Are We Doing Something " Different" ?

Tideflyer

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In one of the threads someone stated that we were doing something "different " that was leading to the success we appear to be having in recruiting. I assume that that was a reference to a difference in recruiting approach? Tactics? Both? Something else? Is anyone enough in the know to know if there`s been a deliberate departure from the approach to recruiting under CNS?
 

TheRealPokeChop

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Courtney Morgan has made a big difference. The cureent players have been much more heavily involved in hosting visits, we used to only have a player host once a year, and I think ryan Williams has been a host every weekend since he enrolled.

Also the rules have changed a bit since courts decided that the NCAA can really restrict NIL collectives from recruiting.

Yea Alabama has a bit more of a war chest than it did, and we MAY have gotten slightly more competitive there. Havent heard much from the folks on that end.
 

Tideflyer

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Courtney Morgan has made a big difference. The cureent players have been much more heavily involved in hosting visits, we used to only have a player host once a year, and I think ryan Williams has been a host every weekend since he enrolled.

Also the rules have changed a bit since courts decided that the NCAA can really restrict NIL collectives from recruiting.

Yea Alabama has a bit more of a war chest than it did, and we MAY have gotten slightly more competitive there. Havent heard much from the folks on that end.
Thanks Chop. Whatever it is, we need to keep it up. And of course constantly look for ways to improve.
 

BearFoot

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At the most basic level…and stating the obvious…
There‘s a new staff…and they do things their own way…not the way that the previous staff did things.
This…as well as embracing the “New Way” of doing these things…and obviously being very competitive with those schools who were doing it even when the previous staff wouldn’t.
 

bamaga

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Okay, so I don’t understand the basic premise of the OP. Doing something different that’s leading to the success? More success than two of the three best recruiting classes in the history of college football? Nick did it different, But he Is NICK SABAN, he could do it his way. I remember when CNS took over, go back and look, We marveled at the way he used an NFL style player evaluation along with modern at the time tools like Skype to communicate with prospects. Every coach does it differently, well except maybe Kirby. But Coach Deboer has found what works for him, being relateable , showing energy of youth , different vibe. As long as he doesn’t dance back to back with players or talk about his Famuhlee , it’s all good. I can’t wait to see what fruit that bears the next few years as CKD develops relationships with HS coaches and prospects at camps . I think we will be back in the mix for the 247 top 15 players we seem to be out of the mix for this year.
 
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CB4

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Okay, so I don’t understand the basic premise of the OP. Doing something different that’s leading to the success? More success than two of the three best recruiting classes in the history of college football? Nick did it different, But he Is NICK SABAN, he could do it his way. I remember when CNS took over, go back and look, We marveled at the way he used an NFL style player evaluation along with modern at the time tools like Skype to communicate with prospects. Every coach does it differently, well except maybe Kirby. But Coach Deboer has found what works for him, being relateable , showing energy of youth , different vibe. As long as he doesn’t dance back to back with players or talk about his Famuhlee , it’s all good. I can’t wait to see what fruit that bears the next few years as CKD develops relationships with HS coaches and prospects at camps . I think we will be back in the mix for the 247 top 15 players we seem to be out of the mix for this year.
I think your last sentence is probably what the OP was getting at. Remember there was considerable debate about hiring a coach not familiar with the SEC, the south and the competitive nature of recruiting here. And it only got “ramped up” even more with early de-commitments when Coach Saban retired. And let’s face it, it took some time for Coach DeBoer to get the wheels turning in recruiting. He had a lot on his plate, primarily making sure he kept much of his current roster intact. So there was indeed a perception of “Bama is going to take a huge step back in recruiting”.

I think OP was talking about what the staff is doing differently now compared to early on, not in comparison to what CNS had done previously. I think it is about what, if anything, has changed with the recruiting approach that has suddenly getting us “back in the picture” with some of the top recruiting services talent that began looking elsewhere when Coach Saban retired.

As an add, and just my opinion, I think Coach DeBoer isn’t making a wholesale change in how recruiting was done here. What CNS put in place was a pretty good template. However, Coach DeBoer isn’t CNS so he has to make it “his own”.
 
