FSU football: Nick Saban's retirement opens door for recruiting to take advantage
By Kelvin Hunt
Alabama Recruited Well Because of Saban
Nick Saban was a recruiting machine, assembling ridiculous recruiting classes every single year. It's one of the main reasons why he only had one three-loss season after his first season. Saban came to Alabama as a national championship coach with recruiting ties to the southeast. Kalen Deboer doesn't have a national championship, nor does he have recruiting ties to the Southeast. Blue-chip recruits flocked to Alabama because of the allure of playing for a legendary coach like Saban. Alabama won't have that luxury anymore, and their NIL collective reportedly isn't among the best since the seemingly got complacent because some players would take a discount to play for Saban.
Alabama raided Florida and Georgia for top talent every year. Alabama signed 18 blue-chip players from those two states over the last three recruiting cycles. The recruiting battles FSU lost to Saban have been plentiful. However, those days may be over. In fact, FSU had already poached a player they lost to Saban a couple of years ago, Earl Little Jr. They also have former Alabama players Malik Benson and Terrence Ferguson from the transfer portal. They also have two Alabama players visiting campus right now who entered the transfer portal.