Transfer Portal 2023-2024...

[BamaSC]

Look for saying to Ole Miss, Auburn, probably USC those will be the big checks coming in, also this portal is like being on sanctions it'll take a couple of years, I really hope Haynes is not next, it's just a domino affect right now

I don't see the barn or Ole Miss as legitimate landing spots for him. USC, OSU, and UGA are probably most likely. I would put UTw in there but they have Ewers this year and Manning after.

I'm also not that riled up about this. I can't count how many times the #1 all-world, blue-chip, 5* QB has flamed out. There's no guarantee this guy is going to set the college football world on fire.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Agree completely. Think about it. You are 72 years old and have spent 50 years coaching, the thing you loved to do. But as CNS said to Mal Moore on that plane to Tuscaloosa in 2007, he was an average coach but a “hell of a recruiter”. The success of those 2009-2017 programs were a combination of get top classes AND being able to replace quality coordinators and assistants with equally talented or better coordinators and assistants. As the years rolled on, this became more difficult.
In the recruiting side, many of those 50 years had been spent presenting to 17 year olds “the vision of delayed gratification of the NFL and the financial rewards associated” by coming to Tuscaloosa and developing over 3-4 years. And our program being the one to give them their best shot. And let’s face it, all with the recruiting process, was a whole bunch of kowtowing and fanny smooching of 17 year olds that had been told they were “elite”. BUT if you got them there, you had the majority of them there for three years. NOW every year a coach has to “re-recruit” every meaningful player on the roster in ADDITION to those you’re signing each year. Better order your chapstick by the case, because that fanny smooching just tripled.

At 72 years of age, I can’t blame CNS for saying “I’m done”.

I'll be 72 in November, so I can relate to the age part.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

We didn't lose Sayin because of Mack. We're losing these big time kids because they came to play for Saban, not Bama.

I know CNS is the major reason for most of these. I'm just saying the timing is suspect. If Mack had an impact on Sayin that bothers me.

 

[CrimsonRuss]

My guess is he goes to UGA, Ohio St or closer to home. If he goes to Texas Arch Manning becomes very recruitable.

My guess is USC or tOSU. Why else would Day hire BoB? So I’m leaning tOSU.

 

[KrAzY3]

I know CNS is the major reason for most of these. I'm just saying the timing is suspect. If Mack had an impact on Sayin that bothers me.

If this staff knew Sayin was leaving, you'd think they would have just had Mack hold off knowing how bad this would look.

At first glance to me it seemed correlated, but I'm admittedly in a terrible mood right now so may be there's a better explanation for it. Perhaps Sayin will explain.

 

[The Ols]

How long before pictures pop up of Sayin in a uniform of 1. LSU 2. UGA or 3. The obligatory.....Texas?

tOSU and BOB!!!
Let that sink in…he’d rather play for BOB…

 

[BamaBoySince89]

I would hope KD would have enough sense not to bring another QB knowing you would lose a highly rated one immediately. So either Sayin was content with leaving last week and was just giving the staff time to bring in another QB, or KB is content with ignoring the obvious simply because he wants “his guys.” I wonder how this affects Ryan Williams as well.

 

[bamamc1]

again th timeline suggests otherwise. He could have hit the portal anytime this week but chose the day after another QB from the freaking school the new coach came from signs on.

If he doesn’t want to compete for the job can we trust him to lead an offense?

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

If this staff knew Sayin was leaving, you'd think they would have just had Mack hold off knowing how bad this would look.

At first glance to me it seemed correlated, but I'm admittedly in a terrible mood right now so may be there's a better explanation for it. Perhaps Sayin will explain.

FWIW staff on another board have said

"The Alabama staff likes Austin Mack, and at the end of the day, I think that played into Sayin's decision to leave."

Not great sign imo. But trying not to overreact

 

[CrimsonMapper]

It’s really not ok. The depth and talent on the roster is depleted for next year and in years to come. It doesn’t mean it can’t be rebuilt but serious damage is being done that will be seen on the field next year and in the next few years. This coaching staff better be the best ever assembled. When the portal opens after spring if they don’t make a splash then you may want to buckle up because it might be a bumpy ride. Lack of depth gets you killed in the SEC.

No, you’re thinking like it’s 2015. It’s not. Rebuilds take a year in the new environment. My guess is a partial rebuild will take place after the spring and we will add some more after next season. You never know what coaches will leave between now and then. That said, I despise what this has become. You just have to think about it in yearly increments vs the 3-5 year time spans prior to NIL and unrestricted free agency. Just look at Ohio State from Thanksgiving to now (especially assuming they get downs and sayin).

 

[sanjosecrimson]

I would hope KD would have enough sense not to bring another QB knowing you would lose a highly rated one immediately. So either Sayin was content with leaving last week and was just giving the staff time to bring in another QB, or KB is content with ignoring the obvious simply because he wants “his guys.” I wonder how this affects Ryan Williams as well.

Ryan Williams should be happy regardless of the QB because this offense is about getting WRs the ball!!

 

[MemphisBamaDude]

I’m souring on college football.

 

[MemphisBamaDude]

Guys, it is a rebuild. Total rebuild. We all knew it, though many had blinders on. Three important things to keep in mind as these kids keep on leaving (there will be more).

