Saban has built a dynasty in Tuscaloosa with masterful recruiting at the base. The Crimson Tide have pulled in numerous No. 1 recruiting classes with Saban as their head coach and is currently working on bringing in another impressive group in the 2020 recruiting cycle.
During “Hey Coach” on Thursday, Nick Saban offered some insights into what he looks for when evaluating high school recruits.
The six-time national championship-winning coach said he feels people get hunged up on, who is recruiting who in today’s recruiting landscape.
“I do not care, who is recruiting him,” Saban said. “If he fits our criteria for what we want then that is the most important thing, and I think that is the thing that people get a little hung up on now in recruiting, because we recruit these guys so early now it is impossible to really evaluate them and they get these 4 and 5 star ratings when they are sophomores in high school.”
It is not odd to see recruits receive a huge boost in their recruitment after a certain team offers them and recruits are evaluated and in contact with college coaches earlier than ever. However, Saban said there are certain factors he and his staff are looking for when they evaluate.
“We have critical factors for what we are looking for to play that particular position on our team because we know what our system is going to be,” Saban said. “So we know what we are looking for, whether it is at wide receiver or outside ‘backer, cornerback, whatever it is.”
Saban also went on to say, he does not pay attention to star ratings.
“I do not care how many stars he has got,” Saban said. “I usually do not know how many stars a guy’s got. I am asking the question, Why are we recruiting this guy? So, I think it is important that you know what you want and you go get it.”
During every recruiting cycle, Saban and his staff have particular priority positions and they attempt to pull in recruits, who fit their scheme. The veteran coach explained why it is important to get players, whose skill set fit their plans, using Miss Terry’s shopping habits.
“Miss Terry never takes a list to the store,” Saban said. “If you go to our lake house, we will have seven bottles of ketchup and no mustard because we just buy stuff, we just buy stuff. We do not buy what we need, we just buy stuff. If you recruit that way, you end with all these guys that just like having seven bottles of ketchup, but six of them do not have any use.”
Alabama will continue their push for another great class in 2020 and it is safe to say, they will not pull in any players, who does not fit Saban’s plan.
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Justin Smith is a Scouting/Recruiting analyst for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via @Jdsmith31Smith
