Alabama football enrolled 26 members of its 2023 recruiting class in January, and Nick Saban feels The Crimson Tide will need some of them to step up during their first year in Tuscaloosa.
This group of early enrollees is the most the Tide has ever had to participate in winter workouts and spring football. Saban expressed he does not push guys to early enroll, but he does see the benefit in doing so.
The Alabama head coach knows there is a challenge when bringing in several new and young players. It is going to impact the way Alabama develops those particular players, but Saban feels the Tide’s incoming class will be called upon this fall.
“I think the freshman class needs to come in and make a quick impact,” Saban said at Alabama’s Pro Day. “We don’t try to talk guys into being mid-year guys, but if they want to do it, I think there is some advantages from a personal, from an academic transition standpoint as well as we have more time to develop them in football and be a little more ready to play in the fall. But I also look at it like one-third of our team, that’s their first practice ever as a college player. We’ve never had to deal with that before either. We’ve gotta have some patience in how we develop these players.”
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Only two of Alabama’s early enrollees have college football experience. The other 24 will enter the fall as true freshmen.
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