* You have a better coaching staff now than you have had in 5 years. Even with Saban on those teams, this staff is flat better.
* You still have a roster capable of winning now, especially given the much better coaching that these kids are going to get.
* No matter how this ends up, you are still Alabama, the greatest football program in the game.

You will bounce back. You always do.

Roll Tide

We all desperately need your voice of reason in these trying times. Thanks lol.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Hang in there everyone. the storm is almost over.

 

[KrAzY3]

If he doesn’t want to compete for the job can we trust him to lead an offense?

There's compete and then there's a sign of disrespect.

I was wrong in trusting an inaccurate list (should have done more research) that Washington didn't offer Sayin. But, this is about which move was made first.

If Sayin says he's leaving, then adding Mack is not an issue. If DeBoer had Sayin, Ty, Milroe, and Lonergan all committed to staying, and says I'm going to bring in my guy, it's also a sign that may be those other guys should start looking around.

I had a few names on my list in terms of who Alabama really needed to keep around, and that would involve the hard press on recruiting and the NIL dollars that really should be there.

Downs
Sayin
Haynes
Williams

Only one is left. Hard for me to see it as anything other than a travesty because virtually any team and virtually any coach could use those four guys as the core of a championship team.

Basically to me the day Saban retired wasn't the end of his career. Today was, because a historical level of talent he assembled is out the door. And I will be left wondering if a different approach could have prevented it, but all I know is I wanted a different approach.

Edit: Despite the fact that I am unabashedly disgruntled, I still hope for all I am worth that DeBoer is the next great Alabama coach. I hope Mack is better than Sayin. I hope whoever he brings in to replace the losses are better than who is lost. I hope his approach works well and he can get over his issues bringing in blue chips. I hope all this occurs, because I'd love people to be able to go back and say remember when you got all upset about him losing talent, you look dumb now.

 

[statgrad96]

No, you’re thinking like it’s 2015. It’s not. Rebuilds take a year in the new environment. My guess is a partial rebuild will take place after the spring and we will add some more after next season. You never know what coaches will leave between now and then. That said, I despise what this has become. You just have to think about it in yearly increments vs the 3-5 year time spans prior to NIL and unrestricted free agency. Just look at Ohio State from Thanksgiving to now (especially assuming they get downs and sayin).

It will be interesting to see the downwind affects of what Alabama (and to a lesser extent Oklahoma 2 years ago) are going through. With the unrestricted portal, this will probably be more the norm than the exception.

You do wonder if it will move AD's into the mode of roster preservation. You may see many more on-staff promotions (Michigan immediately comes to mind). While that may provide keeping some of your existing roster, does it come at the expense of your future success? I mean, it's basically what we went through with Dubose. Maybe you hit a home run with an on-staff person, but unless you've got a proven HC already on staff, you'll have to choose between the "hope now and unknown later" or "unknown now and hope later"...

 

[CrimsonNagus]

* You still have a roster capable of winning now

Come back in a few weeks and we may not. Yes, Saban left the program in great shape but, with the way players can freely leave these days, it doesn't mean it will stay that way.

I see where @KrAzY3 is coming from. CKD doesn't have a great track record when it comes to recruiting but the sample size is small. Still, if he has recruiting chops you would think he would be able to hold onto a few of these guys but, the portal hits just keep coming. The biggest question mark about CKD is recruiting and he's off to a slow start.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Is that going to go anywhere though? I feel like Kirby is going to start slipping now that Saban isn’t here. He copied a lot of what Saban would dofrom offering players to hiring away assistants. With Saban gone I wonder how is he going to do now?

Well, he can't use Saban's coaching/recruiting evaluations any more...

 

[AlexanderFan]

Hang in there everyone. the storm is almost over.

What about the icebergs? We still haven’t gotten the locusts yet either.

 

[RollTitanRoll]

I checked Sayin's page and saw no offer from Washington. I did search on it hence I saw he got an offer from Washington State.

I'm obviously frustrated, but also incorrect on that aspect.

Even if I'm misreading the situation, I think taking Mack before Sayin declared was terrible optics. It certainly left me with a particular impression, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to seeing what I feared would play out, playing out (I specifically brought up Sayin when Mack committed).

I was against NIL. I wanted a better recruiter. Watching the talent Saban assembled get decimated immediately is nightmarish and I think avoidable.

Last time I felt like this was after Shula's ten win season when I stated my thought on him and was given a timeout that didn't end until Shula had coached his way out of a team. It felt like watching a train crash you knew was coming.


I guess I should try to give myself a timeout here. I was adamantly against NIL, I argued with several posters here about it. I warned about Texas, I knew what this would end up as.

Then I was really worried about DeBoer's ability to relate to blue chips and keep them around. It's all coming true, and I can't see the positive because it's the bad things I said would happen. I also warned about Sayin leaving when Mack committed.

I hope I'm wrong, I really really do but so far I haven't been and it's not good.

Edit: I want to make one thing clear despite my frustration. I've never, at any point said DeBoer can't coach. I think he can coach, it's just the talent side of thing where he has issues.

Winning and the right staff will take care of recruiting IMO.