Alabama Football: Who Is the Thorn in Nick Saban's Side in Recruiting?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Every year, Nick Saban pretty much gets the class he wants and his recruiting classes are usually among the top classes in the world of college football.

But lately, a splinter has turned into a thorn and someone has turned into a pain in Nick Saban's posterior region—and that person is Jimbo Fisher.

The two are actually good friends and Jimbo calls Saban his mentor. Fisher was on Nick's staff at LSU that won a national championship and Saban wanted him to come to Alabama and take over the Tide defense when he got back into college coaching from the NFL.

But Fisher saw a better deal in going to Florida State who had boosters promising him "coach in waiting" status for an aging Bobby Bowden.

The two, however, remained good friends as they still are today, but in this, his second season as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles with a 17-7 record, he has got recruits thinking these Seminoles are ready for another uprising and are buying into Fisher's program.

Saban is used to getting the top talent out of his own state and lately he's been taking the cream out of Georgia, Mississippi and even Louisiana.

But this year, Fisher has come to Alabama and taken some right out from under the old teacher himself.

One of them was Jameis Winston, the top dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of Alabama, who Saban wanted to sign.

Others were 4-star Chris Casher, a defensive end from Saban's fertile recruiting ground of Mobile, Justin Shanks, another 4-star defensive tackle from Prattville (which has been Alabama's pipeline almost exclusively), and Alphonse Taylor, a big 6'6'' offensive lineman.

All these players that signed with Florida State also had an offer from Alabama.

This week I had the pleasure of being in the company of Andrew Bone, recruiting guru for Scout.com and FOX Sports.

According to Bone, Saban hasn't given up on recruiting Winston and fully intends to steal him from Fisher's grasp.

Since his commitment, Saban has gone to see Winston play and has continued to work him. It may be working as Bone says that Winston is beginning to have second thoughts about his commitment to Florida State.

So it seems that Saban intends to keep being as big a thorn in every other coach's side and especially Fisher, as Fisher has been to him.

And the recruiting wars continue...