Nick Saban explains how he balances early signees on campus amid CFP prep

Alabama welcomed several recruits on to campus to begin practicing with National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday. At the same time, Nick Saban is focused on getting his current team prepared for a College Football semifinal matchup in a couple of weeks.

It might seem like a lot to handle at once, but it’s something Saban has a plan for as always. He explained in his National Signing Day press conference that it can actually serve as a learning experience for the younger players to get a chance to see firsthand what the prep for the Playoff is like.

The recruits just arriving won’t even begin practicing in pads for quite some time, so they should be able to ease into things while learning the plays.

“I think just exposure,” Saban said of the benefit of arriving on campus early. “Obviously, the first three days we’re here, those guys have to go through acclimation period. So they gotta be in shorts for so long and helmets and then shoulderpads. So they haven’t even been allowed to put full pads on yet. I just think the whole experience of being in meetings, learning the stretch program, learning the weight-training program, learning the offense and defense, being around players on the field, seeing how college practice really goes and how they can improve and contribute.

“A lot of them come up and meet with the coaches so they learn a little extra if they don’t understand something in the meeting. I think this total experience is a really positive thing for them in terms of their adjustment in how they’re going to transition into school in January and that whole process that we go through in the spring.”

It was another big National Signing Day for Saban and Alabama. The Crimson Tide brought in the No. 2 recruiting class in the country according to the On3 Recruiting Team Rankings, behind only Georgia.

Among the 25 commit’s in Alabama’s class, three were five-star prospects with 16 players being four-stars. Julian Sayin, the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 cycle, is the highest-rated of the bunch.

Saban estimated around 19 members of the class are early enrollees, and he had positive things to say about the group as a whole.

“We’re really pleased with the class,” he said. “We got a lot of good players, a lot of mid-year guys, which I think is really important or helpful in their development. This is a product of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. I think our coaching staff did a really good job. The people who support us in the university community do a great job with it. Our folks in academics and all the people that work in our athletic administration. All these people work really, really hard at helping us put together a really good class.

“I’m excited for these players. I’m not going to go through them individually or anything like that, but some of ’em are here. Some of ’em are already practicing and we’ve got a few more guys that may join us later.”

For now, the focus remains on finishing out this season strong in the CFP. With National Signing Day behind it, Alabama is set to face No. 1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. CT on New Year’s Day.