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re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition
Posted on 7/26/17 at 8:19 am to Rizzy
Posted on 7/26/17 at 8:19 am to Rizzy
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Currently, the Tide have seven commitments. All of them are All-Americans. Jalyn Armour-Davis and Skyler Delong will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, while Tommy Brown, Jordan Davis, Quay Walker, Xavier Williams and Stephon Wynn will participate in the Under Armour All-America Game. The Tide’s seven-man class has an average star rating of 92.08, which is only behind Ohio State (95.70) and Texas (93.53). So, the elite talent is there for Alabama, but the number of bodies in the class isn’t just yet.
Alabama had its premier recruiting event of the summer this past weekend, and it only resulted in one public commitment in Brown. Last year, Hunter Brannon and Jhavonte Dean, who eventually was dropped from the class, committed at the event. SEC Country was told by a source close to the program that several more elite prospects silently committed. For those who don’t know what that means, silent commitments mean a recruit tells the coaching staff at the school that he’ll end up publicly declaring his intentions at a later date because he likely wants to take visits elsewhere while holding a spot. Some schools accept silent commitments, some don’t. Brown was a silent commitment before going public, but that’s just because he wanted to announce his public commitment while on campus.
But more public commitments are coming. Don’t worry about that.
One source inside the Alabama program said that the team is expecting 10-13 commitments before summer is over. Is that likely? Absolutely.
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Posted on 7/26/17 at 8:21 am to Rizzy
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Here are the major Tide targets that are expected to announce their commitments before Sept. 21, which is the final day of summer:
•4-star tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson (Aug. 1)
•4-star running back Asa Martin (Aug. 24)
•3-star inside linebacker/athlete Vernon Jackson (Aug. 26)
•4-star offensive guard Penei Sewell (no date set but before his senior season)
•4-star cornerback Jaycee Horn (no date set but around the start of his senior season in late August)
Posted on 7/26/17 at 8:21 am to Rizzy
quote:
Alabama is in good shape with all of those targets. I, along with those close to Alabama, feel confident Martin and Sewell will end up in crimson. Wood-Anderson just took an official visit to Alabama this past weekend, so the Tide feel like they have a very good chance at landing him because he’s heavily influenced by visits, and it’s the last school he’s scheduled to see before his commitment. Jackson is very high on Alabama’s wish list. He’s coming off a multi-day stay in Tuscaloosa. He’s a take and very wanted by the staff. Horn flip-flops on his favorite school daily, but Alabama was his favorite team growing up and still is.
In addition to those players, the team also feels good where it stands with the following: 5-star defensive end KJ Henry, 5-star cornerback Tyson Campbell, 4-star linebacker JJ Peterson, 4-star wide receiver Justyn Ross, 4-star linebacker Eyabi Anoma, 4-star linebacker Cameron Latu, 4-star defensive tackle Coynis Miller, 4-star defensive tackle Bobby Brown, 4-star tight end Luke Ford, 4-star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, 4-star cornerback Josh Jobe, 4-star cornerback Nadab Joseph, 4-star offensive guard Emil Ekiyor, 3-star wide receiver Slade Bolden, 3-star linebacker Andres Fox and junior college defensive linemen Caleb Tremblay and Teair Tart-Spencer.
The Tide are only expected to add 22 players this class, so clearly not everyone I just listed will be signing with Alabama. But just because there are only seven commitments, there’s no reason to panic. Alabama will sign several of those players listed and could potentially get in the mix later on with elite recruits who haven’t visited Tuscaloosa just yet.
The majority of the team’s top targets haven’t made a commitment yet, so it’s not like Alabama is striking out with these players. It’s just taking a little longer than usual for guys to secure their spot. But, as you can see with the names above, Alabama will be fine and will have one of the top recruiting classes in the country once again.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 8:32 am to Rizzy
Honestly it's absurd to be concerned about Alabama's recruiting at all. Even though it's fun to follow the process and hope that certain kids choose Alabama, it's just silly to worry about the recruiting "process" in place in Tuscaloosa....just chill out and enjoy it.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 9:12 am to coachcrisp
We are Bama fans, we'll worry about something else if we can't worry about recruiting. 
Posted on 7/26/17 at 9:12 am to coachcrisp
quote:
Jordan Davis now has the same answer for anyone when asked how strong his Alabama verbal commitment is.
"It's 2,000 percent, like I always say," said Davis, an outside linebacker from Memphis, Tenn., who committed to Alabama last December.
Davis, a four-star recruit, measured at 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds on his most recent visit for the Champions Cookout. He stayed for the weekend.
"(The highlights were) seeing more of the players," Davis said. "Also, me and all the commits getting together for second or third time. Us just getting closer and things like that, and I had another personal talk with Coach (Nick) Saban and (director of player personnel) Coach Jody (Wright). Just a lot of good things and meeting good people again."
Davis spent plenty of time with Alabama targets Jerome Carvin, a three-star offensive guard from Cordova, Tenn., and four-star slot receiver Jaylen Waddle from Bellaire, Texas. He feels that they and many other targets there have Alabama high on their recruiting board.
Alabama took just one public commitment from the weekend in Santa Ana, Calif., offensive tackle Tommy Brown, but the recruiting momentum continues to rise.
"I see a lot of guys, a lot of silent commits probably going on, who knows," Davis said. "I see a lot of guys who say that Alabama is No. 1 on their chart. A lot of guys who said that were on the visit."
Davis said the best part of the weekend was hanging out with the commits in a different setting than going against them in camps.
He impressed Saban when he competed in Alabama's first camp in early June. Davis is ranked as the No. 12 weak side defensive end nationally in the 247Sports composite, but is set to play outside linebacker at Alabama.
"It was my first time getting out there in 7-on-7 and I showed some spectacular things," Davis said. "Coach Saban told me, 'Jordan, I did not know you had that athleticism.' That was my first time getting out there in 7-on-7 at the outside linebacker position."
Davis said he set his official visit for the LSU weekend on Nov. 4. He plans to be an early enrollee.
Davis will make more trips to Tuscaloosa. If he visits elsewhere, there's one main reason.
"Right now, I don't know (if he'll make other visits)," Davis said. "It all depends on where my mama wants to go visit to. Most visits, I just take to go on vacation and help my mama and little brother experience new things."
He Gone
Posted on 7/26/17 at 9:17 am to TideSaint
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Welcome to SEC Country’s daily Alabama Crimson Tide podcast with Ryan Fowler. In this edition, we talked with Alabama national championship QB, Jake Coker, on playing for both Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban. One recruit explains why he chose to commit to the Crimson Tide.
Topics discussed:
- National Championship winning QB, Jake Coker talks in depth about playing for both Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban
- Coker recalls some highlights from the 2015 championship season and shares his favorite moment from that season
- Alabama offensive lineman, Tommy Brown explains how his decision to verbally commit to the Crimson Tide was a business decision
- Brown recalls how he told Nick Saban he was going to play football for the Crimson Tide
Podcast
Posted on 7/26/17 at 9:17 am to Cobrasize
I can appreciate that! 
Ain't it great to have the program that everybody tries to emulate?
Ain't it great to have the program that everybody tries to emulate?
This post was edited on 7/26/17 at 9:19 am
Posted on 7/26/17 at 9:31 am to Rizzy
quote:
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – JT Daniels knows what he wants. In recruiting, that’s half the battle.
The 2019 five-star quarterback from powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei is only looking for a pro-style offense.
A coordinator Daniels can relate to like he has in Mater Dei’s Dave Money (what a name for an offensive coordinator). A winning program. NFL experience on a coaching staff is nice, but not necessary.
More than anything, Daniels, a phenomenal talent who threw for 4,849 yards with 67 touchdowns and six interceptions in his sophomore season, is dead serious about playing in a pro-style system.
The reasoning is understandable.
“It’s a passion thing for him,” said his father, Steve Daniels, at the recent Battle at the Beach 7v7. “He’s going to outprepare everyone. That’s what he does. He’s got a good arm and maybe his accuracy is elite, I’m subjective. He’s not 6-6, he’s not going to run a 4.2. He’s going to outprepare you and chew his finger off to win.
“Those aspects lead it to be that kind of offense. All the pre-snap stuff, where’s the Mic, what’s the pass protection, do I have to change it, are there overloads, am I in the right concepts pass-wise or do I need to change it based on the coverage? All these things are really fun for him so that’s what he wants to do.”
With trends in college football pointing toward spread systems, run-pass options and the like, Daniels is charting a different course. And that means his focus is set on only a select group of schools that run straight pro-style offense.
That’s why USC, Stanford and Michigan – where he will visit for the upcoming recruiting BBQ – have emerged as major contenders.
Notre Dame had been seriously considered but the Irish seem to be slipping. Washington was also a possibility because Daniels loved a recent visit there but the Huskies took four-star QB Dylan Morris in the 2019 class so Daniels might look elsewhere.
Other than those programs, not many are being considered. He’s that serious about the offensive system when choosing a school.
Usually, a quarterback of Daniels’ ability has every team in the country knocking down doors and clamoring for his services. It’s not necessarily the case with the 2019 five-star, though, since he knows what he wants, and is not worried about just racking up offers.
