We would have seen more from him this past season if he wasn't slowed down by injury the first few weeks: his season basically started vs UGA. A lot of ST play: he did really well there.
I expect him to be in the two deep with little doubt.
| RECRUIT ⭐️Alabama '24-'25 Recruiting Class ⭐️: 4 ⭐ Zyan Gibson commits to Bama.
- Thread starter Brandon Van de Graaff
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I expect him to be in the two deep with little doubt.
What are you hearing about Keely?
I think I posted this before early signing but in case I didn’t, one of the ESPN recruiting “experts” said if Bama had locked up the instate top 10 Bama’s class would have broken the ESPN record. I’m old and old school but I still believe in the importance of winning the instate recruiting battle with Auburn. I know the portal and NIL have muddled the importance of that a bit but even with those despicable developments kids are more likely to end up close to home if they’re not starting right away. Auburn has a top 5 class and it’s almost all based on them cleaning up the instate talent. Of course, I don’t like losing tidily winks against anything Auburn.
I think there is importance in developing relationships in state and winning battle in state. But at the same time, I see people lose their minds over the thought if DeBoer heavily recruits outside the South East. I do agree that statistically the best players come from here, but at the same time, I think roster development is infinitely more important. I only compare the situation to Carroll, because the narrative is that the best players come from the South, where Carroll was able to dominate the CFB landscape with primarily California kids.
I just think finding your guys suitable for your scheme and style of coaching is just as important as recruiting. So if you believe your style of coaching and scheme fits the developed talent and can lead to success, I could care less where players come from.
Couple of things here. One, we know Carroll paid a lot of players to come to USC, so he cheated. Not saying he's the only one to do it, but he was caught. The other is there is no difference in him recruiting California (home state) than what people are saying DeBoer should be doing. California was ahead of the game when it came to recruiting players to come to their programs, plus per capita they have a lot more players to choose from compared to the South where things are spread out more. We could never leave the South and have the best recruiting class and results every single year. Yes, a national footprint is something to hang your hat on, and that is a storyline people made a point of with Saban since he had conquered everything on the field and they needed something else to write about, so it led to his nationwide recruiting and his ability to bring out of state students to Alabama and the out-of-state tuition they paid and brought to the university. I'm a DeBoer fan, and I will say without hesitation he better focus on the South or we will struggle. Anyone can express an opposing view of that, but the SEC hasn't dominated football because we recruiting the Mid-West, West Coast, or Northeast more than the South.
As you can see I was (still am) hesitant to wade into these waters. It's not so much about KK specifically as it is about several things about the 'staffing' an results from the line.
Context threw a wrench into his development months ago. "You are an outside 'backer,' and we're looking forward to keeping you a few pounds over that 240 lb mark."
"Nope. Let's change that. Weight, let's add thirty plus pounds...your frame can handle it as we move you from that 'backer role to an edge guy in our 'Bandit' position."
In what I consider to be deserved is the defensive line and their development will be closely scrutinized in the spring. It'll be judged, undeservedly, without a lot of context.
Even with all of these extraneous things happening around him it's hard for me not to see this as somewhat of a burnt year.
Appreciate the info. You always hear different things. Hoping he stays out of the portal.
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.
This `100%... My also earlier reference was we keep putting lipstick on a pig. I also said give Deboer a pass given all the circumstances surrounding year one. I also stated if Bama is not getting these players they are going to our competition and this year it happens to be the Barn. The Barn has struggled but years like this can quickly turn things around. CKD has to get this corrected. Does it mean he only recruits Alabama? Of course not be he needs to own the state with regards to getting the best players in Alabama.
Half of the class is made of transfers.
A narrative that a school is locking down a state hauling in all the talented high school prospects.
IF that was TLDR, "chum is in the water and some folk gettin' their fix in."
Everything about collegiate football says this is not a local sport, a state sport, nor a regional sport.
There is very little difference in the numbers of this class when it comes to in-state versus out of state prospects. In fact, you'll see both AU and UA have similar numbers this past recruiting cycle.
Quick synopsis from my perch:
Then: I worry about DeBoer and his ability to recruit!
Soon thereafter: Okay, top five class, he can recruit!
