When The University of Alabama hired Nick Saban to be their next head coach on January 3, 2007, Saban had about a month to pick up the pieces of what was becoming Mike Shula’s fourth class.
In a month, Saban took the class all the way to number 10 in the rivals.com rankings.
For his 2008 class, however, Saban has had an entire year and has used every single minute of it to land one of the top three classes in the country for this recruiting season.
Saban has not only reclaimed the state after it almost slipped to Auburn and the rest of the SEC, but he has also reached out to other states and has begun to take them over as well.
Before Saban, top recruits such as JaMarcus Russell and Pat White were leaving the state for other schools. Now, Saban is keeping that home grown talent inside the Alabama state lines.
Alabama has landed all top five recruits from the state, including all-everything WR, and 14 of the top 20 from the state of Alabama. In a year in which the state of Alabama boasted some of its best talent ever, the Tide has kept it under wraps.
Some more big names from inside the state are OL Tyler Love and athlete Burton Scott, both of whom are rated with five-stars along with Jones.
The upside of Scott and Love is that their commitment came very early in the process and they continued to aid the Tide to get this great class. Both came down to visit unofficially multiple times to aid with recruiting and Scott took visits with other prospects who were considering Alabama in hopes of swaying their opinion.
Not only was Saban dominant in-state, but the Tide coach, now in his second year, branched out nationwide and pulled in 14 guys from out of state to be a part of this class of over 30 players.
Alabama managed to pull three of the top five guys out of Tennessee, gained huge strides in getting two players out of Florida, neither of whom were expected to leave the state, and then the best cornerback out of Mississippi.
The prized players from out of state are Quarterback Star Jackson from Florida, Barrett Jones from Tennessee, and Alonzo Lawrence from Mississippi.
Jackson is no doubt the Tide’s quarterback of the future, and fans are ready for him to hit the field as early the Tide’s opener against Clemson. He is listed as a pro-style quarterback according to rivals, but Jackson also has the ability to run the ball effectively.
Barrett Jones, the number one player out of Tennessee, is actually an Alabama legacy. His father played basketball for the Tide back in the 70’s. That connection has played a huge part in his recruitment to Alabama.
Lawrence, a late bloomer in this recruiting season, was heavily recruited by Alabama before his performance in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game against. Lawrence is also the number one player in the state of Mississippi and the number two corner in the nation.
Saban also used his old coaching ties from previous jobs to pull in guys from Michigan and Louisiana as well.
Saban was able to get Mark Ingram, a running back from Michigan, and Robby Green, a six-foot defensive back from Louisiana.
Not only did Alabama recruit well geographically, but the Tide also covered some major needs on the team.
The Tide is losing many key players from their 2007 team, including all three starting wide receivers, DJ Hall, Keith Brown, and Matt Caddell, and two All-SEC defensive guys: Wallace Gilberry at defensive end and Simeon Castille at cover corner.
Saban, however, managed to not only fill these spots, but made sure that there was plenty of guys in reserve to push whoever gets the start.
Alabama’s best recruited position was no doubt the defensive line. Eight members from this class are defensive linemen, with Saban bringing in four ends and four tackles.
The best defensive end in the class was actually the Tide’s first commit for the 2008 class in Michael Williams out of Reform, AL. As far as defensive tackle, the best defensive tackle is JUCO transfer Kerry Murphy, but the Tide has something much bigger in the bag as well. Try Terrence Cody, a 6-foot-5, 395 pound JUCO transfer. The Tide boast four guys in this defensive line class over 6’ 5".
Behind the defensive line for best recruited position was no doubt the wide receivers, and some Bama fans will argue over which position is more dire at the moment. With recruits such as, Melvin Ray, and Burton Scott no doubt hitting the field in the fall, this wide receiving core has a lot of promise in it. Jones will definitely take the field next year for the Tide as a top-five national recruit, and Burton Scott already has an offensive package waiting for him in Tuscaloosa.
The corner position was something important for the Crimson Tide to tackle this recruiting season, and Saban and his staff met it head on, pulling in three guys over six feet tall. The most impressive of these three is Lawrence, who will no doubt fill in the void left by Simeon Castille.
With this class, Alabama has set a new rivals record for most 4 and 5-star players in one class. The Tide has pulled in 22 guys of a four star or higher rating.
Nick Saban has also made great strides in recruiting that was missing under Mike Shula by pulling in all those recruits. Saban has 19 four-star recruits in this class. Shula had a total of 20 four-star recruits in his 3 recruiting classes.
By the time this article was written, Alabama had received letters of intent from all of their commitments.
Alabama is rated has having the best class according to both rivals.com and scout.com.
Now that signing day has come and gone and the speculation over whether these players will sign, the Tide now looks to 2008 and beyond.
The immediate impact of this class will no doubt be felt on August 30 when the Tide face off against the Clemson Tigers in the Georgia Dome. However, Tide fans and the new recruits are looking not only to the start of the season, but at a national championship in the next few years.
"This class will win a national championship before I get out of school," Star Jackson said. "And you can quote me on that."
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment