re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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Nick Saban was no fan in theory of the early signing period.

The reality drew even more criticism from Alabama's head coach Friday evening. Asked about the impact he's seen in advance of the Dec. 20 signing day, Saban held little back.

"I don't think it's in the players' best interest," Saban said. "I don't see how it benefits anybody. I think it's really stressful for everyone. We're all trying to get ready for bowl games and playoff games and we have a signing day right in the middle of when we're going to be practicing for a playoff game.

"It was very stressful for a lot of coaches to get out and see as many guys as they could in December and accelerate everything. You don't have very much time to do that. If you're playing in a championship game, you have even less time to do it."

Alabama had an extra week since it didn't play in a fourth straight SEC Championship Game on Dec. 2.

"Maybe I shouldn't be speaking like this," Saban said. "I have not talked to a coach that's happy with it. Now, maybe they wouldn't say what I just said. Maybe they wouldn't say that, and they'd probably disagree with it just because I said it."

Saban walked through what he viewed to be the unintended consequences of shifting the recruiting calendar. He touched on two issues.

"I see more players getting pressured by some schools to sign early so that they don't get an opportunity from maybe a bigger school later, which I don't think is in the player's best interest," Saban said. "Because a guy may have an opportunity to go to a place that he's always wanted to go to, or an SEC school, and he's getting pressured by somebody else to sign early."

There's also the turnover within coaching staffs that become a factor.

"Then other guys are trying to make a decision about signing early or not signing early, and they've got all these new coaches and coaching staffs that are sort of bum rushing them to not do that so they get a chance to recruit them," Saban said. "Then you have guys who are waiting until February, so you don't have much control over who signs early and who doesn't, so how do you manage that number of guys that you might get?"

The early signing period starts Wednesday and runs through Friday. The traditional signing day remains the first week of February and it's still not clear how many prospects will sign early or wait for February.

The change also led to Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt missing a few playoff practices as he recruits for his new job at Tennessee's head coach. That wasn't an issue the past two seasons when Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin coached the bowl game after taking head coaching jobs elsewhere.

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Coach looks old as hell in this photo. :(

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