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Tideflyer

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Okay, so I don’t understand the basic premise of the OP. Doing something different that’s leading to the success? More success than two of the three best recruiting classes in the history of college football? Nick did it different, But he Is NICK SABAN, he could do it his way. I remember when CNS took over, go back and look, We marveled at the way he used an NFL style player evaluation along with modern at the time tools like Skype to communicate with prospects. Every coach does it differently, well except maybe Kirby. But Coach Deboer has found what works for him, being relateable , showing energy of youth , different vibe. As long as he doesn’t dance back to back with players or talk about his Famuhlee , it’s all good. I can’t wait to see what fruit that bears the next few years as CKD develops relationships with HS coaches and prospects at camps . I think we will be back in the mix for the 247 top 15 players we seem to be out of the mix for this year.
As the OP, I didn`t mean to infer that I think recruiting under CNS was necessarily inferior to that of CKD and his staff. Lord no!! I will, though, hazard a guess that many, if not most, of us expected something of a step back in recruiting this year. If for no other reason than CKD has yet to be able to establish relationships within the state that CNS certainly developed. He just hasn`t physically had the time yet. Fortunately, those expectations of a lull in recruiting have not been borne out. On the contrary! My post was simply one borne of curiosity as to what a new staff might be doing that`s allowed Alabama to forego the aforementioned lull in recruiting.
 

bamaga

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As the OP, I didn`t mean to infer that I think recruiting under CNS was necessarily inferior to that of CKD and his staff. Lord no!! I will, though, hazard a guess that many, if not most, of us expected something of a step back in recruiting this year. If for no other reason than CKD has yet to be able to establish relationships within the state that CNS certainly developed. He just hasn`t physically had the time yet. Fortunately, those expectations of a lull in recruiting have not been borne out. On the contrary! My post was simply one borne of curiosity as to what a new staff might be doing that`s allowed Alabama to forego the aforementioned lull in recruiting.
To me, I don’t care about the class ranking vs other teams. It’s the class ranking vs previous years. I always had a “magic” number in mind of the overall class score on 247 composite. It was always 300. If CKD can pull an overall 300 class score , to me, we will have plenty of talent. I know recruiting service rankings aren’t the end all, be all for recruiting. But, they have gotten good enough to be a solid predictor of talent.
 

STONECOLDSABAN

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To me, I don’t care about the class ranking vs other teams. It’s the class ranking vs previous years. I always had a “magic” number in mind of the overall class score on 247 composite. It was always 300. If CKD can pull an overall 300 class score , to me, we will have plenty of talent. I know recruiting service rankings aren’t the end all, be all for recruiting. But, they have gotten good enough to be a solid predictor of talent.
Well we are at almost 270 right now but we are strong favorites for two five stars which should shoot that rating really close to that number for you. So, fingers crossed.
 

STONECOLDSABAN

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To me, I don’t care about the class ranking vs other teams. It’s the class ranking vs previous years. I always had a “magic” number in mind of the overall class score on 247 composite. It was always 300. If CKD can pull an overall 300 class score , to me, we will have plenty of talent. I know recruiting service rankings aren’t the end all, be all for recruiting. But, they have gotten good enough to be a solid predictor of talent.
I do think NIL and Transfer Portal has taken a little bit of the emphasis off overall rankings (not completly) and put more emphasis on Coaching, Roster management, and Portal Additions.

Id rather have the 5th ranked recruiting class with great continuity, Player development, Team chemistry, Strong portal additions and great roster management than a number 1 ranked recruiting class where we are unsure of the buy in from our guys.
 

bamaslammer

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I would complain about the distinct lack of 5 star players but having hears some of what 5 star players are demanding in payment It makes me think more like NFL teams. Is this five star player worth the asking price? will he make a difference to justify the outlay required to not only get him, but keep him year after year. I can see a game changing QB for instance being worth the price. Possibly a left tackle or a Julio Jones type player but not every five star to me is going to be worth what they might ask JUST because they got a fifth star.

I really think the rating system needs to take into account how good a prospect are they, but take into acccount their position impact and the asking price.
 

TiderJack

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bamaslammer

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Even Saban said his age was starting to become a problem on the recruiting trail. So Saban would agree with you.
I'm old enough to remember Bear's time. In his era Bear was the best there was. Saban was clearly the best of his era. But how they went about it was different primarily because the country was different, the environment was different. The players were different. The way Bear did it would not have worked in Saban's time. I believe the changes that have recently come made Saban's ways somewhat out of sorts as well. Don't get me wrong, when it came to coaching both coaches could coach a given team today and be successful but the player handling and recruiting neither would do well today. Now we have a new coach and the question will be is he able to devise a way to get great players and to get them to actually play great together. Money will be needed to win, but to win a championship it's going to take more than that.
 

TheRealPokeChop

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Considering Saban had said several times over the last two seasons or so that our issues were "being too tight" I do like a lot of the new life being injected into everything and maybe we needed to loosen the tie a bit, so to speak.

We will see when the product huts the field and over the long haul as long as we can keep some of that business decision mentality as well.
 

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