How Has Alabama Recruiting Been So Successful Under DeBoer?

Kalen DeBoer is all about relationships and the people, not just the methods.

It's part of what has helped the Crimson Tide rise to one of the top recruiting rankings in the country, with On3 Sports rating Alabama as the No. 1 class in 2025 while 247 Sports has Alabama at No. 2 overall.

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It is also part of what contributed to Courtney Morgan, the General Manager of Alabama, following Kalen DeBoer from Washington to Alabama.

"If you want the honest answer, I just assumed I was going to go with him," Morgan said. "He didn't officially tell me, I just knew we worked well together, so I thought I'd go with him."

The recruiting aspect of football is often a thankless one, but it's almost more important than on the field because you need players to play in the game. Did Courtney Morgan have a vision of what recruiting could look like at Alabama?

"I did. I think if you look at the staff we assembled on the recruiting side, it was really intentional and we put a lot of thought behind every person that was hired on staff. Everyone we brought in, including the people that were here, we knew what their strengths were. I think there is a good blend of the old guard and the new regime. More importantly, people being humble and willing to work together, and this is the result. I think the people who were here before, Bob, Carrigan, and Ashleigh, they did a great job of explaining the way Coach Saban did it... I think they were also open and willing to take new ideas and my vision for how we do things. In the end, we all want the same common goal - we want Alabama to win and we want to get the best players and keep this thing rolling."

Alabama's recruiting theme of the Summer is "Cold Summer." Who came up with the theme?

"That goes back to the staff we assembled. Our Director of Creative, a gentleman named Walter Brock - I've known Walt for over 10 years - and Walt comes from - he had his own agency. He had his own content creative agency prior to coming to Alabama, and one thing we do share is a love for hip-hop music. There's an artist named Fabolous who released an album - the album came out a couple of years ago - one of the songs was called Cold Summer. Walt came in and had an idea - we were trying to think of what to do differently in our photo shoot to stand out, we wanted to do a streetwear photo shoot and we incorporated the hockey jerseys from the hockey team...Hockey, ice, freezing, they're all related, he said 'Why don't we use Cold Summer?' When you listen to the song, the first line is 'How do you turn a top dog into an underdog?' That's how we sell it. People are treating Alabama like an underdog, but we were the top dog for 17 years... We absolutely have a chip on our shoulder in recruiting, and we have a chip on our shoulder now."

Who are some of the unsung heroes of Alabama's recruiting staff?

"First you have to start with the guys that were here. Bob Welton...Carrigan Johnson...Ashleigh Kimble...Eron Hodges...You have to understand the cycle of recruiting and where you're at in the cycle...Every time in the cycle requires a different concentration or skill set..."

Morgan went on to say the work done at Washington and Purdue is more than at Blue Bloods.

"You have to watch twice as many guys when you're at Washinton or Purdue because the top guys - you're not getting the top guys. They're going to the blue blood schools. Then you're working off the guys that the blue blood schools don't want. There's a certain level of work ethic that comes with working at one of those schools that's invaluable. When you come to Alabama, you know who the top 100 guys are."

Does Alabama have a set number of recruits they want?

"You never turn down good players," Morgan said.

You can listen to Ryan Fowler's full interview with Courtney Morgan here.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.