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Matt Lomax

Matt Lomax

LG, 6'4, 298, 5.1, 385 BP
Mobile, AL

Birthday: 11-6-80
High School: UMS-Wright
HS Mascot: Bulldogs
HS Coach: Chris Nemith
HS Position: LT
HS Number: 69
AL Number: 69
Official Visits: Alabama
Second Choice: Kentucky or Virginia
Host During Alabama Visit: Bart Raulston and Tyler Watts
Committed: 10-4-98
Roommate To Be: Casey Gilbert
Academic Status: Qualified

Stats

HS Junior Season

Blocking

  • Graded 92

Tackles

  • 31 total
  • 4 QB sacks

HS Senior Season

Blocking

  • Graded 90

Honors

  • Two-time All-State
  • Parade All-American
  • Tampa Tribune National Top 100
  • Prep Star Dream Team
  • Atlanta Journal Southern Top 100
  • BHP Ten Most Wanted
  • Tuscaloosa News Sweet 16
  • USA Today All American
  • Pigskin Preps Super South 75
  • Forrest Davis All South
  • SuperPrep All American
  • Prep Star All American
  • AL MS HS All Star Game

SBR Scouting Report

Technically advanced. Good pass protector and solid run blocker. Played left tackle but will probably project as a left guard in college. Natural left-hander, so playing on the left side puts his dominant hand on the outside. Consequently, it gives him an advantage against an outside pass rush or when executing a reach block.

[Observation: highlight tape.]

Stories

Matt Lomax Grows Into An All-American

By Thomas Murphy
Mobile Press-Register Sports Writer

Matt Lomax took the long path to the Parade All-American list.

Matt Lomax
Lomax

The offensive line signee for the University of Alabama out of Mobile's UMS-Wright started his football career as a quarterback, then abruptly gave up the sport for several years. The problem Lomax faced: He was larger than the other kids his age.

"I played three seasons at quarterback in pee wee ball," Lomax said. "One summer I had a big growth spurt. Then I didn't want to play with the bigger guys because they have weight limits."

"I wasn't planning on playing football at UMS-Wright. Everybody there swayed me. I was the biggest guy."

Lomax grew into a 6-4, 290-pound guy who left more than his share of defensive linemen in the dust.

But Lomax, whose parents, Mike and Martha Lomax, are ardent Alabama fans, had a first love before connecting with the pigskin. When he decided not to bash helmets with the older kids in grade school, Lomax turned to baseball, where he excelled in youth leagues as a first baseman.

During the summer before his eighth-grade year, Matt asked his father, Mike Lomax, if he could transfer to UMS-Wright from Shiloh, a Christian school in Saraland.

"I told him at UMS at least three people would ask him if he wanted to play football on his first day of school: a player, a coach and someone from the administration," Mike Lomax said. "We made sure that pursuit of scholarship was something he wanted to do."

Still advanced for his age, Lomax was 6-feet tall and weighed 200 pounds as he enrolled at UMS-Wright for his eighth-grade year. But because of transfer rules, he had to sit out a season before he became eligible.

While at UMS-Wright, Lomax ran across a succession of coaches who helped hone his skills, show him the benefit of weight training and make him believe he could advance past the prep level in his sport. Jack Lynn, a former NFL player with the Detroit Lions, served as the UMS offensive line coach Lomax's junior year. Then the school hired Marshall Culbreth from Troy State for his senior year. Head coach Chris Nemeth also played a key role in helping Lomax develop his blocking skills and his drive for the game.

"He pushed the kids really hard," Mike Lomax said. "It was not one of Matt's favorite things for a long time. But when he saw the fruits of what it brought him, he responded. He saw the weight room was a means to an end."

Lomax's rise from a part-time starter as a sophomore to one of the nation's top offensive lineman still amazes the player and his family.

"I never even imagined all this, but I'm honored being included on the list," Lomax said.

"That's simply because Matt never showed a tremendous interest in football as a boy," Mike Lomax said. "He always played baseball. We were just determined to let him do what he wanted to do."

"His brother was a good football athlete and everybody expected Matt to follow suit and he just didn't."

At least he didn't until he reached the high school level.

The son of an electrical contractor and an office manager, Lomax grew up in a Crimson environment.

"I always wanted to go there," he said. "It was just a matter of anyone else stealing their thunder."

During summer camps and official visits to schools such as Michigan, Kentucky, Clemson, Virginia, Tennessee and Auburn, none of those schools could supplant Alabama as Lomax's ideal destination.

He committed to the Crimson Tide early last fall.

Lomax, considered one of the most polished pass protectors coming out of the prep ranks this year, has a grasp on the blocking skills he'll need to improve to earn quality playing time while at the Capstone.

"As far as me having a guy head up on me and having to block man-on-man, I'm not that good," he said. "In our offense we had a lot of zone stepping and combo blocking and coming off on linebackers."

Lomax is already running in good company. When he visits the campus in Tuscaloosa, he hangs out with redshirt freshman quarterback Tyler Watts and his roomate Bart Raulston, an offensive line redshirt.

Lomax was asked what he thought the Alabama program could achieve in the coming years and he responded with a two-word answer: "National Championship."

Lomax Wins Smokehouse Award

An excellent camp for high school offensive linemen is held every summer at the University of Michigan. Last summer over 150 offensive linemen, including 20 of the nation's blue-chippers, attended the camp. One of those was Matt Lomax.

"It was a nice experience," Lomax says. "They say that a lot of the top players are there. I didn't know any of them because they were from places all over like California."

A favorite part of the camp is the Smokehouse competition. Players compete in the 40-yard dash against others who play the same position. Lomax won amongst offensive linemen with a time of 5.13.

"They gave me a nice plaque that says University of Michigan Smokehouse Award Winner on it," Lomax says. "It felt pretty good to win it."

Lomax Lays Out A Linebacker

It was in the state playoffs during his sophomore year when Matt Lomax made the most memorable block of his high school career.

"We were playing Ohatchee," Lomax says. "I was subbing for one of our seniors who was injured."

Lomax was lined up at left tackle.

"We ran a running play over me," Lomax says. "I got a combo block on a linebacker that sprung our running back for a long gain. Our coaches went nuts. It really excited them to see a sophomore make a block like that."