Don't be too upset with more 3 Star recruits

[AlabamaBEN11]

I watched this interview with Courtney Morgan. Thought the guys did a great job asking real questions that we fans care about. Things like following in Sabans footsteps. The importance of recruiting. The pressure of recruiting. Is Kalen aware of the importance and expectation of recruiting, etc...

Courtney said a few things that I liked hearing
1) They seem pretty good at evaluating lesser known talent. He said (and I am paraphrasing) sometimes lesser known recruits can be similar in talent and skill to well known 4-5 star recruits but the lesser known recruit does not attend a well known high school or the higher rated recruit may be plugged into the right network of people to help get his name out there.

2) Later in the interview Courtney said some top 50 players aren't actually that good. This was refreshing to hear.

I think statement 2) pairs well with statement 1). Translation "Hey, we might get more 3 star guys but that doesn't mean they aren't very close in talent to the 4 star"

Think of all the guys we've had come through here who are 4 star guys (and in rare cases 5 star) that transfered after 3 years and never played.

Sometimes it's because they just had amazing players in front of them but many times they would transfer to small schools and not even make the starting line up there. There's actually an article that shows that most players that leave Alabama don't even start at their new school.

So in summary do not be scared or upset if we get more 3 starg guys. Yeah it will not be as splashy and it might mean we have a "lower ranked" class but I trust in coach KD for now. He has a history of winning with "less talented" rosters.

Time will tell but lets remain optimistic! Interview with Courtney Morgan below!

NOTE TO ADMIN: Feel free to move this to recruiting if I misplaced it.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I watched this interview with Courtney Morgan. Thought the guys did a great job asking real questions that we fans care about. Things like following in Sabans footsteps. The importance of recruiting. The pressure of recruiting. Is Kalen aware of the importance and expectation of recruiting, etc...

Courtney said a few things that I liked hearing
1) They seem pretty good at evaluating lesser known talent. He said (and I am paraphrasing) sometimes lesser known recruits can be similar in talent and skill to well known 4-5 star recruits but the lesser known recruit does not attend a well known high school or the higher rated recruit may be plugged into the right network of people to help get his name out there.

2) Later in the interview Courtney said some top 50 players aren't actually that good. This was refreshing to hear.

I think statement 2) pairs well with statement 1). Translation "Hey, we might get more 3 star guys but that doesn't mean they aren't very close in talent to the 4 star"

Think of all the guys we've had come through here who are 4 star guys (and in rare cases 5 star) that transfered after 3 years and never played.

Sometimes it's because they just had amazing players in front of them but many times they would transfer to small schools and not even make the starting line up there. There's actually an article that shows that most players that leave Alabama don't even start at their new school.

So in summary do not be scared or upset if we get more 3 starg guys. Yeah it will not be as splashy and it might mean we have a "lower ranked" class but I trust in coach KD for now. He has a history of winning with "less talented" rosters.

Time will tell but lets remain optimistic! Interview with Courtney Morgan below!

NOTE TO ADMIN: Feel free to move this to recruiting if I misplaced it.

What I gathered was they aren't going to offer a kid just because a recruiting service has already put 4-5 stars behind their name. They do their own very rigid evaluations and they come to their own conclusions. He did acknowledge they had to get good at evaluations at UW because they didn't have the name recognition or "cache" that an Alabama has. But he fully realizes they now have access to a bigger pool of top talent than they did at UW. So it should be interesting to see them put the evaluation skills that they had to develop at UW, and marry it with a much larger pool of top tier talent that is now available to them.

 

[BAMAVILLE]

If it works, we will have more consistent talent and teams going forward. Chemistry is everything ... that's where we developed our success with teams that clicked cohesively.

 

[TiderJack]

We are Alabama and have some of the best facilities in the nation and we are located in a recruiting hotbed with all the surrounding states. We may see more 3*'s but the majority of our roster will be made up mostly of 4* and some 5*.

OSU has been a recruiting powerhouse for a while and especially when Urban showed up. Day and OSU still recruiting at a very high rate so I don't see a big drop off as long as the product stays good which I think it will.

