Couldn't that be said about Saban with Shula's players...?
That's actually an interesting comparison.
Saban was a bit of a late hire right? in 2006 Alabama had the 11th ranked class, par for the course with Shula. 2007, the "transition" class (DeBoer's was 95th), Alabama had the 10th ranked class. 2008 he had the #1 class, 2009 he had the #1 class.
That 2008 class in particular was vital to the 2009 championship, with key players all over the place. Ingram, Julio, Dareus, etc...
We know what 2009 Alabama had in store, but they had two #1 recruiting classes to back things up. Washington on the other hand, they're 2008 Alabama, only they're losing their top talent and have the 36th ranked class coming in instead of the #1 ranked class.
It's just a bit ironic that part of the case against Dabo has been he doesn't handle talent well in this era and he's only succeeded with great QBs. But, DeBoer having the #36 ranked recruiting class
this year, and having success at Washington with a Heisman candidate quarterback isn't relevant. It's all part of the story isn't it?
here is the thing. You have zero idea of what is going to happen once a new coach comes in. I seem to remember posters seriously hating the hiring of Nate oats and many people thought Scott Frost was going to be a slam dunk at Nebraska. So it’s a crap shoot in non Nick saban hires.
I know tigers don't change their stripes. DeBoer, if he gets the job might be a great coach. But, recruiting is not what he's great at, it's never been what he's great at, so that part isn't really a mystery.
Edit: Also interesting you bring up Frost. That's the sort of guy that always brings up warning bells for me. Just two years as head coach, not even doing it with his own players. We didn't have any idea what a team he built would look like. Mind you DeBoer at least did it at a higher level, and even Lanning only has two years under his belt, but that sort of thing is cause for concern.