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Mathis lands major SEC offer

Joe Mathis has been talking to Alabama's coaching staff for some time and he sensed an offer was coming soon. It arrived Friday afternoon as the four-star defensive end from Upland, Calif., talked with coach Nick Saban.
"They were talking to me for a long time and then today I talked to coach Saban and he offered me right now for outside linebacker and as a stand-up defensive end," Mathis said.
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"I'm open to it because this year I'm playing that position. It would be really nice. That's the position I want to play."
Being on the phone with Saban was a surreal experience for Mathis, a 6-foot-4, 254-pounder who's rated as the ninth-best strong-side defensive end and No. 93 prospect in the 2013 class by Rivals.com.
Mathis even made a joke about seeing Saban in The Blind Side movie. That went over well and so did the entire conversation between the two.
"It was weird thinking, 'I'm really on the phone with Nick Saban,'" Mathis said. "I tried to do a joke with The Blind Side but he's really serious like a business man.
"He said he's been watching film from the fifth game of my season. I felt welcomed and wanted so it was really nice."
The Alabama offer is another in a long list for Mathis, who committed to Washington early in the recruiting process but de-committed soon after and has seen his recruitment take off.
Alabama, USC, Cal, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington and many others have already offered Mathis and more could be on the way.
The four-star does not plan to narrow down his list to a top five until the day before the first game of his senior season. After that, Mathis plans to take official visits and then make his decision at an all-star game.
"I'm still being patient," Mathis said.
"Nothing is stopping me. Committing this year to Washington, I know I shouldn't have done that, so now I'm just taking it slow and I want to keep the flow going with the offers."
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