Alabama National Signing Day 2017: 5 Takeaways from Crimson Tide Class

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Although it changes from place to place, and team to team, one can always measure how good a recruiting class is by the mood of the coach.

Wednesday afternoon, Nick Saban was in a great mood.

The University of Alabama football head coach had just landed the top class in the nation, not only according to Scout.com’s team rankings, but every major recruiting service in the nation also had the Crimson Tide at No. 1.

"If you see a coach who stands up here today and says he had a bad recruiting day, let me know," Saban said. "You never have a bad recruiting class, and you never have a bad spring practice."

Overall, Alabama officially added 14 players to the 12 who enrolled early, while three others appear to be waiting for roster spots.

The breakdown reads like a checklist, as it includes four offensive lineman, four linebackers, four wide receivers, three defensive linemen, three defensive backs, two quarterbacks, two running backs, two tight ends and one athlete who's initial position hasn't been determined yet.

"We obviously try to identify needs that we have each year, and I think that [with] this class we sort of hit every spot but one," Saban said. "We wanted to recruit at least one corner, maybe two. I just didn’t happen that way."

Consequently, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a player or two switch positions as early as this spring.

Otherwise, here are the most notable aspects from Alabama's national signing day.

Saban Is Still College Football’s Top Recruiter

No offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. Top recruiters/assistant coaches Mario Cristobal and Billy Napier both left to be offensive coordinators for Pac-12 schools. Saban’s former coordinators are head coaches at Georgia, Florida and Florida State, trying to recruit many of the same players.

None of that mattered.

"I didn’t come here because they have the No. 1 class every year," wide receiver Tyrell Shavers said. "I came here because I love this place and I thought it was the place for me."

Overall, Alabama landed 12 players who were labeled as 5-star prospects by at least one service and another 13 judged to be at least a 4-star.

It set a record with ESPN for most players ever from its annual top 300 ranking (20), won a seventh recruiting title by 247Sports and claimed the top spot from Rivals.com for the eighth time in 10 years.

As Saban likes to say, the process never stops.

"I think you have to do an early start in recruiting, which we try and do every year," he said. "I know I spent a significant amount of time on the phone today offering guys for next year."

Alabama already has five verbal commitments for 2018 and one for 2019.

Instant Impact

The 12 players who enrolled early will have a head start when trying to land regular roles during the 2017 season, especially the junior college transfers. Both offensive lineman Elliot Baker and defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs will have a chance to win starting jobs (and/or a rotation spot in the latter's case) from the get-go.

"It’s very exciting," Buggs said about the lack of proven depth on the defensive line. "The only way that it won’t happen is if I mess it up."

Saban made a point of saying that that he wanted to add some explosive playmakers in this class, which includes running back Najee Harris in addition to wide receivers Henry Ruggs III and Devonta Smith, who could also be in the mix on kick and punt returns.

"Najee is a very good all-around player," Saban said. "He’s one of the best players in the country, according to a lot people’s evaluation. "He has great size. He has great speed. He’s very fluid and smooth athletically. Very complete, has really good hands, is a good route-runner. Has special production as a player."

In terms of potential, the sky’s the limit for some of the prize prospects, including tackle Alex Leatherwood, who could also challenge for a starting job in the fall, and linebacker Dylan Moses. Plus quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the MVP of the 2016 Elite 11 quarterback competition.

He’s eager to start competing, along with the other newcomers, and Saban has made it clear that the best players will play regardless of their game.

"It’s go hard or go home," Buggs said. "It’s Nick Saban. He’s going to recruit the best to get the best."

Alabama Already Has a Waitlist

The most controversial decision of the day was with 4-star defensive end Jarez Parks, who prerecorded his announcement while standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Instead, an "emotional" Parks delayed his early-morning announcement, which led to scores of last-second appeals from others schools. He later accepted an offer to grayshirt at Alabama and is expected to enroll in January.

While Alabama was obviously hitting its roster limit, this may be a situation in which the public doesn’t know all the facts, and in the past it's promoted grayshirt players to the active roster when spots have opened up.

The chances of Alabama losing a player or two before the fall are high, as attrition regularly occurs. 

"I cannot comment on anyone who actually didn’t sign an NLI [national letter of intent] today," Saban said when asked about the status of incoming kicker Joseph Bulovas, who is in a similar situation.

Both players are still expected to join the Crimson Tide (offensive lineman Hunter Brannon was also not listed on Alabama’s official list of signees, either).

While critics, including fans of other schools upset to learn that Parks opted to grayshirt with the Crimson Tide rather than be a top addition to their team, took aim at Alabama, it opens the door for future standouts to do something similar.

Alabama Continues to Dominate the State

Alabama signed the top two in-state prospects, defensive end LaBryan Ray and Ruggs, who were both considered 4-star players by Scout.com, but other services had both rated as 5-star talents. 

Per Scout.com’s rankings, Alabama finished with six of the state’s top seven players. Over the last five years, it's landed all but six of the players rated in the Top 5 in the state. 

"We would like to recruit as many guys as we can from our state," Saban said. "We’ve had a lot of great ones."

In addition to the panhandle region, which Alabama has dominated during the Saban years, it's also done well in the Montgomery area, where Ruggs is from (Lee High School), even though Auburn is geographically much closer. Anything north of that has long been considered Crimson Tide territory.

Alabama Dominated in Louisiana

Not only did Alabama top all rivals in its home state, but it also successfully raided the one where Saban previously coached a college football program, Louisiana.

"They have a lot of good players," Saban said. "One of the reasons why I was interested in going there was, when I was in the NFL, they did some survey on how many players per capita each state has in the NFL. Louisiana was like fourth or something on the list."

According to Scout.com, Alabama landed three of Louisiana's top four players in Smith, 4-star outside linebacker Chris Allen and 4-star defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. It also added Buggs and Moses, who originally hail from Ruston and Baton Rouge respectively, with Bulovas waiting in the wings.

Not only will they all contribute to the Crimson Tide, but Alabama doesn’t have to worry about facing them every year during the regular season. The defensive linemen especially are the kind of players that LSU is known for.

Among Alabama's recent success stories from the state include Landon Collins, Eddie Lacy, Tim Williams and Cam Robinson.

"It’s just motivation," Buggs said. "Every time we get a Louisiana guy to Alabama, there’s always some out there saying you let down your home state. So they don’t want to see you succeed. From that point on, you have to prove them wrong."

Meanwhile, LSU landed just two of the top 11 players from its own backyard after Les Miles was fired and replaced by Ed Orgeron. The Tigers still finished seventh in Scout.com's team rankings, led by two 5-star players and 14 4-star prospects, but only four were in-state players.

Overall, Alabama signed players from eight states, including five from Florida and four from Texas.

All recruiting rankings courtesy of Scout.com unless otherwise noted.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.