New Vigor coach Renardo Jackson coached against Jabarrius Garror last season as the head coach at LeFlore.

He knows one thing about the Wolves’ star defensive lineman: he’s glad they’re on the same team in 2025.

“He’s the type of player that forces coaches to raise your standard for yourself and your staff,” Jackson said of the Alabama commit. “We get a team off day, he’s going to call and say, ‘hey, coach, and one of you unlock the weight room to let me in, I don’t take days off.’”

Last season saw Garror claim Class 5A Lineman of the Year honors after a dominant sophomore year with the Wolves that saw him gather 104 tackles (56 for loss), 21.5 sacks and 37 quarterback hurries.

Despite one of the best seasons in the program’s rich football history, Garror is excited to show off his improvements with the Wolves in the hunt for a Class 5A state title; among the changes is more technical work.

“Getting back in the lab every day, there is always something you can fix. Nobody’s game is going to be perfect,” Garror said. “I look back at NFL film just to see how those guys get around blocks and beat tackles and how they use different schemes to get in the backfield. That was my main thing during the offseason.”

Garror has been committed to Alabama for almost a year and was one of the program’s first 2027 prospects, picking the Crimson Tide over offers from Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State and Colorado.

While he said “everything is 100%” with Alabama, Garror told AL.com that Florida State has been making the biggest push in his recruitment, with Auburn and South Carolina also trying to flip the defender.

“I’ve been talking to everybody and just getting a field, because you never know what could happen,” Garror said. “I look at every coach in every school, just somebody who is going to take my game to the next level. I want that coach that’s going to be on me, he’s going to push me every day. That’s what I’m feeling; and, that ‘home’ feeling, too.”

Having been an Alabama fan since he was 7 years old, he said that he stays in touch with defensive coordinator Kane Wommack regularly. The plan for him is to try multiple positions at Alabama, with the scheme opening up more opportunities for him.

“Seeing how they dominated all the time? Come on, that’s something you want to be a part of,” Garror said. “I can’t wait to be up there dominating myself.”

He’s also been keeping up with the rush of commitments under Kalen DeBoer this summer.

“They’ve been getting some big recruits,” Garror said. “I’ve been talking to the coaches about it. They can’t wait to have me up there, too. I’ve talked to a few recruits they’ve got too, so it’s going to be a great future for them.”

Jackson described the defender as “unblockable,” adding that they sometimes have to dial him back during team practices because of his dominance.

Vigor will open up the season on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. against rival Blount at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.

“It’s his ability to go from speed to power,” Jackson said. “He comes off the edge in a hurry and when he converts that to power, it’s hard for tackles to anchor down against him. He’s worked really hard on his technique this summer, and I’m just excited to see how it translates.”