The Alabama Crimson Tide have dominated the college football world for over a decade. This is a program that has seen more players drafted in first round (37) than they do actual losses in that same period (23). That's not even to mention the seven SEC Championships and six national championships. What Nick Saban has done is nothing short of spectacular and he will likely go down as the greatest college football coach ever. Nick Saban has been the face of college football, like it or not, for the better part of a decade. But after dominating for so long, is that subject to change? We discussed that possibility with SI's Director of Football Recruiting, John Garcia Jr.
What we heard was a resounding no.
Much of the team's success stems from Nick Saban's immaculate recruiting record that boasts eight of the last ten top overall recruiting classes. Other programs have been struggling to keep up in this department. In fact, just the idea that Saban could be slowing down or that he was ready to walk away were "(some) of the only tools or weapons to be used against Alabama on the trail and here we are, years later, we find ourselves asking the same thing".
After all of that success, you would think it's reasonable that the edge people Saban have must be dulled to some degree, but that's just not the case. That fact of life is reflected in yet another top ranked recruiting class. Players just feel comfortable playing for a guy that has such a prestigious track record of success in both the college level and producing talent to play at the professional level.
What's scary to think is that Nick Saban has actually adapted his game to fit this modern era, even through continuous coaching turnover.
"At the beginning, it was all about the great defensive coaches that he had... then they get head coaching jobs and him having to adjust. After Lane Kiffin, he has developed an offensive reputation. He's had this continuity at the top that has trickled down into recruiting and kids know what they're going to get at Alabama and there's not much to sell. That's why it was sort of a runaway number one class, even in a pandemic."
I think it's safe to say that as long as Nick Saban roams the sideline in T-Town, that program is here to stay. And it doesn't look like he's going anywhere any time soon.