Early Signing Day 2024, marking the first recruiting class that new Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer can call his own, might be the best day of all for this reminder: former coach Nick Saban, expert recruiter that he was, didn't leave the cupboard quite as full as history might eventually paint.
DeBoer took the first major step toward infusing the kind of player he wants on his roster on Wednesday, inking an expected 21 recruits for 2025 who will impact the Crimson Tide's style of play , and the direction the program takes, under his leadership. But he'll do it with lineup holes to fill like plenty of other SEC coaches, and with depth not much better than theirs, either.
"But wait," you say: "Didn't Saban sign the No. 2-ranked class in the country in 2022, the No. 1 class in 2023, and back it up with the No. 2 class last December for 2024?"
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Spare me the rankings argument. Saban's run of success made recruiting class rankings look like an annual crystal ball through which fans could peer straight into the next season's championship run. But in reality, compiling a signing class that experts believe to be one of the nation's best is not at all predictive to a certainty. As UA outside linebackers coach Christian Robinson noted recently, recruits turn in their stars, be it five of them or two, upon enrollment. Notwithstanding the 2024 class that's just getting started, Saban's last several recruiting classes didn't/haven't delivered on the field quite as well as recruiting rankings foretold. Four- and five-star recruits bust sometimes. Or transfer. Or get hurt. Or maybe they develop into good college players, just not great ones. It happens.
Anyone who thinks Saban left behind as much talent on the offensive and defensive lines as he had on some of his national championship teams hasn't been watching UA football closely. Small cracks in the talent pool on the line of scrimmage began showing up a year or two after UA's last national title in 2020. Those cracks got bigger by the time DeBoer arrived. The advent of the transfer portal helped Saban patch some holes in his starting lineup; wide receiver Jameson Williams was the most notable example. But the portal also began robbing him of the second-string depth that was once a major factor in the separation between Alabama and the rest of college football.
That's not to say DeBoer didn't inherit a strong roster. He did.
But he wasn't handed the keys to a roaring Ferrari, either.
That's why Alabama's first three-loss regular season since 2010 doesn't fall squarely at DeBoer's feet, and it's why DeBoer's first full collection of signees will have a chance to make a significant impact in 2025. The Crimson Tide will need more competition across the offensive line, especially at right tackle, and even more so because of the pending early NFL draft entry expected from standout guard Tyler Booker . Nobody returning on the defensive line has the look of a future Jonathan Allen , Jarran Reed or Quinnen Williams , but perhaps a DL signee will. There's room for help at wide receiver, tight end and that's not all. Saban once could pluck star-quality edge rushers off a tree that never seemed to be out of season.
DeBoer now has to plant his own.
And Wednesday's signing class will need steady water and sunlight.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football more than ready for help from DeBoer's first class
