re: Class of 2017 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Say Your Goodbyes Edition

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Less than a week before National Signing Day, Joshua Jacobs was given the news he had been waiting for. Alabama had offered him a scholarship to play running back for the Crimson Tide.

Even though he played his high school football in Tulsa, Okla., Alabama was Jacobs’ dream school. Having the chance to play for the Crimson Tide came Jan. 29. The next day, he visited Tuscaloosa and his recruitment was basically over at that point.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder was a late bloomer in the recruitment world. Jacobs only had nine offers. Five of them came in the final two weeks leading up to signing day (Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Purdue). Before the big schools came calling his offer list consisted of Missouri State, Northern Iowa, New Mexico State and Wyoming.

He doesn’t know why it took so long for schools to discover him though he admits that creating a Twitter account helped him tremendously. Once he created a Twitter profile, several college coaches followed him and contacted him.

In the end, Alabama was the school Jacobs wanted to attend. There was nothing any other school could do to change his mind.

The following is a question-and-answer session conducted with Jacobs in the fourth edition of our Alabama recruiting rewind series.

Q: If you could give a junior only one piece of advice about the recruiting process, what would it be?

Jacobs: You need to start early. It gives you more time to weigh your options and actually think about everything and go visit more colleges, but when your dream school comes calling, you can’t pass that up.

Q: What was it like for you during those final weeks leading up to signing day?

Jacobs: It was nerve-racking. I was excited but it was really overwhelming at the same time. It was just so much. People were calling me at all hours of the night. It was just a lot. I was probably getting like 10 phone calls per day. I was literally on the phone with coaches and would have to tell the next person to hold on a second.

Q: What school came in second? What could they have done a little better?

Jacobs: Mizzou came in second. They did pretty well. Just once I saw Alabama and the campus, met some of the team, it was over after that.

Q: You visited Alabama the weekend before signing day. What about that official visit made Alabama the choice for you?

Jacobs: It felt like everyone there was a family. When I went to Nick Saban’s house, the atmosphere from everybody there was just cool. That drew me toward Alabama.

Q: When you got the offer from Alabama was your recruitment pretty much over at that point or did you need to make that visit?

Jacobs: Knowing that it’s your dream school, you’re already going to be kind of biased. I wanted to take my feelings out of it and think of it more as a business decision and think of it more as a life choice. When I actually visited the campus and met everybody, it was perfect.

Q: You also visited Missouri that weekend but made a last-minute decision to go to Alabama, too. Do you think if you didn’t make that decision to visit Alabama you would have ended up at Missouri or would you have still gone to Alabama without visiting the school?

Jacobs: If I would have stayed the entire time at Missouri, I don’t think I would have made my decision early (on National Signing Day). I would have went beyond that date because of the fact that it would have been too soon to make a decision. I have to see the school.

Q: What was the most creative thing a school or coach did to get your attention?

Jacobs: The one thing that caught my eye the most was when I rolled with Coach Saban in his car. He showed me the cars he has. We rode in one of them. It was Saban, me, my dad and uncle. I was sitting in the front. It was crazy. His car is so smooth, but he was flying in it.

Q: How would you describe Nick Saban to people?

Jacobs: Oh man, when I first met him, I thought he was going to be this headstrong type of dude. But he’s really laid back and cool. That really threw me off because it’s crazy — he’s just a regular person.

Q: Which school disappointed you the most during recruiting?

Jacobs: It has to be TCU. The dude was pressuring me saying if I didn’t make a decision right then and there that they weren’t going to take me, basically. Then he was like ‘what position do you want to play?’ I told him that I would play anything on offense. Then he was telling me how they wanted to move me to DB. I told him that I didn’t think I was too comfortable with that on the college level. He got mad at me for that answer. He then said ‘we can find another kid. It doesn’t matter.’ I was just saying to myself ‘dang, this is crazy.’ He was just acting like I didn’t have any other offers.

Q: Which college would you have considered more seriously if they had offered you earlier in the process?

Jacobs: It would probably be Oklahoma. I’m an Oklahoma kid. Everybody knows about them here. I watch their games. I’ve been there before but a lot changed since I visited. A lot of kids I know are going there, too.

Q: How much negative recruiting was out there?

Jacobs: Missouri did a little bit of that when they found out that I was going to Alabama. They didn’t come out and just say ‘don’t go here,’ but they were trying to show me the pros and cons of each school. Oklahoma did the same thing, too. They were telling me that ‘you won’t be the head of the team and stuff like that.’ I was just like ‘man, you’re doubting me this much? That’s crazy.’

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BUFORD, Ga. — Malcolm Askew knows three schools that will definitely be in his final five — Auburn, Ole Miss and Clemson.

But if you look at his 247Sports Crystal Ball, Alabama is the presumed favorite to gain Askew’s commitment. So why isn’t Alabama in that top three? There’s a one-word answer for that question: Family.

Auburn, Ole Miss and Clemson are known to have family-friendly environments, and that’s something Askew is looking for. He acknowledges that Alabama is not like those three schools.

“That’s pretty much one of the biggest reasons,” Askew said for why Alabama isn’t stamped into his top schools list. “My relationships with those coaches has grown stronger on those staffs than it has with Alabama.”

Askew, a four-star athlete from McAdory High School (McCalla, Ala.), acknowledged that Alabama is recruiting him differently than every other school coming after him. He did say that the Crimson Tide’s recruiting methods are not necessarily hurting the team’s chances at landing him.

