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Alabama LB Yhonzae Pierre changing jersey numbers for 2026 season

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Alabama linebacker Yhonzae Pierre is officially returning for the 2026 football season, and the Crimson Tide’s top pass rusher will be wearing a new number. He is switching from 42 to 0.

The first Alabama player to wear No. 0 was two-time captain Deontae Lawson, who is moving on to the next level. Another in-state player will don the number as one of UA’s top returners.

“My brother built the 0 legacy,” Pierre told Yea Alabama. “I’m grateful for the chance to carry it forward.  Let’s get it.”

Pierre, a redshirt sophomore, played in all 15 games during the Crimson Tide’s 2025-26 season and started the final 12 contests. Once Qua Russaw and Jah-Marien Latham suffered injuries, it was Pierre who stepped into the top Wolf linebacker role for Alabama, and the third-year edge rusher delivered. Pierre led the defense with 14.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks and three forced fumbles, and also finished sixth on the team in tackles (52) and tallied nine hurries.

In 2024, as a redshirt freshman, Pierre played in 11 games as a reserve outside linebacker. He recorded six tackles, half of a tackle for loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry in his first season of game action. Pierre did not see the field in 2023, redshirting at year’s end.

Getting Pierre back is big, because Alabama has already lost Russaw and Noah Carter to the NCAA transfer portal. Right now, the only returning Wolf linebackers are Pierre and Justin Hill, who played in all 15 games as a true freshman. There is also a chance that Latham could be back for a seventh year with help from a medical redshirt. But that is still up in the air.

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