Alabama Recruiting: Saban Takes Alabama From Regional To Nationwide

Take a look at the Scout.com and Rivals.com Web sites and the information that they have accumulated on the Alabama recruits over the past few classes and you know why the Alabama staff went after these particular individuals.

Now, take a look at where they are from and you will be surprised at the success of the Saban and his team of recruiters in landing kids out of state to the University of Alabama. It's not overtly obvious, because the numbers are relatively small when it comes to recruiting classes, so I will keep the statistics to a minimum.

The ability that Nick Saban has shown to recruit nationally is a unique quality that he brings to college football. No other college coach has been able to do what Saban is doing, bar none. In fact, there are no other college coaches that have achieved this level of national success and no coach has shown his level of success in such a short time.

Saban came to Alabama after the end of the NFL regular season, which ends in early January. Most of the recruits had committed to Mike Shula. It was the job of the Saban staff to keep the recruiting class intact.

The one big name Saban lost in that class was a Florida recruit, Plant quarterback, Robert Marve. Marve later signed with The University of Miami. He is now at Perdue. Needless to say, the young man was and is talented, but he did not become the impact player that he was billed to be.

The 2007 class was composed of 11 Alabama recruits, three Georgia natives, and two athletes each out of Mississippi and Florida.

There are two big recruits in the 2007 class that Saban does get specific credit for reeling into Tuscaloosa. They were both rated four star by each of the scouting sites.

Luther Davis held an offer from LSU at the time and his de-commitment caused a lot of friction in the state and sent Les Miles off the edge. It was one of the occurrences that led Les to drop a few "F-bombs" to LSU boosters when referring to Saban and Alabama.

Virginia native, Kareem Jackson (Fork Union Military Academy), was brought in by Nick Saban. Jackson started as a true freshman and played every game through his junior year. He is now making a living in the NFL.

A total of 24 athletes signed letters of intent in 2007.

This particular year held a bumper crop of in-state recruits. Alabama landed 18 in-state commitments in Saban's first full year of recruiting, sweeping the states talented football players into the Capstone. He landed two athletes each from the states of Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.

This class includes Julio Jones, B.J. Scott, and Tyler Love, all listed as five star in-state talent. Scott will have an impact in 2010, Love is being groomed as a left tackle. His development as a left tackle has taken place behind two All-Americans, Andre Smith and JUCO transfer, James Carpenter.

Mark Barron, Courtney Tremaine Upshaw, Robert Lester, Jerrell Harris, Marcel Dareus, Undra Billingsley, Glen Harbin, and Michael Williams were all harvested during this bumper crop year. Two star legacy Wes Neighbors also entered with these three and four star talents. All will be major contributors in 2010 as redshirt sophomores or juniors.

Saban reached out to his ties in the state of Michigan and landed what is now an historic recruit, by gathering in four star talent, Mark Ingram. In his sophomore year, Ingram became the first Alabama football player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Terrence Cody, a Florida native, attended Junior College in Mississippi, had thoughts of returning to his home state to attend the University of Miami. He visited the University of Alabama and never wavered from his commitment.

While good talent has always crossed the border from Tennessee to attend Alabama, the quality of the recruits from the Volunteer state in 2008 was unmatched from seasons past. Three recruits signing with Saban, snubbing the Big Orange Machine included Chris Jordan, Barrett Jones, and Dont'a Hightower. 

Hightower started from day one and is an impact player. He suffered a set back in 2009 due to injury. He will be the leader of the defense in 2010.

Barrett Jones redshirted as a true freshman and became a starter in his redshirt freshman year. At the right guard position, he is responsible for opening those "A" and "B" gaps that allow the talented running backs to wreak havoc on the linebackers and secondary. In 2009, Jones was awarded the honor of All-SEC Freshman and first-team Freshman All-American for his efforts.

Jones, an SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll selection in 2008 and a member of the 2009 SEC Academic Honor Roll...should contend for both first-team All-SEC and All-American honors as a sophomore in 2010. He will be instrumental in the development of D.J. Fluker at the right tackle position during 2010, as well.

Chris Jordan was one of 16 true freshman to see playing time in 2008. While his major contribution thus far has been on special teams, he has been relief for the talented linebacker corp as backup at the Will position. Jordan is a potential starter in 2010. If becoming a starter doesn't work out, he will nonetheless be a main contributor to the 2010 linebacker unit.

In 2008, Alabama signed 32 athletes and garnered the nation's No. 1 position in recruiting.

