@Gerry Hamilton @Jordan Scruggs  I just saw that Alabama is 50th in recruiting and not many big fish left in the pond. Is it a money problem or a coach problem?

Gerry said a couple of days ago on coffee and football he thinks they may be ramping up to go big in the transfer portal 

11 minutes ago, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

Gerry said a couple of days ago on coffee and football he thinks they may be ramping up to go big in the transfer portal 

Ballsy strategy. 

I think that general managers are balancing their classes depending on when they want to go big on portal or invest in the future. Dropping out of the top 25 is really, really bold. Taking a huge bet on the portal working out. 

It’s gonna be different for teams but they did sign the top class in the sec last year, they could very well have a top 10 class next year. Even with sark in 25 we signed the number one class and last year per on3 we had the 10th ranked class 

2 hours ago, Pocono longhorn said:

@Gerry Hamilton @Jordan Scruggs  I just saw that Alabama is 50th in recruiting and not many big fish left in the pond. Is it a money problem or a coach problem?

Alabama problem - Let's finish strong!

Their mods have been talking for months that this was going to be a small class. They went really big in the last two cycles and like what they have in those groups, so they’re not spending heavy in this cycle and plan to focus a lot of their spend on retention. 

I guess that can work for schools with less money and excellent coaching and maybe that is Bama now. I am not sure their fanbase has that kind of patience. Bama is staring down the barrel of a shockingly bad season if they start slow. They have nothing proven at QB, an inexperienced OL, no depth at RB, a shaky overall running game, a star WR who is soft as charmin. The defense is in need of a rebuild across the board and the schedule is unforgiving. 

I know DeBoer is an excellent coach, but if the dude goes 8-5 or worse, that idiotic fanbase isn’t grounded enough to be patient. They’re also poor, so maybe that new extension and buyout simply make Deboer bulletproof for how he wants to build his roster, as long as the players buy into it, I guess. 

4 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Their mods have been talking for months that this was going to be a small class. They went really big in the last two cycles and like what they have in those groups, so they’re not spending heavy in this cycle and plan to focus a lot of their spend on retention. 

I guess that can work for schools with less money and excellent coaching and maybe that is Bama now. I am not sure their fanbase has that kind of patience. Bama is staring down the barrel of a shockingly bad season if they start slow. They have nothing proven at QB, an inexperienced OL, no depth at RB, a shaky overall running game, a star WR who is soft as charmin. The defense is in need of a rebuild across the board and the schedule is unforgiving. 

I know DeBoer is an excellent coach, but if the dude goes 8-5 or worse, that idiotic fanbase isn’t grounded enough to be patient. They’re also poor, so maybe that new extension and buyout simply make Deboer bulletproof for how he wants to build his roster, as long as the players buy into it, I guess. 

Correct, they're aiming for a smaller class after spending a lot on their last two HS classes. 

Really curious to see how this strategy plays out because if they have a bad season things could go off the rails. The expectations are just too unrealistic for anyone that follows after Saban in a much different modern era of college football. Bama has had a lot of donor fatigue and does not have the coffers or financial support that Texas or Texas A&M does either, so this could end up being a long term strategy for them as well where they purposely sign a small class once every three years. They'd have to show that the strategy works first before being able to use it again though

Thanks Jordan, thanks CTJ. Have they ever had this low of a recruiting class?