Alabama Football: Nick Saban can afford to be Portal-picky

As Nick Saban said it would; before college football free agency began, the game of roster management has drastically changed. Alabama Football has the No. 1, 2023 Signing Class of high school and JUCO players, and CFB pundits treat it as a ho-hum result.

In the football media, almost no thought is given to how good any team’s roster can be in 2024. It is almost as though developing young and less experienced players is a triviality.

It is not that Nick Saban was some kind of soothsayer. All anyone had to do was look at how much college basketball changed when ‘one-and-done’ became the norm for programs fortunate enough to land what Dick Vitale playfully coined long ago, the diaper dandies.

College basketball changed, but was not damaged by the ‘one and done’ mentality. In a similar fashion, college football will not be seriously harmed by its current free agency, made up of revolving door transfers and NIL inducements.

That is the top programs will not be hurt. Below the top, what are fast becoming feeder programs, will lose many of their best players every transfer cycle.

It is somewhat ironic that in a different way, Alabama Football is content to be a feeder program. The difference is for the Crimson Tide, a great majority of transfer exits are pruning, needed to cultivate a stronger roster.

Alabama Football, Nick Saban, and Patience

The Crimson Tide has benefitted significantly in the free-agent era. Two of many examples are Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs. But unlike nearly every other coach, Nick Saban can afford to be very selective.

Based on the On3 Team Rankings, Alabama is next to last among SEC teams and No. 67 overall in current Transfer Portal success. As I suggested a couple of days ago, the number of Transfer Portal exits for the Crimson Tide does not much matter. Nick Saban’s always strong recruiting classes mean many top recruits, who don’t reach their personal goals in Tuscaloosa, will be in high demand.

What matters to Saban is, to whatever extent the Crimson Tide needs more competition for new starting roles, does the Transfer Portal include a potential, immediate starter? Currently, the Portal has been picked almost clean. But that will change in May. If an experienced safety or maybe a defensive lineman becomes available AND, if Saban thinks they can make an impact in the 2023 rotation, then another transfer player or two may be added.

Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, and other teams getting rave media reviews for their Portal additions is no reason for Alabama football fans to fret. Nick Saban can afford to be picky and patient.