How recruiting talent will be dispersed after Nick Saban’s retirement

The impact of Nick Saban’s retirement set off another mini-coaching carousel after Kalen DeBoer left Washington to replace him at Alabama. But there’s another ripple effect looming — and it’s already starting, in a way.

Saban was arguably the best recruiter in the nation, landing 18 five-star recruits through the last four recruiting cycles. Now that he’s out of the picture, it could open the door for other teams to swoop in and land some of those big names.

In fact, that’s exactly how OM Spirit’s Zach Berry sees things going.

“I think you’re gonna see Kirby [Smart] and Georgia kind of flex their muscles a bit with just the connections in recruiting,” Berry told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “They all pretty much recruit the same players, and then Kirby goes and snatches Travaris Robinson, so there’s some ties there notably with guys like Caleb Downs. But yeah, I mean, I think it’s gonna be a little more spread out.”

Players such as Downs — the No. 1-ranked player in the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings — and Kadyn Proctor are just a preview of what DeBoer will be up against on the recruiting trail. Alabama no longer has the allure of playing for the GOAT in its recruiting pitch. Multiple Crimson Tide players entered the portal after the coaching change, and some notable unsigned commits de-committed, as well.

Now, Alabama finds itself dealing with something other programs have seen the last few years. As the NIL era took over college sports, high-level talent started heading elsewhere. One of the best examples is Dylan Raiola, the top-ranked quarterback recruit who decided to attend his father’s alma mater, Nebraska, instead of Georgia.

With Saban out of the picture, it could open the door for other programs to swoop in and land higher-rated recruits.

“I think it is a little more spread out now with NIL,” Berry said of the recruiting space. “I think that’s been one of the cool things to see as recruiting and the landscape changes where you’re seeing more four and five-star guys go all over the place. And not just the portal. Like, high school guys. I mean, Dylan Raiola — sure, he had the family ties to Nebraska — but he could have just gone to Georgia and just been the next great guy at Georgia. No, he’s gonna go to Nebraska. You saw it with Travis Hunter going to Jackson State and then going to Colorado. I mean, that guy never goes to a place like that six, seven years ago.

“I do think it’s gonna make it a little more fun for the SEC and more fun for the programs to compete nationally and locally in the southeast where normally, Nick Saban … it was always kind of the running joke for Ole Miss fans. Ole Miss, they’d find a guy in recruiting, they’d prioritize him. They would extend an offer, maybe they got a commitment. And then pretty much the rest of that cycle, it’s just Ole Miss fans [saying] like, ‘Okay, Nick Saban, please don’t find this person. Please don’t please don’t offer them.’ Because it’s happened before.”