According to anonymous sources from NIL collectives, On3 reported a significant increase in the cost for players in the 2025 signing class. It appears that Alabama Football did not get as swept up in spending fervor as other SEC football teams.
According to On3's sources, at least four SEC football programs—Auburn, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M — spent more money on their 2025 signing class than the Alabama Crimson Tide. In On3's Industry Team Ranking, the Longhorns finished with the No. 1 overall class; A&M was No. 7; Auburn was No. 8; and Tennessee was No. 10. Georgia and Alabama spent less but out-recruited three of the four big spenders: Georgia, with the No. 2 class, and the Alabama Crimson Tide, with the nation's No. 3 class.
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs appear to have become the top team that can buy at a discount. In the 2025 cycle, Alabama Football no longer had the Nick Saban discount, but in the minds of many recruits Alabama was still Alabama, gaining the Crimson Tide a continued discount.
On3 shared intriguing data about the signing classes for 2025. They calculated the proportion of 4-star and 5-star recruits in each class, revealing that several big spenders fell short. Although the Auburn Tigers invested heavily, they ranked far behind others. The Oregon Ducks led with an impressive 90% of their signees at the 'Blue Chip' 4-star or 5-star level, while Auburn scored only 62%.
In the On3 analysis Georgia was the top SEC football program at 82%, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at 81%; Texas A&M at 76%; Texas at 72%; LSU at 70%; Missouri at 65%; and Tennessee at 64%.
One thing to remember about projecting success from 'Blue Chip' rosters. 247Sports has been doing a Blue Chip Ratio (BCR) calculation for many years. It has proven to be a solid indicator of future success. Last season it was not. Alabama had college football's No. 2 Blue Chip Ratio and lost four games. In fairness to Bud Elliott and his BCR premise, Ohio State was No. 1 in the BCR and won it all.
Alabama Football will continue focused approach in adding transfers
Roster building has been forever changed by the Transfer Portal. Coaches now use a hybrid approach with a wide range of dependency on annual incoming transfers. Alabama Football's roster-building success has come by using transfers to fill key, immediate needs. That has not changed under Kalen DeBoer.
Transfer activity will continue for months. According to Grant Hughes of 247Sports, Alabama has the SEC's fifth-best transfer class. Only three top SEC teams—LSU, Ole Miss, and Auburn—were graded higher than the Crimson Tide.