“Sometimes, that’s the best thing,” Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said. “When guys are hyper-focused in recruiting but not just on one school. I’ve seen guys who knew where they were going to go and it’s over but they play around and take visits and we all know where they’re going to go.
“Then there are guys who have a top 15 list and they cut it to 12 and then they cut it to eight and they end up confusing themselves.
“When you get a kid like Daniels who is laser-focused on what he wants, he specifically wants a pro-style offense, he specifically wants certain academics, he wants a certain culture, he wants to be coached by someone who’s done well with quarterbacks, that speaks volumes to the potential success level he can have.”
The ‘Next Big Thing’ quarterback is always bandied about in recruiting circles especially in Southern California, where it seems one after another comes through the ringer every few years.
Daniels backed that hype up – and more – last season, smoothly running a complicated offense, calling his own plays and checking at the line when needed and blazing passes all over the field with a marksman’s precision.
It was impressive to witness and nearly impossible to stop.
How he’s handling the recruiting process is similar.
“There are only so many schools I can go to that are great universities and run pro-style offense,” Daniels said.
For Steve Daniels, it’s a different process than many quarterback dads have experienced through the years.
“Instead of wham-bam-thank you three-hour visits, it’s two-day visits, it’s a dinner with the coaching staff, it’s board session, it’s watching JT’s film and why is he doing what he’s doing and why did he make those calls?” Daniels said. “Being in the quarterback room during spring practice, all those things are invaluable when making your choice.”
This unique approach to the recruiting process reminds Farrell of how someone else handled things a few years back – former Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly, who cared little about the offers and the hype and was intently focused on what he wanted out of a school.
To note, Kuechly was a godsend to the Boston College program, a top 10 NFL Draft pick and a four-time Pro Bowl selection already.
“He was a kid who could have had offers from everybody playing at St. X in Ohio but he only wanted to look at academic schools, period,” Farrell said. “Laser-focused on that, chose Boston College for every reason under the sun aside from football and then went on to have an amazing career and be a first-round draft pick.
“The way Daniels is handling his recruitment is that same laser focus. He doesn’t care about gathering offers, he doesn’t waste people’s time. It really speaks to me to a guy who knows what he wants and is going to find the right fit.”
Daniels has not been stopped yet. In pursuit of the perfect school, the 2019 five-star quarterback is full speed ahead.
LINK
I hope he realizes that we may not run a true Pro-Style offense due to the skill set of Hurts and we'd be willing to adjust to his strengths as well if he were to choose Alabama.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 10:34 am to Rizzy
Top 10 Quarterbacks in the West (2018 Post-Summer Rankings)
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2. Tanner McKee, Corona (Calif.) Centennial
McKee had one of the best seasons in CIF-SS history at quarterback, when you combine what he did on the ground with what he did through the air, and he's back for one more shot at a CIF State Title.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 10:34 am to TideSaint
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4. Jack Tuttle, San Marcos (Calif.) Mission Hills, Committed to Utah
Tuttle has progressed as much as any quarterback in the country since the end of his junior campaign and the future Ute is the top prospect in the San Diego Section.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 10:49 am to TideSaint
Anyone know if Saban's appearances on the espn car wash today will be available online later?
Posted on 7/26/17 at 11:02 am to CapstoneGrad06
I'm sure it will be available somewhere
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:06 pm to CapstoneGrad06
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Anyone know if Saban's appearances on the espn car wash today will be available online later?
Here are snippets from it (over the next several posts):
quote:
Saban on how different an offseason is after a loss: "I don't think it's really that different, for me, as a coach."
"It does affect the players, to some degree. I think it makes them a little more hungry."
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:06 pm to TideSaint
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Saban on how recruits adapt to the college game: "I think a lot of it has to do with their maturity, how they stay focused."
A lot of guys face a learning curve, and some do it quicker than others.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:06 pm to TideSaint
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Saban on what facing a team like Florida State does to a team: "I think it does things that affect your offseason." The players work a little harder, are more focused.
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:06 pm to TideSaint
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Saban on Jalen Hurts: "We were a little hesitant in how we tried to develop him and what we asked him to do in that role."
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:06 pm to TideSaint
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Saban on Jalen Hurts improving "That's the one thing in this offseason that if we can create more balance by being more efficient in the passing game, I think that would help us be a better offensive team."
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:07 pm to TideSaint
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Quote from Saban from the first question on Mike & Mike about the difference of this offseason: “The good teams around here have taken ownership and been accountable for whatever their role is one the team, and I think this summer has been good for us and hopefully, that will carry over this fall.”
Posted on 7/26/17 at 12:07 pm to TideSaint
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Saban on First Take: "I don't think we had the ownership and accountability down the stretch last year that we should have had."
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