 

[Bama_N_Va]

I'll take a 3 star with extra heart then a 5 star looking for the $$$$... Every day and twice on Sundays!!!!

 

[Bpilktree]

Maybe it just me but I think there is a slight bias on recruiting players and rankings for high school kids. It seems a lot of northern kids get overlooked and don’t get rated as high as some kids from southern states. It could be that there seems to be a lot more private and prep schools in the south with recruiting. That would lead to Michigan getting more 3 and 4 star players than a team from the south. The state of Michigan had 1 kid in the top 150 in player ranking so if you are gonna get in state guys you don’t have lot of options.

 

[some_al_fan]

Let’s not kid ourselves, since we have a somewhat reliable metrics of performance of 5* vs 3*: NFL draft.
Here are numbers for 2023:

2023 NFL Draft picks: Two-thirds of first-round selections rated 4-stars or higher as high school recruits

The 247Sports recruiting rankings once again rang true in projecting superior football talent not just in college but at the NFL level

www.cbssports.com

.

First round:

• 5 stars: 13
• 4 stars: 8
• 3 stars: 8
• 2 stars: 0
• 1 star: 0
• Unranked: 2

It is pretty telling that 5* are important. Sure, not every 5* becomes a super star, and there are busts, but last year’s draft shows a very high % of 5* having a great college career that has earned them a first round selection.

 

[AlabamaBEN11]

Let’s not kid ourselves, since we have a somewhat reliable metrics of performance of 5* vs 3*: NFL draft.
Here are numbers for 2023:

2023 NFL Draft picks: Two-thirds of first-round selections rated 4-stars or higher as high school recruits

The 247Sports recruiting rankings once again rang true in projecting superior football talent not just in college but at the NFL level

www.cbssports.com

.

First round:

• 5 stars: 13
• 4 stars: 8
• 3 stars: 8
• 2 stars: 0
• 1 star: 0
• Unranked: 2

It is pretty telling that 5* are important. Sure, not every 5* becomes a super star, and there are busts, but last year’s draft shows a very high % of 5* having a great college career that has earned them a first round selection.

I hear you. No one is arguing that. The point at large is that there is over looked talent and we may get more of it.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

Going to reserve my comments on Morgan. But I am not as excited about this hire as some folks. I am going to be skeptic until we see the final 25 class.

Of course you don't just get guy because of his rating, Saban never did. But Saban offering a 3 star often led to a bump because ratings websites know they aren't as good of evaluators as he is. That was always a huge help to our classes. Grabbing a hadful of 3 star guys that have blowout performances at camp is fine. If the bulk of classes ends up at that level...its a problem.

Recuitung less than elite talent will take time and patience and a few 3-4 loss seasons. Things an sec fan base won't tolerate, and we all ll know it. Even Saban knew he was only as good a coach as the caliber of guys on the field.

Scout well, evaluate well at camp, and recruit well and the ratings and rankings will take care of themselves. But hopefully Morgan and co realize he has access to a completely different caliber of athlete at Alabama and in the South East in general.


I agree not to panic anytime we sign a 3 star, we got plenty this year that I'm very happy with, but go ask miss state how much success they have had with that. Turning 3 stars into 5 stars is not a strategy, its a coping mechanism.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

I'll add that if you're a coach at a major program and looking at any recruiting sites to recruit you are doing a terrible job.

Thats the importance of hosting camps, scouting high school games building relationships with prospects.

If you do those things at an elite level,.and we have for years, the rankings and ratings will essentially bend to your will. The bama bump was real. Hopefully it continues

 

[Coach25]

X’s and O’s or Jimmy’s and Joes. You can win with a roster full of three stars but to win championships, you need some game changers on your team. With internet this day and age it’s harder than ever to find diamonds in the rough. So the three stars of 15 years ago that were actually 4 or 5 stars is few and far between this day and age.

 

[Coach25]

I'll add that if you're a coach at a major program and looking at any recruiting sites to recruit you are doing a terrible job.

