Transfer Portal 2023-2024...

[Ledsteplin]

What other way could this play out? No other team got a thirty day transfer window because Saban retired. The only way this was going to flow was out, the only inward flow would be from other teams who are changing coaching staffs, or someone like Taulia or the Miami tight end. This isn't recruiting, this is weathering the storm, and there will be damage.

The simple truth is a lot of these kids came to play for Saban, and no amount of talking was going to change that. CKD is not Saban, but then again no one else is either. You set yourself up for failure thinking that all these recruits came to play for the Crimson and White, and not Saban.

If you listen to Tyler Booker all he mentions is CKS's non-negotiable: Family. This football team will be a family. The kids that stay will be playing for one another, and not themselves.

Take comfort in that a step back for Alabama is three losses.

Yes, but Sark, Kirby, and Norvell are not Saban either. But that's where most of these guys are going. So it's something more than just "not Saban" going on.

 

[KrAzY3]

In reality we were no closer to a title this year than 2007.

It's hard for me to see iit that way, I still see it as the center doesn't have the yips and Alabama wins a championship. That's just how I view it, but I guess your counter is a better staff and there's no center with the yips.

My standard applies to DeBoert as well. If the next three years are like the last three years I will be happy with the hire. I have been as cynical as anyone here, but if he puts Alabama in a championship game in the next three years, and goes to the playoff twice, championship or not I'll be very pleased.

Here's why - it's about Alabama, not Saban.

"Every coach that’s coached at Alabama in the past 100yrs has increased their winning percentage coaching at Alabama. Bryant 20 percent and Saban 20 percent better also., Coach Gene Stallings won 70 games and seven years in Tuscaloosa." (via Paul Combs)

Alabama will be fine.

I might not be able to figure out whether or not DeBoer recruited Sayin, but I did correctly interpret your sentiments the past few years, heh. I want that to be true, and may be I've just been around for the wrong period of Alabama football but I can't get the taste of Curry, DuBose, Franchione, and Shula (who got me my first timeout here) out of my mouth.

If DeBoer wins a championship at Alabama I volunteer to help build his statue though. I felt better about that possibility a few days ago than I do now, but I sincerely hope he has all the support and every opportunity to succeed.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Yes, but Sark, Kirby, and Norvell are not Saban either. But that's where most of these guys are going. So it's something more than just "not Saban" going on.

Could've been their second choices, or they could have taken a discount to come to Alabama. My point was that if a person thought all of these kids from all over the country were coming to Alabama simply because it's Alabama and not because of the coaches they were setting themselves up for failure in a time like this.

 

[CB4]

Rumor this guy could be hitting the portal at Idaho State. Heard someone say he could throw the old pigskin “about a quarter mile”. Maybe we could set up an NIL deal with Steak’ums. Heard he is really fond of steak.

 

[BamaBoySince89]

Here's why - it's about Alabama, not Saban.

"Every coach that’s coached at Alabama in the past 100yrs has increased their winning percentage coaching at Alabama. Bryant 20 percent and Saban 20 percent better also., Coach Gene Stallings won 70 games and seven years in Tuscaloosa." (via Paul Combs)

Alabama will be fine.

If Dubious and Shula could win 10 games I’m sure KD could win 11 or 12

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I'm convinced that had the technology not died that there would've been a "fax campaign" for Kiffin just like was held for Dubose back in the 90s!

 

[BamaInBham]

Goodness this is disappointing. Part of me does understand that these young men came in to play for Coach Saban, but many of the resources of the program remain for them to be successful. The Alabama brand is still powerful.
A feeling that is hard to fight is the concern/disappointment that Coach Deboer hasn’t been able to convince (recruit) these guys to stay. I get “if they don’t want I be here let them go”, but these are super talented future of the program type guys (especially Downs and Sayin), you’d expect the pitch to Sayin is pretty easy with DeBoer’s offense.

Who knows, it could be that other programs are offering a much easier path to starting and a lot of upfront money. I don't think anyone is going to UTx, UGA, OSU, et al. because they now can play at their "dream school", it is simply a pragmatic decision regarding playing time and money. Saban's allure was unmatched: I posted in a completely different context the other day that when Alabama offered him, Jalen Milroe fell on his knees, sobbed and wept, saying "I have a chance to be coached by the greatest of all time.". CNS's personal allure just trumped the pragmatic reasons in some cases.

Forget about the "bad press" for the moment, it will pass shortly. It's the loss of talent. Though maybe it's worse than they thought, this staff, at least DeBoer, knew something like this was likely. If it stopped right now, Alabama would still be fine for next year. It was unlikely that Sayin was going to be the starter next year anyway - for the moment it's just another PR hit. It's just that others are certain to follow. Just hope it's not too many . But whatever the case, IMO, Alabama is positioned, as well as possible, to recover if a rebuild is needed.

 

[RammerJammer14]

Well on the plus side. Whatever DeBoer’s record is this year, no one can accuse him of winning with Saban’s players!

 

[AlexanderFan]

It's hard for me to see iit that way, I still see it as the center doesn't have the yips and Alabama wins a championship. That's just how I view it, but I guess your counter is a better staff and there's no center with the yips.

My standard applies to DeBoert as well. If the next three years are like the last three years I will be happy with the hire. I have been as cynical as anyone here, but if he puts Alabama in a championship game in the next three years, and goes to the playoff twice, championship or not I'll be very pleased.


