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Alabama Football: Some SEC coaches need a new recruiting manual

By Ronald Evans

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 6: Head Coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks to the media during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day at Philips Arena on January 6, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 6: Head Coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks to the media during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day at Philips Arena on January 6, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Recruiting has changed and no one knows that more than Alabama football coach, Nick Saban. Not every SEC coach has adjusted so successfully.

The NCAA Early Signing Period fundamentally changed recruiting and it took Alabama football coach, Nick Saban only one cycle to figure it out. Now, in season three of the new recruiting rules, Nick Saban has tailored the Tide’s efforts to evaluate sooner and tie down commitments sooner.

Nick Saban has not written a manual for coaches to follow. Other college football coaches should not need one. All they have to do follow the lead of Alabama football coach and recruiting master, Nick Saban. It doesn’t take a sneak photo of the Tide’s ‘Big Board’ to figure what to do. After Kirby’s exploits, we doubt there is an actual, big board. Instead, there are probably computer lists, triple-passcode protected, not stored in a cloud and certainly not accessible remotely, even on an assistant’s laptop. The master list of the few guys the Tide will accept a commitment from, likely resides solely inside Nick Saban’s computer-like brain.

Is Nick Saban college football’s smartest head coach? Any answer would depend on the measuring tool. There are other smart guys besides Saban. David Cutcliffe, Chris Peterson and Mike Leach are a trio with sharp minds. When it comes to which smart guy best uses his mental acumen for football, Saban is the clear leader.

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What Saban has done with recruiting is escalate the closing schedule. In the 2020 recruiting class, Alabama football has 20 verbal commits. Assuming the limit is about 26, the Crimson Tide could be finished before fall camp begins. Saban will stop taking summer commitments somewhere below 26 to leave room for two or three most highly prized prospects. The numbers might also shift down if a couple of current commits decide to avoid future depth chart battles.

What Nick Saban has learned is to fill all roster needs by the Early Signing Period. Everything beyond that is cake-icing, even if it is a couple more 5-Star recruits.

Championship football requires rosters deep with talent. With early NFL entry and the transfer portal, coaches must rebuild rosters on about a two-year cycle. One sub-par recruiting class can be devastating to a program.

Looking at the 247Sports 2020 Team Ranking, many SEC coaches appear to have not adapted to nailing down commits earlier. The value of an SEC brand is not be underestimated. Even so, nine SEC football programs lag behind in recruiting. While (in order) Clemson, Alabama, LSU and Georgia sprint past everyone else, Florida (No. 7) and South Carolina (No. 11) also do well. Check out the rest of the SEC below.

  • Mississippi State is at No. 14 with 17 verbal commits but 16 of those commits are rated as 3-Star recruits.
  • Texas A&M is at No. 16 but has only nine commits. Jimbo should be reaping the benefits of talent-rich Texas but he is off to a slow start.
  • Ole Miss is ranked No. 19 and Matt Luke appears to be making of the mess he inherited. But, of Ole Miss’ 13 commits, 12 are 3-Star recruits.
  • Auburn is No. 23 with nine commits and five of them are 3-Star recruits.
  • Tennessee is No. 25 with nine commits of whom five are 4-Star prospects.
  • Kentucky is No. 29 with eight commits, five are 3-Star recruits.
  • Arkansas is No. 30 with nine commits, seven are 3-Star recruits.
  • Missouri is No. 36 with eight commits, seven are 3-Star recruits.
  • Vanderbilt is No. 47 with seven commits, all 3-Star recruits.

A note and a thought for consideration – in the 2019 class, three SEC schools finished below the Top 25 classes. 2020 may not end up being any different. Also, 3-Star recruits can become solid contributors to any team and even acclaimed stars, particularly on teams not filled with elite players.

Next. Top 10 Wide Receivers in Crimson Tide History. dark

As a point of reference for a program clearly failing the 2020 recruiting test, check out USC. Clay Helton has the No. 63 class with only four commits. Every SEC school, except perhaps Vanderbilt, is likely to gain a higher rated signing class than USC.

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