The next step for Kalen DeBoer in recruiting is winning the state of Alabama

Recruiting is all about building relationships, and in that department, Kalen DeBoer started way behind the eight-ball in the 2025 cycle in the state of Alabama. I want to establish that this piece is not a criticism of DeBoer - he did the absolute best he could do in this class with the time he had to put it together.

Really, it's rather remarkable that Alabama came out of the early signing period with the No. 2 class in the nation considering they had to start from scratch in January following the flurry of decommitments in the wake of Nick Saban's sudden retirement. He put together a better class than anyone could have reasonably expected.

DeBoer and the majority of his staff aside from holdovers Freddie Roach and Robert Gillespie had no relationship with in-state players and coaches. Hugh Freeze and Auburn took advantage of that in this cycle, to be expected. But that's a trend that cannot continue.

Eight of the Top 10 players in the state according to the 247 composite rankings signed with Auburn. The top player signed with Oregon. The other Top 10 player signed with Ohio State. Alabama ultimately signed only two players from the home state, with the highest-ranked player being Micah DeBose, No. 15 in the state per the composite rankings.

Several of those players - like Derick Smith and Antonio Coleman - were once committed to Alabama. Despite all of that, Alabama still signed a better class than Auburn. But the people who say in-state recruiting doesn't matter are kidding themselves.

In the NIL era where players are mostly playing for a paycheck, I think you have to lean more on in-state guys because playing for Alabama matters to them more than just because they're getting paid to do so. That script A means something to them.

Take Malachi Moore for example - an in-state kid who grew up dreaming of playing for the Crimson Tide. You could tell how much Alabama meant to him all season long and throughout his career.

Alabama is a national brand and they will recruit as such. That was the case under Saban and it is still true under DeBoer. Alabama will go after the best players in the country regardless of where they are from. But the top eight players in the state of Alabama are ranked inside the Top-100 nationally in 2025. Those players are among the best at their respective position groups.

The good news is that I truly believe this was a one-year blip on the radar that Freeze was able to take advantage of. Those relationships are being built, and there might not be a better relationship builder in the entire country than the Tide's General Manager Courtney Morgan.

Alabama already has a commitment from one of the top players in the state in 2026 - 4-star DL Vodney Cleveland from Birmingham. Two of Alabama's three commitments in 2027 are highly regarded in-state prospects.

DeBoer's next step as a recruiter will be to take the state back. Considering how he answered the bell as an overall recruiter in his first cycle, I like his odds of doing so.