I see what you’re doing Nick Saban. You knew that you were going to have two players selected top five in the NFL Draft, and you were not about to let that recruiting opportunity go to waste. It was time to remind the world who the true boss is in college football.
So what if Kirby Smart has won the last two National Championships, Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide just produced the first offensive and defensive player selected in the draft. Until Smart decides to start a real live explosive football player at quarterback, he will never be able to sell that to recruits. Being that he doesn’t put those types of players behind center, of course, he certainly doesn’t have to swag to pull off Saban’s outfit from Day 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Everybody look at Nick
When the draft broadcast showed Bryce Young’s area in the green room — a.k.a the lobby at Kansas City’s Union Station — Saban was in the group looking like he’s Cam’ron’s godfather. I know that the throwback style of the aughts is making a comeback, but a pink sports jacket and tie, somebody wanted to stand out on Thursday night.
That’s a true salesman right there folks. When Jalen Carter got selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, if you blinked you would have missed Smart dressed like a speaker at CPAC. Saban certainly has a reputation for being a hard ass but he has also gone viral doing the Cupid Shuffle at a recruit’s home — and very well I might add. I wonder if of the many people on the Alabama football staff, Saban has a quality control assistant in charge of keeping him crisp on line dances he’ll have to perform on the recruiting trail.
Recruiting never stops
In the age of NIL, no potential advantage should be left unexplored. Athens is certainly a much more active college town than Tuscaloosa, and also has a celebrity fan base that is much more relatable to a teenager than anyone who might appear on an Alabama sideline other than former players.
Alabama lost the SEC last year, but it did win the recruiting war. Both Rivals and 24/7 Sports ranked The Tide’s 2023 class as the best in America. Saban may be nearly 25 years older than Smart, but he isn’t ready to cede his throne as the godfather of college football just yet.
The outfit choice was an alpha move. He stepped out ready for a 50-and-over night at a Kansas City jazz joint. With Young and Will Anderson going No. 1 and No. 3, he is using draft night as a national television commercial. He’s telling recruits, “Yeah you can go to Georgia, but the man with the master plan is in Alabama.”