I might not be able to figure out whether or not DeBoer recruited Sayin, but I did correctly interpret your sentiments the past few years, heh. I want that to be true, and may be I've just been around for the wrong period of Alabama football but I can't get the taste of Curry, DuBose, Franchione, and Shula (who got me my first timeout here) out of my mouth.

If DeBoer wins a championship at Alabama I volunteer to help build his statue though. I felt better about that possibility a few days ago than I do now, but I sincerely hope he has all the support and every opportunity to succeed.

Tell me how what's happening now reinforces your belief he can't recruit? More kids are staying than have left, and the ones who have left are going to their second choices and getting more money. What coach can realistically compete with that? Even Saban ten years ago wouldn't have been able to stem this outward flow of players.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I'm not.

In fact, in retrospect, I wish he would have stepped down after the 2020 title. Anyone who has watched the way the last few teams played will tell you they were winning largely on talent alone, looking nothing like the dominating teams Saban fielded year in and out for the previous decade. The decline was right in front of us but as most are results-oriented, it wasn't overly-obvious.

I've been somewhat reserved in my criticisms of Saban but you can find posts I've made which were quietly critical of his team prep and coaching choices since 2020 because it was obvious something was wrong, from the process-oriented perspective.

It was a good run, but despite the W/L results, Bama hasn't really looked like Bama for the last few years. It was (likely past) time. I'm thankful for what Saban did but I'm also thankful he didn't hold on longer than he did.

In retrospect and after seeing the character of the recruits that have quit, I agree.

 

[spidermayin]

Well on the plus side. Whatever DeBoer’s record is this year, no one can accuse him of winning with Saban’s players!

Sad, but true

 

[davefrat]

I can't imagine that anyone in the football building expected the kind of attrition we're seeing in the wake of Saban's retirement.

I'm sure they expected there to be losses, but this is almost like we're hemorrhaging players.

I sure hope DeBoer and his staff can stop the bleeding.

 

[BamaInBham]

again th timeline suggests otherwise. He could have hit the portal anytime this week but chose the day after another QB from the freaking school the new coach came from signs on.

The more likely scenario other than coincidence is that the staff knew that Sayin was going to declare and decided to announce their commitment first.

 

[TiderJack]

Take a breath guys. I know it’s never a good thing to lose a 5 star QB, but the truth is he wasn’t going to see the field this year and maybe not even the year after. There will be more, we can’t keep freaking out every time somebody leaves. When the dust settles, there will still be some great players and coaches here and most importantly, we’ll know they truly want to be here.

If Dubious and Shula could win 10 games I’m sure KD could win 11 or 12

Exactly. Every coach since Bear has won at least 10 games once. We are going to take an initial hit but will be good.

 

[Cruloc]

Sayin should have been happy because he could have been the QB distributing the ball. But no, he bails. I’m going to stop assuming this offense is a draw whatsoever for any of these kids. All the care about is money and name recognition. They don’t give a damn about anything else. Not even winning.

With Sayin....it wasn't about being happy to distribute the ball to multiple weapons in a lethal offense coordinated by Grubb, racking up huge yards and lots of recognition and potential awards. With Sayin...it was all about playing for Saban.

Same with Downs.....it was all about playing for Saban.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I'm convinced that had the technology not died that there would've been a "fax campaign" for Kiffin just like was held for Dubose back in the 90s!

I bet a lot of emails were sent, but thankfully Byrne (with Saban's input) chose differently.

 

[TideEngineer08]

The reality is the individuals working for themselves were all pulling in the right direction that day.

This is true to an extent. Georgia had a bad game plan, and 2 of their best WRs played but were probably 50% at best.

But yes you are right about the attitude and effort of the players. One week prior to that game is what happens when that same group of players weren't focused at all and it took a miracle play to beat a horrible team.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

I'm not.

In fact, in retrospect, I wish he would have stepped down after the 2020 title. Anyone who has watched the way the last few teams played will tell you they were winning largely on talent alone, looking nothing like the dominating teams Saban fielded year in and out for the previous decade. The decline was right in front of us but as most are results-oriented, it wasn't overly-obvious.

I've been somewhat reserved in my criticisms of Saban but you can find posts I've made which were quietly critical of his team prep and coaching choices since 2020 because it was obvious something was wrong, from the process-oriented perspective.

It was a good run, but despite the W/L results, Bama hasn't really looked like Bama for the last few years. It was (likely past) time. I'm thankful for what Saban did but I'm also thankful he didn't hold on longer than he did.

Hindsight is 50/50...

 

[Ledsteplin]

Could've been their second choices, or they could have taken a discount to come to Alabama. My point was that if a person thought all of these kids from all over the country were coming to Alabama simply because it's Alabama and not because of the coaches they were setting themselves up for failure in a time like this.

They did come to play for Saban. For sure. But their reasons for leaving are varied. Only 9 have transferred out since Saban's retirement announcement. A few had big NIL bucks in their heads. A few looked for an established stable program (in their eyes) as best route to the NFL. And the Saban factor as well.

 

[TideEngineer08]

It's hard for me to see iit that way, I still see it as the center doesn't have the yips and Alabama wins a championship. That's just how I view it, but I guess your counter is a better staff and there's no center with the yips.

That is absolutely my counter. Watching Alabama over the past 3 seasons has been a burden. It has not been pleasant at all.

And before I'm called a malcontent, let it be said again that this program has been stocked with the most 4 and 5 stars in the country over these last three years. The coaching has been about as bad as the Shula era. But that's what all that 4 and 5 star talent can do. It covers a host of sins.