Inside Tim Keenan III's Perspective Shift that Transformed Him into an Alabama Starter
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Champagne bottles popped while fireworks filled the New Orleans skyline. However, while Alabama fans rang in the New Year, the Crimson Tide’s Sugar Bowl celebration wasn’t as sweet for Tim Keenan III.
The Alabama defensive lineman remembers sitting in his hotel room that night contemplating his future. Then tipping the scales at over 340 pounds, his weight had taken a toll on his 6-foot-2 frame. It’d also played a role in him seeing the field for just two games over his first two years with the Crimson Tide.
That’s when he decided something had to change.
"I’m just thinking to myself, ‘Man, enough is enough. It’s time for me to really play. I know what I can do, and I know what’s holding me back,'" Keenan told BamaCentral. "Pretty much a deep self-analyzation. I decided I was going to take my life back, but this time I was going to do it with God.”
Eleven months and 30 pounds later, Keenan is a new man. The Birmingham native isn’t just playing for the team he grew up cheering for, he’s now a key part of its success.
A football family: "Team Keenan"
"Team Keenan" on signing day. Top row: Kameron and Alexcis. Bottom: Lesley, Tim III and Tim Jr.
Courtesy of the Keenan family
It has always been a family effort in the Keenan household, the collective unit affectionately dubbed "Team Keenan." His mom, Lesley, taught Tim how to snap the ball and catch pop flies in baseball. Having already played softball, his older sister, Alexcis, taught Tim how to slide.
Keenan III's father, Tim Keenan Jr., knew his son was going to be a good football player when he was just 4 years old. Keenan III's youth team was playing the local juggernaut, Park West. At halftime, the coach asked his players if they were scared to be facing the bigger team. Four-year-old Keenan III raised his hand and said he wasn't scared.
"At that time, I knew he was going to be special because he liked contact," Keenan Jr. said.
A young Tim Keenan III already getting after the quarterback
Courtesy of the Keenan Family
Keenan Jr. got an early front row seat to an Alabama legend. His cousin played on another team in the same league as future Alabama wide receiver David Palmer. When he began coaching his sons, Tim and Kameron, Keenan Jr. wanted to model their teams after what he saw from Palmer's teams growing up.
It worked out pretty well, with Tim as a starter at Alabama and Kameron as a state-championship winning quarterback at Ramsay High School in Birmingham. Kameron, still only a junior, led his team to the 5A State Championship last season and is in the middle of another playoff run with a game against Leeds this Friday night. He called Tim his "built-in best friend."
The Keenans fall weekends are filled with football. Thankfully, the schedules have mostly worked out. The toughest weekend this season was the USF game where the Keenans drove all through the night on Friday after Kameron’s game to get down to Tampa.
Kameron was actually on a visit to Texas A&M when the Crimson Tide and Aggies squared off in October. Ironically, Keenan III had his best game of the season with a team-leading eight tackles and a key sack in the fourth quarter.
"I’m glad I get to call him my brother because after his knee injury a whole lot of people started doubting him," Kameron said. "And then not really playing for the last two years, people kind of turned their backs or were saying he was washed up. So he just stood on his faith and stood with God. And he came out and handled business and did what he needed to do, and he’s still doing it. I’m just really proud of him."
Putting in the work
The knee injury Kameron referred to was an MCL injury his senior year of high school that caused Keenan III to arrive at Alabama weighing in at about 380 pounds.
"Boy, I was big," Keenan III said. "I was swole up like a puffer fish."
His father credits Alabama for honoring his scholarship even after the devastating knee injury. Keenan III ended up getting down to around 350 his first summer at Alabama, which showed the coaches that he was someone willing to put the work in. But he still wasn't where he wanted to be.
Keenan III redshirted his first year with the Crimson Tide after not playing in any games. His second season, he finally saw the field, but only in mop-up duty during blowout wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Vanderbilt.
"It was a hard time," Keenan Jr. said. "Honestly, it was a very hard time because Tim has never sat the bench before. He’s always been the man on the team. He’s always been the premier player. He’s never not played in the game. He’s probably never not started."
Even though he made up his mind on New Year's Day, Keenan really started to make changes when it became time for Fourth Quarter, Alabama's notorious offseason conditioning program that typically involves a lot of running, sweating and puking to push the players to be mentally and physically stronger.
As a 300+ pound lineman, Fourth Quarter is not Keenan III's favorite thing at Alabama, but he decided to change his perspective heading into his redshirt sophomore season. He started listening to gospel music before the workouts to try and get his mind in the right place.
"We listen to music to try and get energy and fuel our minds," Keenan III explained. "All these songs today, there’s kind of like no foundation that they’re talking about as far as fueling. But you listen to gospel, and it’s about prevailing, determination, hope, love— so I tried to fuel my spirit with that.”
Thanks to his mom, Keenan III likes old school gospel music from artists like Shirley Caesar, Willie Neal Johnson and the Mississippi Mass Choir.
The perspective shift wasn't just for Fourth Quarter. It also came with his nutrition, which wasn't always easy. It all started with pushing away from the table more. He decided to pay on the front end instead of the back end.
At the start of the 2023 season, Keenan III was listed at 315 pounds after being at 343 a season ago.