Thats the importance of hosting camps, scouting high school games building relationships with prospects.

If you do those things at an elite level,.and we have for years, the rankings and ratings will essentially bend to your will. The bama bump was real. Hopefully it continues

Absolutely, recruiting site are for the fans. That’s why we have the big boards. Summer camps are where you find more of the diamonds in the rough than anywhere else.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I was concerned about the 3*s. I hope he's right and it works out.

 

[Coach25]

I can tell you a true story of a mistaken School identity and Alabama football. I won’t get in to the schools but our school had the same name as another school expect they were county at the end. Well one time at a coaching clinic, we got a lot of attention from the staffers, the most lovely looking hosts at the whole event. We’re catered to and pampered by Alabama football.

Turns out the other school that had county at the end of their name had a four or 5 star player sophomore or junior on their team that was coveted. Well when they realized we weren’t the same school, the 5 star pampering went away lol and the normal hosts were back to our tables

 

[B1GTide]

I agree that a great 3 star is as good as most 4 stars. But the vast majority of 5 stars are better than any 3 stars. You are still going to need, and will still target, the best players in the country - and those are 5 stars.

 

[AlabamaBEN11]

I'll add that if you're a coach at a major program and looking at any recruiting sites to recruit you are doing a terrible job.

Thats the importance of hosting camps, scouting high school games building relationships with prospects.

If you do those things at an elite level,.and we have for years, the rankings and ratings will essentially bend to your will. The bama bump was real. Hopefully it continues

What is your reservation on Morgan? Many mixed opinions on him. Heard the good. What’s the bad?

 

[CajunCrimson]

What is your reservation on Morgan? Many mixed opinions on him. Heard the good. What’s the bad?

Just guessing. But….He’s sort of Moneyball I think. Thinking small

 

[bamaga]

Going to reserve my comments on Morgan. But I am not as excited about this hire as some folks. I am going to be skeptic until we see the final 25 class.

Of course you don't just get guy because of his rating, Saban never did. But Saban offering a 3 star often led to a bump because ratings websites know they aren't as good of evaluators as he is. That was always a huge help to our classes. Grabbing a hadful of 3 star guys that have blowout performances at camp is fine. If the bulk of classes ends up at that level...its a problem.

Recuitung less than elite talent will take time and patience and a few 3-4 loss seasons. Things an sec fan base won't tolerate, and we all ll know it. Even Saban knew he was only as good a coach as the caliber of guys on the field.

Scout well, evaluate well at camp, and recruit well and the ratings and rankings will take care of themselves. But hopefully Morgan and co realize he has access to a completely different caliber of athlete at Alabama and in the South East in general.


I agree not to panic anytime we sign a 3 star, we got plenty this year that I'm very happy with, but go ask miss state how much success they have had with that. Turning 3 stars into 5 stars is not a strategy, its a coping mechanism.

This is pretty much my thoughts. I don’t think coaches recruit based on 247 or ON3 rankings, but those services have come a long way in evaluating talent, and talent evaluation is much easier in the age of YouTube, hudl, , camps, AA GAMES., 7 on 7, etc. I think you can have a magical season with a 4*/3* roster, but for sustained success, you better recruit in the upper echelons of the recruiting service rankings.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

Just guessing. But….He’s sort of Moneyball I think. Thinking small

Yes thats essentially it.

Bellicheck did this in the NFL until Brady left town and he got totally exposed. Turns out elite receivers are worth a first round pick.

I've got nothing against morgan...im optimistic....I think our defensive staff is loaded with great recruiters or potentially great recruiters (wommack).

I would say I'm skeptical on anyone that takes over at bama and thinks they have a scouting edge on the absolute machine Saban built for 17 years. Thats hubris. Or just a major rationalization.

 

[TideMan09]

I honestly think once Coach Debo unleashes his high octane offense, with the talent he has now at Alabama, at the start of the season & we put up ungodly numbers from the get go at the start of the season on offense..

It's going to open the flood gates, for the top offensive talent in the country, wanting to come play in our new high octane offense at Alabama under Coach Debo..JMO