month, ultimately becoming one of Nick Saban's best players.

I asked Williams what went into flipping and he gave me quite the response as to why he did that.

"What made me choose Alabama was I'm from Birmingham, like you said. Birmingham is literally, probably 30 minutes from Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama. Auburn, it was two hours from the University of Alabama, Birmingham."

The big key here for him was to have his grandmother and father be able to watch all of his games.

"So I kind of wanted my grandmother to go to every single game, to be part of my college career because she, she's just been an unbelievable person in my life, and my dad to go to every single game."

I made a similar decision to attend Georgia or Clemson for close proximity decisions for my family.

"So I was just thinking in my head like, both schools are amazing. But my dad and grandma can drive 30 minutes every single weekend to come see me. Or every single time I kind of need them, they could just make that little trip up to see me. So I decommitted from Auburn and committed to Alabama, and it's been the best choice of my career."

Here is the commercial for College Colors Day starring Williams, Raheem Mostert and Holly Rowe.

After Alabama, Williams would go on to be the No. 3 overall pick by the Jets in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Quinnen Williams: Going to Alabama was the best decision of my career

In speaking with Williams on behalf of College Colors Day for FanSided, I can sense that he has a ton of pride for his school, and what it meant for him and his family he attended his home state's flagship university. Even though he is a star in the NFL today, like many of us who went to Power Five universities, we are never going to have to explain where we went to school during any job interviews.

What I gathered from Williams is yes, he could have great success at Auburn as well, as Malzahn is a fantastic head coach in his own right, now at UCF over in the Big 12. But I think it was the people he met along the way in Tuscaloosa that helped get him ready for the NFL. He talked about the Alabama football fraternity glowingly, saying how he has a connection with Julio Jones and Terrion Arnold.

No matter how his NFL career shakes out, Williams will always have a football career in Tuscaloosa. College was the best time of my life, and I can safely say that Williams feels the same way about his time at Alabama. While playing for Nick Saban may have gotten him better prepared for the NFL than at other places, Williams clearly went to a school that would allow him to have his family be a part of it.

College pride is commonplace across the country, but it just might be a little different here in the SEC.

Quinnen Williams spoke with FanSided on behalf of College Colors Day.

On Friday, Aug. 30, College Colors Day is back for its 20th anniversary and to help kick off the beginning of college football season. Quinnen will be rocking his Alabama colors on Aug. 30, and wants everyone else to get hyped too!

College Colors Day was created to foster school spirit among fans, alumni, students, faculty and staff by encouraging everyone to proudly showcase their college colors - all on the same day. Head over to www.collegecolorsday.com to get deals on all kinds of gear to celebrate!