Four of the names on the list were names that graced the list last season: quarterback Bryce Young, linebackers Will Anderson Jr. and Henry To'oTo'o and defensive back Jordan Battle. This year, however, a fifth name was added to the list in defensive lineman DJ Dale.
The Crimson Tide's leadership council has traditionally been composed of just four players. That being said, Saban said that Dale's emergence as a leader on the team warranted him being added as a fifth player to the team's core recognized leadership group.
"We have four guys that were on the leadership group last year, and we've added one," Saban said on Monday. "Henry's been a really, really good leader, Jordan Battle's been a really good leader. We added DJ Dale to the leadership group because he's emerged as a leader in the offseason program. Bryce has been a really good leader and affected a lot of people in a positive way and has developed more and more of a presence as his confidence has grown throughout last season to be more assertive, to get other players to do the things that they need to do to be successful.