Heartbreak: The owner of Alabama has spent over $20 billion signing an all-time great player, but the head coach has…
Nick Saban said that Wednesday was a difficult day for the Alabama football team. Not because of any drama on early signing day; Alabama didn’t have any pledges that abruptly withdrew. In actuality, the Crimson Tide only signed three more players before Saban’s signing day press conference, adding to their already elite class. Although many people are focused on the unofficial national recruiting holiday, Alabama’s existing team exercised on Wednesday in order to get ready for a playoff game against Michigan. For a coaching staff, juggling these two factors at this hectic time of year, in addition to roster management and other responsibilities, is becoming more and more difficult. At times, it can even be frustrating.
“I know we have to recruit, but we’re trying to get ready for a game,” Saban remarked. We’re recruiting, and there are a lot of things, a lot of guys in the portal, and some players that we think are exceptional players are still out there. So, we’re going to keep trying to do the best job we can in every aspect, from coaching our players to trying to get quality players to come here.
“This would become the signing date,” we declared as we set aside an early signing day many years ago. Additionally, the hiring schedule was advanced by around six months. The majority of guys visit throughout the summer, which is when players come. We used to get a ton of males visiting in January, but this cycle is making it such that we won’t get many visits. Everything is essentially pushed forward. There are simply too many things going on at the moment to take up our time, attention, and focus. It matters to recruit, it matters to the game, and it matters to our squad. We’re making every effort to effectively manage our time so that we can complete by performing well in each of those areas.
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Watch out for these Alabama prospects during the early signing period: who might end up in Tide’s class?
Nevertheless, Saban and Alabama managed the difficult task of balancing preparation for the College Football Playoffs with the requirement to complete a star-studded class (definitely a good problem to have) with the relative ease for which this program has gained a reputation. Alabama signed 23 prospects out of 26 commits (a few players have yet to sign), and as of right now, the 247Sports composite ranks its class as the second best.
There have only been two occasions since 2010 when Alabama hasn’t had a Top 3 class, using that aggregate rating (fourth in 2010, fifth in 2018). With 21 commits on Monday of this week, Alabama was ranked fourth in the country, but during the next 48 hours, it rapidly rose to the top. The Crimson Tide have recruited two uncommitted four-star prospects in edge Jayshawn Ross and DL Steve Mboumoua, as well as two flipped four-star prospects in Aeryn Hampton (athlete, Texas) and Kevin Riley (running back, Miami), since the start of the week. But hold on, there might be more because there are still a few targets.
The only negative aspect of Ohio State’s otherwise outstanding 2024 cycle finish is the ineffective flip effort made by five-star defensive end Eddrick Houston. Alabama has a lot of momentum on the field to go along with the recruiting trail this December, as we’ve seen almost every year. Although it’s always crucial to close out strong, it’s also quite amazing that around 80% of the class committed before the season even started. The successful early signing day was the product of Alabama’s coaches’ concerted efforts to preserve their ties while pursuing other prospects.
