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Welcome to The Crootletter. I'm Bud Elliott, SB Nation's National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I'll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.
Let's talk about sustaining dynasties through recruiting.
Every recruiting class under Nick Saban at LSU and Alabama went on to win national titles during their four years on campus. Saban's 2000-03 classes are covered by the Tigers' 2003 title, while the 2004 class is covered by the 2007 title won under Les Miles. Saban's 2007-08 classes won in '09 at Alabama, and the 2009-12 classes went on to win at least one title (Alabama was champs in '09, '11 and '12). Now the 2013-15 classes are covered thanks to Alabama's 2015 title. That's incredible.
There comes a point in the tenure of every head coach at which he must transition from selling fresh ideas, new hope and abundant playing time to selling winning and a history of development. Once a team's roster fills up, other staffs will compare their depth charts to it and try to sell the prospect on playing earlier.
This quote from one of ESPN's many broadcasts of the National Championship caught my eye.
McElroy: "Great play by Hand. Number 1 recruit in the country, he's third string." Bielema: "That's what we tell recruits. You'll be a 3."
— Peter Edmiston (@peteredmiston) January 12, 2016
Bret Bielema coaches in the SEC West and recruits against Alabama on a yearly basis, though Arkansas rarely beats out the Tide for a player both schools covet.
Greg McElroy is praising Da'Shawn Hand, the No. 1 player from the class of 2014, who was a third stringer in Alabama'a amazing front seven that contained 22 four- and five-star prospects -- more than Michigan State's entire roster. Bielema makes the off-hand comment that his staff lets players know that if they choose Alabama, they will be a third stringer because everyone on the roster is just as talented as they are.
And yet kids still do it. At some positions, Alabama actually does a good job of getting many players in. For instance, despite being in nickel for almost the entire game, 13 Crimson Tide defensive linemen and linebackers played double-digit snaps, though none were freshmen.
Considering Alabama blows a lot of teams out, the backups do play a lot in garbage time.
At other positions, it's much harder. For every Calvin Ridley, there are a handful of true freshmen who ride the pine. Coaches can pitch the old adage that iron sharpens iron, but friends and family back home don't get to watch a player practice against the best on TV. And programs simply don't rotate very much at quarterback or the offensive line.
I'm reminded of an old Steve Spurrier quote from 20 years ago that I can't seem to find. The gist was him wondering aloud how Bobby Bowden convinced the No. 1, 2, and 3 players at one position to sign in the same class.
Amazing facilities that look like they belong in Dubai are nice, but once a roster fills up, the results had better follow or the recruiting will fall off. That means wins, and it means NFL dollars. Prospects are more willing to come and sit the bench for a year or two if they are convinced a school will develop them and put them in the league. At Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Florida State and a few other pro factories, that's been the case this decade. Schools have to convince recruits their development is so good that the chance they make the NFL at one of the powers is considerably better than at a non-power in order to overcome the lack of playing time.
And so the cycle rolls on, much to the chagrin of rival schools.
Quick Game
- Will Michigan flip the friend of No. 1 recruit Rashan Gary? Plus, what does Christian McCaffrey's little brother, a top QB, think about Jim Harbaugh?
- Get caught up on Notre Dame's recruiting big board.
- The No. 1 recruit for the class of 2017 is transferring from a school on LSU's campus to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. IMG has more blue-chippers on its team than about half the states in America, and is 90 minutes from my house so I am pretty happy with this development.
- Speaking of LSU, the Tigers' may be losing one of their best recruiters to a promotion elsewhere.
- Missouri's Barry Odom is having his staff hit the recruiting trail hard as the Tigers sharpen their board.