| RECRUIT ⭐️Alabama '24-'25 Recruiting Class ⭐️: 4 ⭐ Zyan Gibson commits to Bama.

Synopsis: AU doesn't have a QB.
This is something I've been wanting to talk about. Their while situation in that room is a mess right now, lost two guys to the portal, and then signed two guys to fill those spots. But what they've done is sign a guy(Arnold), who outside of the Alabama game(I think this is the main reason they signed him), has struggled for his whole career. Guy lost his job to a true freshman due to his play, then was thrust back into the starting job because that guy also was struggling, that was all just a big mess. Guy has talent, but honestly... with what I've seen from him, Auburn just signed themselves another Payton Thorne. The Stanford guy has some talent, but probably won't see the field amidst Arnold not playing well, and their Star freshman coming in May also not see any playing time amidst to how badly those two play. They've crested the exact same situation they had this past season.
 
It is all PR. Everyone spins ,whatever it is, to what makes them look the best. HS recruits, portal recruits, newly got more than 5 years to play JUCO, etc. Then the other side of the coin uses those same players to say this is why your team did not win. See all those guys from the West Coast can’t play football. We don’t have enough from this state (pick one). But one thing we can all agree on is just win baby win. Well two things ROLL TIDE!!
 
Instate recruiting IMHO, is only as it relates to your scheme and philosophy. Some kids simply “won’t fit”, so let’s don’t jump on a kid to see him leave next Spring. DeBoer will make inroads and will get what best fits our systems, either offensively or defensively.

Synopsis: AU doesn't have a QB, but my gawd they've signed some kids from in-state to go with a new class consisting of more than half being transfers.

This is something I've been saying for awhile now... some teams chase the "star rankings" and "recruiting rankings" for some reason. I've never understood it. The MOST important thing you can do in recruiting is to fill your needs with the Best Available to you. It may be great to have 2 or more 5 star QBs... but only one can play, the others are bound to transfer. That goes the same for a lot of positions. The days of "stock piling" talent is over. You need to focus the most on filling the areas of deficiency every year. If that leads you to a lower "class recruiting ranking" or to looking out of state for your recruits, so be it. Ranking and Stars are great fun for us "fans" but in the grand scheme of things they don't mean as much as we tend to try and make it out to be.
 
This is something I've been saying for awhile now... some teams chase the "star rankings" and "recruiting rankings" for some reason. I've never understood it. The MOST important thing you can do in recruiting is to fill your needs with the Best Available to you. It may be great to have 2 or more 5 star QBs... but only one can play, the others are bound to transfer. That goes the same for a lot of positions. The days of "stock piling" talent is over. You need to focus the most on filling the areas of deficiency every year. If that leads you to a lower "class recruiting ranking" or to looking out of state for your recruits, so be it. Ranking and Stars are great fun for us "fans" but in the grand scheme of things they don't mean as much as we tend to try and make it out to be.

It's not an exact science, but Saban's five, and even four, star hauls didn't lose games for us during that run. It's all about how to coach and develop too, but five stars are five stars for a reason. It's of no surprise Georgia has done very well and also done well recruiting those four and five stars.
 
It's not an exact science, but Saban's five, and even four, star hauls didn't lose games for us during that run. It's all about how to coach and develop too, but five stars are five stars for a reason. It's of no surprise Georgia has done very well and also done well recruiting those four and five stars.
Keeping all those players was a lot easier when Saban was coaching. He built a team with good depth. Trying to get players to wait their turn now is nearly impossible.
 
Keeping all those players was a lot easier when Saban was coaching. He built a team with good depth. Trying to get players to wait their turn now is nearly impossible.

Oh yeah, I understand and agree with you. To say some of these star rankings don't matter and fill your needs though isn't the best approach either. Fill your needs with the best talent is what needs to be said. You won't ever see a receiver room like Alabama's with Smith, Jeudy, Waddle, and Ruggs again. Ohio State has made a pretty dang good run with Ebuka, Smith, and Tate, but I think that was due to Ebuka being in there before NIL truly kicked off, and I think Tate leaves after this season. That being said, it will be impossible to stockpile talent, but having a team of 1's being highly recruited can be done.
 
It's not an exact science, but Saban's five, and even four, star hauls didn't lose games for us during that run. It's all about how to coach and develop too, but five stars are five stars for a reason. It's of no surprise Georgia has done very well and also done well recruiting those four and five stars.
THat wasn't my point... I said fill your needs with the best available to you.

My point is recruiting a 5 star because he is a 5 star alone isn't smart. There has to be a fit there too... There are teams (Auburn comes to mind) that tend to recruit to the "rankings" and not to the team needs... just saying.
 
Been thinking about this a little more and why it struck a nerve. For me it comes down to this, I expect Bama to dominate the Barn and Viles in everything even if it is checkers. Do not give them and their fanbase ANY hope. Dominate recruiting, steal their christmas presents, lunch money whatever it takes!!!!
 
Been thinking about this a little more and why it struck a nerve. For me it comes down to this, I expect Bama to dominate the Barn and Viles in everything even if it is checkers. Do not give them and their fanbase ANY hope. Dominate recruiting, steal their christmas presents, lunch money whatever it takes!!!!
Unhealthy obsessions...

I prefer this approach. Recuit well, get what you need.. I don't care where... Just find the players they need to get. Then win one game at a time. Don't look ahead. This exactly what happened to Alabama team.. took teams for granted.
 
Unhealthy obsessions...

I prefer this approach. Recuit well, get what you need.. I don't care where... Just find the players they need to get. Then win one game at a time. Don't look ahead. This exactly what happened to Alabama team.. took teams for granted.
Even the goat said he wanted to dominate his in state rival when he first arrived so pretty sure it is the mindset of a competitor... But I do appreciate you worrying so much about my well being.
 
Even the goat said he wanted to dominate his in state rival when he first arrived so pretty sure it is the mindset of a competitor... But I do appreciate you worrying so much about my well being.
Listen..... This is different era of college football. You get the best players available. Teams are in win now mode. They don't have time to develop players. If we get players from state of Alabama, okay cool. But I really don't care about any of that. I just want Bama to find their new identify under the new coach and go win games they're supposed to.
 
A few nights ago I had a post in the holster that I wanted to add some stuff too and it vanished in the night for some reason. I'm not going to take the time and rewrite it, but here's much more condensed version of it...

While I believe there is value, and in some cases a heavy importance (example: Ryan Williams), on winning in state recruiting battles, overall the idea of this state being loaded with talent year in and year out is a bit overblown. There are some years where the high school talent in Alabama is really, really good. There are other years where it is significantly down. Most years, it is somewhere in-between. As mentioned earlier by @94 Grad, taking a guy from AL in lieu of taking a guy from elsewhere that is of equal or greater talent, isn't really a path to the best possible outcome.

Also, the top 10 ranked guys in the state by Rivals, 247, or ESPN are going to differ from the overall top 10 in the state if the Bama staff were to actually sit down and rank such. But regardless, the top player in AL might be an EDGE LB for example, and that guy may be 3rd on Bama's recruiting board overall. The #2 player in AL my be a RB, but he might be the 7th ranked RB on Bama's recruiting board.

Lastly, quite frankly, a lot of HS players (and this isn't limited to AL) aren't worth nearly what they'd like teams like Bama to pay them. Obviously, this is a newish issue that has bubbled to the surface in the past few cycles now, but it's an issue that is both widespread and impactful on in state recruiting.
 
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