Now: I worry about DeBoer and locking down the state.
Coming soon: People coming to the self-realization they've been trolled again.
So Bama does not need to dominate the state of Alabama in recruiting or at least pick and choose the best from the state? You are a smart guy @TerryP and you know recruiting in state matters.
With regards to the narrative and being trolled, I do not need a talking head sports guy to tell me this. Honestly I do not consume very much talking head material so whatever the narrative is I likely have not heard it unless it made this forum. I had not even seen that the recruiting was so lop sided for the Barn in state until the graphic got posted. No idea what the narrative around that was, I just saw the data and came to my own conclusion that although there may be a reason for those results it does not need to be the norm going forward. Common sense to me...
There is importance in having in-state relationships. If a Julio Jones is coming through the ranks, we want relationships to have an advantage in that recruitment - especially if he grew up a Bama fan. Or if being close to family is super important.
But, can yall name an out of state guy that we signed this class that wasn’t being recruited by all the other big name SEC teams?
I haven’t looked, but my guess would be ‘not many’.
But, can yall name an out of state guy that we signed this class that wasn’t being recruited by all the other big name SEC teams?
I haven’t looked, but my guess would be ‘not many’.
The #'s may be similar but they would not be the top 10 guys if the graphic ranking is correct.,
Yeah, wild when you think about Louisiana, Michigan, Hawaii, and Florida...
Three guys come to mind this morning that were All-American's this season: Booker, Brailsford, and Campbell: all-three out of state. I think the number of AA's at Bama is now at 149. How many of them are from in-state?
I neither stated nor implied such.
I am saying far too much attention is placed on state borders when the roster has been made up of kids from over half of the states around the nation the last decade plus.
The notion of locking down state borders to outside, or within, is obsolete and has been so since the '90's. Fulmer built his program at UT through ignoring such. Hell, Bama was doing the same at that time pulling kids like Zow up from Florida.
Do you see the dichotomy in thinking "we're living in an age of free agency" and at the same time handicapping yourself by saying "more attention needs to be placed on in-state" narrowing down your free agent market.
But hell. Bama fans were bragging about DuBose and Cottrell dominating the state starting in Mobile!
You only have a few subjects you can discuss right now with Auburn football. This graphic, so chosen here, or this statistic.
11-14, 5–11.
I have a problem understanding how people don't see this whole thing as off-season BS content ... just so happens it's hitting early this season.
I don't think I can begin to explain how little this graphic means to me all the while knowing what a state of disarray things are down there. The following isn't a narrative. It's what has happened the last few days.
UofSC QB, LaNorris Sellers, was an Auburn target and they let it be known. He was not in the portal.
These are "talking heads" having this conversation. These are also "Golden Spurs."
It's announced / leaked that Sellers is staying in Columbian and not transferring to Auburn.
UofSC #1: "Auburn came through with a two and a half million dollar package and he chose to stay here; roughly a two million dollar deal."
UofSC #2: "No. AU's offer was four and a half, the Gamecock club has come up with four million."
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.
Listen, recruiting our state is important, I won't disagree on that..... but we just signed a top 3 class year 1 under Deboer. Four of those players happened to be the number 1 player in their state(Texas, California, Nevada, Florida). That's a damn good haul. Not to mention the guys we were able to flip and steal from other programs, like Justin Hill. Guy is from Ohio, and one of the best edge players in this class, and we went in there and stole him from Ohio State, right under their noses. That's a damn good job by this staff.
And if it makes y'all feel any better, we're set up much better this upcoming class for landing in-state talent. Anthony Jones should be number 1 on the board, but we're gonna be going after all these guys HEAVILY. We'll be on some recruiting battles with Auburn, but they may turn heavily in our favor if Ole rat face shits the bed gain this year(i think it's likely).
And if it makes y'all feel any better, we're set up much better this upcoming class for landing in-state talent. Anthony Jones should be number 1 on the board, but we're gonna be going after all these guys HEAVILY. We'll be on some recruiting battles with Auburn, but they may turn heavily in our favor if Ole rat face shits the bed gain this year(i think it's likely).
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...and I'm of the opinion if you are having feelings about the next class you aren't that well set up.