“It’s business. They’re not really one of those schools that’s going to check in with you or anything like that,” Askew, who holds 39 scholarship offers, said. “If you don’t want to be a part of what they’re doing, then it’s not going to happen. They’ll just go to the next guy. They’re more of a business type of school than any other school recruiting me.”

The 6-foot, 183 pounder has a good relationship with Alabama defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Jeremy Pruitt, but he won’t be his position coach if he did go to Alabama.

Askew said he’s working on building a relationship with defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley. He admits that their relationship needs to get stronger.

“It’s not as great as it was with Coach Pruitt, but I feel like it’s building up after I talked with him and my dad,” Askew said. “I feel like it will continue to get stronger. Alabama just recruits a different way than other schools, so it’s a little different.”

Askew lists Auburn as his leader, but admits that the gap the Tigers had over other schools is shrinking.

Alabama is recruiting the state’s No. 10 overall prospect at safety. He said that benefits the Crimson Tide because the team did not sign a true safety in the Class of 2016.

Askew is rated as the nation’s No. 11 athlete, and will be an early enrollee at the school he commits to. He is planning on making a commitment at some point during his senior season.

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A large portion of the SEC is after 2017 Alabama linebackers Kenney “KJ” Britt and Tadarian Moultry, but could their commitments be a two-for-one deal?

The two are good friends, and according to Britt, it is a real possibility that they will attend the same school.


And By The Way me and @Humble10_ a package deal ????

— Kj Britt (@K_Britt10) March 21, 2016



Britt, the No. 24 inside linebacker in the Class of 2017, also announced Monday that he would reveal his top-12 choices April 11 and make his final decision August 8. He won the best linebacker award last Sunday at the Atlanta Opening Regionals.

Moultry is the No. 8 inside linebacker in the nation and the No. 13 player in the state of Alabama. Like Britt, Moultry has offers from Auburn, Alabama and Georgia, among others.

The 2016 recruiting cycle saw two close five-star Alabama linebackers, Mack Wilson and Ben Davis, hint at being a package deal throughout their recruitment. That came to fruition, as both ended up at Alabama.

Of course, many recruits have made the same proclamation only to end up at different schools. But, for now, Britt seems to mean what he says.


@Humble10_ we aint joking Keith

— Kj Britt (@K_Britt10) March 22, 2016



We’ll see.

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Robert Beal is one of Alabama’s top priorities on the defensive line in the Class of 2017, but in order for the Crimson Tide to land his commitment, his sister needs to be admitted into the school.

Beal, a four-star defensive end from Norcross (Ga.) High School, de-committed from Notre Dame back in February after finding out his sister was denied admission into the school.

“If (the schools) can’t take her, then I won’t be there,” Beal told DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell at Nike’s “The Opening” regional camp in Atlanta.

Since he de-committed from Notre Dame, Beal has only visited three schools — Alabama, Florida State and Georgia.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder said those three schools are some of the colleges he’s considering the hardest right now. When he visited Alabama, Beal noticed a major difference between it and other colleges he has visited.

“Alabama does everything different there than everyone else,” he said. “From the players to the coaches and the way they feed the players.”

The state of Georgia’s No. 3 prospect visited Georgia this past weekend, and he noticed something eerily similar to Tuscaloosa.

“I think Georgia is becoming more like Alabama now with Kirby Smart there, too,” Beal said.

Beal does not have a set date to announce his next commitment, and he’s in no rush to pick a school.

But when that time comes, his sister’s admittance is going to be arguably the biggest deciding factor for where one of the top high school players calls college football.

He is rated as the nation’s No. 3 weakside defensive end and is the No. 36 overall prospect in the country.

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Wide receiver is a big priority for Alabama in the Class of 2017 after only signing two players at the position in 2016.

The Crimson Tide signed T.J. Simmons, who is an early enrollee, and Trevon Diggs in 2016. Alabama missed on Tyler Simmons, who flipped to Georgia on National Signing Day and A.J. Brown, who ended up signing with Ole Miss.

Receivers are going to be a huge focus for the coaching staff this recruiting class, and several of the top wideouts in the country are high on Alabama.

SEC Country examines some of those elite receivers that are high on Alabama’s wish list.

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Nico Collins is aware of the fact that Alabama only signed two wide receivers in 2016, and the top prospect in the state of Alabama is very interested in the Crimson Tide.

“Yeah,” Collins said in a high-pitched tone when asked if the lack of receivers in 2016 will help Alabama’s chances. “I say that because they only signed two guys in the Class of 2016. Now with me being in 2017, that just tells me that the opportunity is there to possibly get early playing time.”

One of those receivers Alabama signed, T.J. Simmons, happens to be a former teammate of Collins’ and one of his good friends. That also helps the Crimson Tide’s case for keeping the receiver in state.

“It’s kind of a big deal because if I go there, I know I’ll have one person that’s already there,” Collins said. “I played three years of high school football with him. We’re really close.”

Collins is rated as the nation’s No. 12 wide receiver.

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Alabama has been in prime position to land Henry Ruggs for a while now, and a commitment to his school of choice is expected before his senior season begins.

The 6-foot, 175-pounder has made numerous visits to Alabama, and it would be surprising if he ended up anywhere else.

Ruggs also holds offers from Florida, Georgia and Michigan, to name a few, but he hasn’t visited any school as often as Alabama. He is currently in Gainesville on a visit.

Ruggs is rated as the nation’s No. 24 wide receiver.

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