"With God, I asked him, ‘Lord, I love food. You know I love food. Like, how do they want me to lose weight when everything tastes good?’ But I asked him for help, and he delivered.”
At first during his weight-loss transformation, his family would try not to have certain foods out when Tim would come home to visit. But Kameron said his brother got to the point that he was so disciplined that it didn't matter.
"He’s trained himself that well that he just won’t eat it if he knows it’s not going to be beneficial to him," Kameron said.
Keenan III started to realize in the spring that he was going to be a contributor this season when the weight started coming off, and he didn't mind running anymore.
"Once I dropped that weight and I felt faster, it started to feel like I was a kid again," Keenan III said. "I was starting to have fun again. Like the running was fun. Running, I used to not like it, but I was never in shape. But now since I got my body right, I’m thankful that I’m able to be tired. I’m thankful that I’m able to run. So I just try to work as hard as possible to honor God and to show him how thankful I am with my play."
It started to catch the eyes of the coaches, even Nick Saban. During fall camp, Saban called Keenan III, "a pleasant surprise." He quickly vaulted up the depth chart.
"Shoot, I guess after two years on the bench, it woke him up," Keenan Jr. said. "He made up his mind— started fasting, he was reading his Word, praying. I mean, he was teaching me things. Making me wanna get the fire back that I had. I told him I learned a lot from him. I had a lot of respect for him because he could’ve just tucked his tail and gave up and pouted like a baby. But he did what he needed to do. He made adjustments. He stopped feeling sorry for himself, got himself together. And voilà, look where he is now.”
Foundation of faith
It wasn't just a physical transformation Keenan III went through this offseason, but a spiritual one as well. When asked what got him to where he is now his first answer was one word: God.
Keenan III's faith in God quickly becomes evident in any conversation with him. It's something he's had to rely on in tough times like when his dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 12 years ago, or in the recent deaths of his grandmother and uncle.
"They had a strong upbringing, and a lot of times you think they weren’t listening, and in fact, he was listening," Keenan Jr. said. "It’s different when you have to apply this, and this is what you really have to live on."
Keenan III said his faith saved his life.
"There’s some things that God knows that if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here," he said. "I see what he’s done for me, and how he’s had his hand on me. I think Pastor Mike said back in Birmingham, ‘If he blesses my neighbor, he's in my neighborhood.’ So if I’m getting blessed, and I see him blessing me, and whoever is all around me all the time is my teammates… I always make it an effort to be a verb and not verbal. Basically be a man of action and not just tell you a bunch of stuff. I just try to be an example and do as I do, not do as I say.”
The redshirt defensive lineman called his teammates his brothers. He does his best to make sure they all feel loved, even starting a Bible study on the team. Keenan III said his biggest superpower is his heart.
"Tim Keenan is the guy I’m probably the proudest of on this team," center Seth McLaughlin said. "Last year, he didn’t get a lot of playing time and was going through a lot of stuff, then he started showing leadership and he’s a devout Christian and he started coming into his own. He’s been a huge piece of our defense this year. I love Tim Keenan. He’s one of the best people on the team to talk to. To see all of his hard work pay off, it’s been incredible.”
2023 season: "Breathing rare air"
Tim Keenan at USF
Alabama Athletics
Keenan III started the season opener against Middle Tennessee and has played in all 10 games so far this season. He has 32 tackles overall, plus a pass deflection and quarterback hurry in the win against Kentucky last weekend.
"He’s played really, really well, been very productive," Saban said. "Smart, very dependable. You can always count on him to do his job. He works hard. He gives great effort. He’s kind of made himself a player here. He’s worked his way up so that he’s a very, very productive player."
As an interior defensive lineman, Keenan doesn't always get to put up the biggest numbers, but he has been instrumental in the Alabama defense this season. He had his moment against Texas A&M with a sack in the fourth quarter that forced the Aggies to settle for a field goal.
Kameron said it's been surreal to watch his brother this season. For his father, it's fulfilling a vision he's had for his son since a young age.
"I really thought about what he said, and this is a dream come true. Because, me growing up in Alabama, that defensive front was immaculate. Always. You had to be extraordinary with your Cornelius Bennetts, Derrick Thomas, all those guys back in the day. My son, I wanted him to play defensive line for the University of Alabama. As a kid, that's what I wanted when he was a little kid. It's always been the goal.”
Outside linebacker Chris Braswell called Keenan a great leader and someone that, "everybody wants to play around a guy like that.” Fellow defensive lineman Jaheim Oatis said Keenan's a guy who works hard every day at practice, and it makes other guys want to play harder.
Keenan III's favorite part of playing defensive line this year has simply been the fact that he's been playing.
"Just to be out there and display my hard work and talents and God's gifts, you really can't tell I wasn't playing for the last two years," he said.
With the transfer portal, it's easier than ever for guys to leave and find a new school when things don't work out instantly. But as Saban pointed out on Monday, NFL executives aren't worried about what a player did his first season. They want to see how a guy grows and transforms through Saban's patented process.
Keenan III had to wait two years, but his hard work, patience and determination are being rewarded with the Crimson Tide this season.
"He could have done what he saw other guys do and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to play that much, so I’m not going to work that hard,'" Saban said. "But this guy worked hard for every minute since he’s been here to get where he's at, and it’s paying off for him.”
