Despite any evidence to the contrary, let's just assume hypothetically that there is some truth to Massie's recruiting story. Even with that assumption, I don't view this as "negative recruiting."
Negative recruiting, to me, is talking down the other school: "Ole Miss is a racist school." "That coach isn't going to be there much longer." "All the girls on their campus have hairy chests and knobby knees."
I see nothing wrong with Nick Saban telling a recruit, "Hey, if you're not calling to tell me you're still committed to me, then I don't want to hear it." Plus, if there's an overzealous booster big enough to be commonly known by rival fans, you'd better believe that Coach Saban has knowledge of the situation. With that in mind, I don't even have a problem with him telling the kid, "You and I both know the opportunity you have here at Alabama, so if you end up at Ole Miss, I'm gonna suspect you got paid to do it." It may be a little cocky, but it's not negative propoganda.
The other thing I LIKE about the story is that I know Nick Saban is smart enough to know that "Those that live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks." I would be much more troubled if we lost a heated recruiting battle that smelled of foul play, but in the end just walked away as if to say, "Oh, well, we just got out-bid on that one." If Coach Saban is truly throwing big rocks, then that's just more assurance to me that he's running a clean program that would stand up to the same type of scrutiny from competitive programs.
