When LSU was having its problems and the program was down, there were a lot of issues between the LSU coaches and a lot of the high school coaches, especially in New Orleans. A lot of talent went out of state to OU, Miami, Nebraska. Those teams won NCs with that talent.
When Saban got here he mended a lot of those fences. He won a NC, put a lot of guys in th pros and continued to work on those relationships. That is why everyone says the he shut down the border. We did lose a few, but he got most.
Despite what many fans think about Saban being a liar, he has a lot of credibility with the coaches in LA and many top high school programs thru the south. Do not for one second that he can't recruit, because you are only fooling yourself. That is what scares me the most about Saban at Bama. He will get LA players, because the high school coaches still respect him. He listens to them and gets their guys to the next level. It helps the high school coach, especially here in LA where so much recruiting goes on at the high school level. - See John Curtis and Evangel. Hell Warrick Dunn was on scholarship at CHS of BR.
As far as the state of AL, AU never seems to have a top 5 recruiting class but they are always good to very good. They can evaluate talent.
We need to quit worrying about other teams and focus on maintaining the high standards that we have set for ourselves and the program. If we continue to play well and put guys in the pros, we will get players. I relish the opportunity to play the best. Makes victory sweeter.