There has been attrition from this signing class, despite its remarkable contribution. Four-star QB Star Jackson has transferred to Georgia State for the opportunity to become a starter during this inaugural season for the Panthers in 2010.

Four-star RB Melvin Ray opted to try for success in the minor league of baseball after receiving a lucrative million dollar offer. Ray has presumptively finished this pursuit and may enter college at the Capstone in January 2011.

Cornerback Alonzo Lawrence Transferred to Southern Mississippi after the 2008 season and is vying for a starting role. Robby Green is serving a suspension, and Kicker Corey Smith (Mussleman, WV) has disappeared to parts unknown.

Saban once again raided the in-state talent and raked in nearly all of the four and five star athletes. The only four star athlete signing elsewhere was a 6'1" defensive tackle that simply did not fit the criteria for the prototype nose tackle/defensive lineman that Saban recruits. Nine of the Alabama Top 20 football players signed letters of intent with the University of Alabama.

Saban and his staff reached into the state of Florida and pulled out five-star recruit Trent Richardson. He also reeled in four star recruits, Ed Stinson (DE) and Petey Smith (LB).

In 2009, Alabama signed more recruits from the state of Georgia than any year previous, as far back as Rivals and Scout have record. Five players left the Peach State for Alabama, including LB Jonathan Atchison, offensive linemen Chance Warmack, Kellen Williams, and Darius McKeller, and WR Michael Bowman.

The quality and number of recruits from Mississippi and Louisiana improved, much like the recruits from Tennessee in 2008, with Alabama receiving letters of intent from Anthony Steen (OL) and Kevin Norwood (WR). Rod Woodson (DB) was a member of this class but has since transferred to North Alabama.

From the State of Louisiana, Darrington Sentimore (DE), Eddie Lacy (RB) and Kenny Bell (WR) signed with the Capstone. Each of these players will garner significant playing time in 2010. Since Saban's arrival to the University of Alabama, high quality talent is leaking from the Pelican State to the Yellow Hammer State.

Saban reached way back to his ties in the state of Ohio and landed running back Mike Marrow, a three-star talent from Toledo, Ohio (Central Catholic). He also reached into the backyard of the "Head Ball Coach" and plucked Chris Bonds right from under the nose of Steve Spurrier. The three-star defensive lineman from Columbia, SC (Richland Northeast) committed in late November and stuck with the Tide.

In 2009, Alabama signed 27 athletes, more than sixty percent of those letters of intent were from out of state. It was the first time that has happened in the history of the football program. To top it off, Alabama finished with the No. 1 ranked class for the second straight year.

Alabama continued the trend of raking the home state of quality talent, but limiting the take to positions of need for depth. In 2010, Saban received 10 letters of intent from in-state athletes. For the second year in a row, Saban signed more out of state athletes than taken in-state.

While Brandon Lewis is listed as a Mississippi signee, he is from Pleasant Groove, Al and originally signed to play in 2008. He is now a JUCO transfer. He is considered an Alabama athlete for the purposes of this article. Dequan Menzie is originally from Columbus, Georgia, and is thus considered a Georgia athlete.

Alabama signed 26 players in the class and landed No. 5 in team rankings nationally.

Saban has turned recruiting at Alabama into a national endeavor, not simply a regional event. While he is smart to focus on in-state talent, calling the best to play for their State University, he will not rely on the state, or surrounding states for that matter, to meet all of his needs.

In fact, in-state athletes will once again consider it an honor to fill the needs of the program, rather than take it as a given that they will have a place to play at the D1 level. The Alabama athlete will always remain at the core of the Alabama football program, but Saban is surrounding the best in Alabama with the best in the region while plucking a few choice athletes at choice positions from any state housing the talent he desires.

In 2010, Saban gathered recruits from the states of Georgia (six), Maryland (one), North Carolina (one), South Carolina (one), Tennessee (three), and Texas (three). He went all out for one of the highest ranked quarterbacks in the country and received an early commitment from Phillip Sims in April 2009. Sims, out of Chesapeake, VA (Oscar Smith) broke every passing record in the state of Virginia during his tenure at quarterback.

In 2011, the trend continues. Of the 17 commitments, only four are in-state athletes. They are all highly ranked and sought after players from very competitive programs. Alabama has three commits from Florida athletes, two from Mississippi, Georgia and Ohio. Saban has also received a commitment from one offensive lineman from California, and a talented athlete from Tennessee.

Alabama is no longer a regional program. Saban is not just bad, He's nationwide.