Andrew Bone Details Alabama’s Progress in Recruiting [Audio]

During Nick Saban’s first 10 seasons in Tuscaloosa, Alabama has reached the pinnacle of college football thanks in large part to stellar recruiting classes year after year.

On Friday’s edition of Inside the Locker Room, BamaInsider.com recruiting reporter Andrew Bone updated the Crimson Tide’s progress on the recruiting trail with six months to go until college football’s inaugural early signing period.

According to BamaInsider.com, Alabama presently has four commitments for the 2018 signing class.

Bone touched on a number of reasons for the unusually low number of commitments for the Crimson Tide including the loss of two elite recruiters from the coaching staff.

“Since February, you’ve seen some big time guys leave. You’ve seen Mario Cristobal leave. You’ve seen Billy Napier leave.” Bone said. “Those were some elite recruiters. Guys who’ve had some great relationships with not only players but the high school coaches, people in their recruiting areas that they’ve known really well.”

BamaInsider.com’s recruiting guru highlighted the transition that new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is making as a recruiter.

“I’ve heard nothing but very, very positive things about him on the recruiting trail, maybe even more so than the previous offensive coordinators who were in Tuscaloosa.” Bone said.

According to Bone, Alabama’s offensive coordinator is making an early impression with prospects on the recruiting trail.

“They seem to love him.” Bone said. “You hear more about Coach Daboll then you did with Lane Kiffin with the recruits.”

Bone also noted Daboll’s ability to connect with high school coaches.

“Brian really has hit the road hard this spring and has really impressed not only recruits but high school coaches.” Bone said. “I’ve talked to several high school coaches that he met with who just overly impressed, just really like him. Even if they don’t have kids who are going to Alabama, they’ve just been extremely impressed with him.”

The veteran recruiting analyst provided an early forecast regarding how many prospects could sign with Alabama and why the final numbers could be lower than in previous classes.

“This is going to be a smaller class than we’ve seen in other years. In other times, we’ve seen Alabama take 26 to 28 guys in a recruiting class, and this year, they’re probably only going to sign about 22 guys so they’re being a little bit more selective. They’re being a little bit more patient.” Bone mentioned.

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