Muscle Shoals (AL) four-star linebacker Jackson Bratton is one of the top players in the state of Alabama’s 2020 class—which, predictably, led to a recruiting battle for his services between the Crimson Tide and their heavyweight counterparts at Auburn.

The bad news for Auburn? Bratton has grown up in the Church of Nick Saban.

“I’ve always known I wanted to play (at Alabama) since I was little,” he said. “So when they offered me, I knew I was going to commit pretty soon.”

COMMITTED❗️ #RollTide pic.twitter.com/pef5WDeiMi

— Jackson Bratton (@Jackson_bratton) March 24, 2018

Scholarship offers from Alabama and Auburn arrived just days apart. But, roughly a month later, Bratton pledged his allegiance to the Tide.

That could be explained, at least in part, by the worse news for Auburn: When it came to winning over mama, the Tigers never had a chance.

“My mom didn’t know who Gus Malzahn was,” Bratton said, when asked to name the strangest or funniest thing that has happened during his recruitment. “She had no idea.”

While that is a pretty funny scene to imagine, all is far from lost for Malzahn and Auburn on the ’20 recruiting trail. The class is already off to an outstanding start with four major commitments, including a pair of in-state linebackers, Demouy Kennedy and Quandarrius Robinson.